Spyware - Easy Ways to Check For Spyware on Your Computer By Thomas Whitey At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

Unfortunately there are an ever increasing number of spyware programs, viruses, adware and trojans being developed. These programs can cause a variety of problems and can potentially collect sensitive and secure data from your computer.

Although some of the techniques used to place these programs are being highly sophisticated there are a range of methods to check if your computer may be affected. It is important to remember that the creators of the programs are developed more sophisticated and you may not experience some of all of the symptoms shown below. Therefore you should ensure your computer has an active spyware program, firewall and antivirus software installed and it is kept regularly updated.

Computer and Software Progams running slowly

If your computer, network or software packages have started operating more slowly you may have malicious spyware running in the background. This is one of the most commons symptoms of a spyware infection. You may also find your system becomes more unstable, crashes more often and is slow when opening normal software packages.

To see the number of processes running concurrently click ‘Ctrl’, ‘Alt’, ‘Delete’. When the Windows Task Manager box appears, click on processes. You will be able to view which applications are using your computers valuable resources.

Mystery files or programs

If you notice mystery programs that you have not downloaded/installed or new files or folders do not open them as these might be spyware. Try to delete them from your system, if this is not possible use a spyware program to detect and destroy them.

Pop-up Advertising

The most crude and common form of spyware or adware is the use of pop-ups or pop-unders (pop-ups appear in front of your browser and pop-unders appear behind the main browser window). Many legitimate websites have stopped using pop-up advertising in recent time, however there are highly respected websites that do make use of this form of promotion. It is therefore important to stop and check the source of the pop-up before clicking on it, otherwise you maybe taken to a ‘fake’ site or have private data recorded.

Pop-ups should only appear when you load a page and never when using search engines such as Google and Yahoo. The advertising should be related to the website you are visiting and not appear when you are now actively browsing the internet. If you are in any doubt, do not click on links in these adverts. Instead contact the advertiser directly by entering their details in to a popular search engine.

Changed website browser settings

If you notice your homepage or automatically redirects to a different webpage when you enter an address you may have a spyware program running on your computer.

Problems with emails

Some spyware programs will automatically send emails from your account to gather new email addresses (Spam) or secure sensitive data. If a colleague or friend opens an infected message their computer will also be infected with the spyware package.

These are the main symptoms of a spyware attack, however it is important to remember that some spyware programs are able to operate without causing any symptoms and therefore it is important to ensure your spyware protection and anti-virus software is update and always activated.

Published At: Isnare Free Articles Directory http://www.isnare.com
Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=415376&ca=Internet

Important Notice DISCLAIMER: All information, content, and data in this article are sole opinions and/or findings of the individual user or organization that registered and submitted this article at Isnare.com without any fee. The article is strictly for educational or entertainment purposes only and should not be used in any way, implemented or applied without consultation from a professional. We at Isnare.com do not, in anyway, contribute or include our own findings, facts and opinions in any articles presented in this site. Publishing this article does not constitute Isnare.com's support or sponsorship for this article. Isnare.com is an article publishing service. Please read our Terms of Service for more information.