Technology
Spyware -- We Know It's Out There, Now What Do We Do About It?
By
Aug 20, 2005, 15:43

(ARA) - For each new PC happily humming along in a home office, dorm room or lab, there are hundreds of pests waiting to take advantage of that pristine drive space.
While more and more PCs come with a built in anti-virus protection system, many ignore a potentially more destructive threat -- the threat of spyware. Spyware is at best a nuisance that can inundate users with popups, rendering them extremely unproductive, and at its worst can even engineer the theft of personal data like names, addresses and credit card numbers.

Thankfully, many companies have come to the rescue, with a multitude of programs available to fight this threat, and with over 78,000 spyware/adware programs floating around the Internet, this protection is in high demand. When you consider that over their lifetime, 9 out of 10 PCs will become infected with some sort of adware or spyware application, you begin to see why such protection is essential.

Any consumer can go online and find numerous free anti-spyware applications, as well as applications that come with a minimal fee. Everyone likes free, but the adage, "you get what you pay for" certainly can apply. Most, if not all, of the free applications out there do not come with professional tech support, so a user can become distressed when a problem arises because there is no one standing by to give aid. Also, because these free programs operate on the whim of their developers, software updates can be few and far between. This can result in the latest spyware/adware programs going untested until the developer has the time or resources to find solutions for the new infections.

Then there are many anti-spyware/anti-adware programs that cost the user a small fee up front. Some, like TrekBlue's Spywarenuker.com application, are very reliable and have bi-weekly updates as well as 24-hour tech support. However, being a paid application is no guarantee of quality. In fact, many of the paid products are just re-branded versions of the same software, and the majority may not do what their Web site’s home page tells you they do -- or worse, may even install spyware of their own! Remember, you should always read the End User License Agreement (EULA) that you are shown before installing any software -- that's often where tricky companies will hide malicious intent deep in the legalese of their text.

Many experts agree that the best course is a combination of a free resource and a quality paid-anti-spyware application like that found at SpywareNuker.com, because users can be assured of quality service and help should any questions arise as well and continuous updates to fight the newest infections. Although the temptation is to save the money and opt for free protection only, when it comes to an expensive PC or laptop, you may want to spend the $30 or so to protect your $800 to $3,000+ investment and all of the valuable data that is on the hard drive, such as pictures and other various documents that you never want to lose.

For more information about how to protect your computer from destructive adware and spyware, visit: www.spywarenuker.com or www.nuker.com. Courtesy of ARA Content

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