What about being annoyed by numerous popup advertisements?

How about your start page or home page changing all the time?

What about your search results suddenly changing or your computer dialing out?

Chances are you have been a victim of spyware, hijackers, adware, dialers, or keyloggers.

Terms Defined

Let's take a look at some of these computer menaces.

Spyware - This is an infectious program installed surreptitiously in the computer system and supplies the software writer or the website which installed it confidential information about the user, may it be the websites you often visit, your activities in the computer, or even your password and credit card number. It can get into your computer in the form of a software virus or as a consequence of installing a program.

Hijackers - Sometimes called hijackware, this program changes your computer's browser settings in such a way that you are brought to web sites that you had no intention of looking into in the first place. These hijackers are often start pages and search pages to customers who pay for the service because of the traffic generated by them. This malware may slow your computer and cause your browser to crash.

Adware - This is a program designed to display advertisements on your personal computer. And we are not talking about your normal advertisement every time you visit a website. Adware uses popup ad windows or even voice messages that are not by any means connected to the websites that you often visit.

Dialers - These are programs installed into your computer system, which may rake you thousands of dollars in phone bill. A web dialer can be installed like a virus, Trojan, or any other malicious code into your computer system through e-mail attachments or downloaded software. Once installed, it will dial charge lines even when the user is not viewing a pay-per-view web site. Charges may range from a few pennies to dollars per minute.

Keyloggers - Also known as keystroke loggers, keyloggers record your keystrokes in the computer (more sophisticated types may even capture screen shots) and will log or report them to the individual who installed them. Some companies use the commercial type to monitor employee resource use or monitor corporate spies. Law enforcement agencies may also use keyloggers to collect evidence against suspected criminals. However, some may use these keystroke loggers to spy on their co-workers and bosses.

Protection

Where do we get protection from these computer security threats?

What should we look for a free spyware and what-have-you removal system?

There are a few things that we can take into consideration before we download a free spyware remover from the Internet:

1. A good spyware remover should provide effective protection against the software infections mentioned above (since they are the main software infections that give away confidential details about the user and decreases the efficiency of your computer), as well as all other malicious software invented by man if possible.

2. Your free spyware remover should come with cleaners so that you'll be able to detect spyware online. Free spyware cleaner programs also remove spyware programs that are running currently in your computer.

After installing your free spyware remover, download the current anti-virus definitions available in the Internet. You may use two or more to guarantee that all malware threats are discovered and removed quickly. Also, you may want to have a full system scan every week. Make sure that your security program and anti-virus are always enabled to scan all e-mails, may they be incoming or outgoing.

What are you waiting for? Clear your computer now of malicious software and programs.