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Adware and Spyware: The Problems and Their Solutions By Soroush King Last Updated: August 3, 2005 The Threat 10 years ago you could probably have run no Internet security applications and still have come out after a browse of the Internet with a virus and malware free computer, but this situation is no longer apparent. Several years ago, before I knew of the dangers of the Internet, I had absolutely no spyware or adware protection. After about 3 months of heavy Internet browsing, I decided to install Adaware Personal Edition and Spybot Search & Destroy, and after 1 scan of each, I truly realised the potential of the Internet. After just 3 moths of Internet browsing, I had gathered over 9000 different spyware and adware products. So if I can gather 9000 unwanted products in 3 months with only web browsing, what about all the people who constantly surf, download and install, and havn't scanned their PC for malware in over a year?
What will it do? So now you're saying, "So what if I have spyware or adware. How much harm could it do?". That's a reasonable question, considering one of the reasons adware has been ignored for so long is its lack of severe harm. Adware slows your computer, it slows your Internet, it displays a popup every once in a while, but really it does no harm to personal files or hardware. Both adware and spyware breach privacy, but personal data rarely reaches anyone but untargeted advertisers so SPAM and advertising are the only real problems. Therefore, it is logical to say that adware and spyware are not as serious a threat as malicious viruses and trojans, but they are a threat all the same.
I personally recommend you scan about once a month with both Spybot Search and Destroy as well with Lavasoft Adaware Personal Edition. Links Lavasoft Ad-aware : http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ Spybot S&D :http://spybot.eon.net.au/en/ References |
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