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READ
MORE ABOUT SPYWARE,
TROJAN HORSES, SYSTEM MONITORS
and KEY LOGGERS, DIALERS, ADWARE and ADWARE COOKIES in the
documentation below |
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SPYWARE
DEFINED: Spyware is any application that collects
information about your computer activities and then
sends that information to another individual or company
without your knowledge or permission.
Spyware arrives bundled with freeware or shareware,
through email or instant messenger, as an Active X install,
or by someone with access to your computer. Once on
your drive, spyware secretly installs itself and goes
to work. Unlike traditional personalization or session
cookies, spyware is difficult to detect, and difficult
(if not impossible) for the average user to remove. |
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Spyware
comes in many flavors including:
Trojan
Horses ..Trojans
are malicious programs that appear as harmless or desirable
applications. Trojans are designed to cause loss or
theft of computer data, and to destroy your system.
Some trojans, called RATs (Remote Administration Tools),
allow an attacker to gain unrestricted access of your
computer whenever you are online. The attacker can perform
activities such as file transfers, adding/deleting files
or programs, and controlling the mouse and keyboard.
Trojans are generally distributed as email attachments
or bundled with another software program.
System Monitors/Keyloggers
..System
monitors are applications designed to monitor computer
activity to various degrees. These programs can capture
virtually everything you do on your computer including
recording all keystrokes, emails, chat room dialogue,
web sites visited, and programs run. System monitors
usually run in the background so that you do not know
that you are being monitored. The information gathered
by the system monitor is stored on your computer in
an encrypted log file for later retrieval. Some programs
are capable of emailing the log files to another location.
Traditionally, system monitors had to be installed by
someone with administrative access to your computer,
such as a system administrator or someone that shares
your computer. However, there has been a recent wave
of system monitoring tools disguised as email attachments
or "freeware" software products.
Dialers
..Dialers
are a type of software typically used by vendors serving
pornography via the Internet. Once dialer software is
downloaded, the user is disconnected from their modem's
usual Internet service provider, connected to another
phone number, and the user is billed. Dialers do not
"spy" on their intended victims, but these
malevolent programs can rack up significant long distance
phone charges, costing victims time and money.
Adware
..Adware
is advertising-supported software that displays pop-up
advertisements whenever the program is running. The
software is usually available via free download from
the Internet, and it is the advertisements that create
revenue for the company. Although seemingly harmless
(aside from intrusiveness and annoyance of pop-up ads),
adware can install components onto your computer that
track personal information (including your age, gender,
location, buying preferences, surfing habits, etc.).
Most advertising supported software doesn't inform you
that it installs adware on your system, other than via
buried reference in a license agreement. In many cases
the software will not function without the adware component.
Some Adware can install itself on your computer even
if you decline the offer.
Adware
Cookies ..Cookies
are pieces of information that are generated by a web
server and stored on your computer for future access.
Cookies were originally implemented to allow you to
customize your web experience, and continue to serve
useful purpose in enabling a personalized web experience.
However, some web sites now issue adware cookies, which
allow multiple web sites to store and access cookies
that may contain personal information (including surfing
habits, user names and passwords, areas of interest,
etc.), and then simultaneously share the information
it contains with other web sites. This sharing of information
allows marketing firms to create a user profile based
on your personal information and sell it to other firms.
Adware cookies are almost always installed and accessed
without your knowledge or consent. |
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| The
Ten Commandments
for your computer sanity |
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1.
Dont assume anything. Make some time to learn
about securing your system. |
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2.
Acquire and use a reliable antivirus program. Select
an antivirus that has a consistent track record. Checkmark,
AV-Test.org and TuV are among the most respected independent
testers of antivirus software. |
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3.
Acquire and use a reliable firewall solution. Again,
independent reviewers are your best bet for reasonable
choices. Some operating systems come with a firewall
which only filters incoming traffic. Use a firewall
that can control both incoming and outgoing Internet
traffic. |
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4.
Do not open e-mails coming from unknown or distrusted
sources. Many viruses spread via e-mail messages so
please ask for a confirmation from the sender if you
are in any doubt. |
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5.
Do not open the attachments of messages with a suspicious
or unexpected subject. If you want to open them, first
save them to your hard disk and scan them with an updated
antivirus program. |
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6.
Delete any chain e-mails or unwanted messages. Do not
forward them or reply to their senders. This kind of
messages is considered spam, because it is undesired
and unsolicited and it overloads the Internet traffic. |
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7.
Avoid installing services and applications which are
not needed in day-by-day operations in a desktop role,
such as file transfer and file sharing servers, remote
desktop servers and the like. Such programs are potential
hazards, and should not be installed if not absolutely
necessary. |
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8.
Update your system and applications as often as
possible. Some operating systems and applications can
be set to update automatically. Make full use of this
facility. Failure to patch your system often enough
may leave it vulnerable to threats for which fixes already
exist. |
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9.
Do not copy any file if you don't know or don't trust
its source. Check the source (provenance) of files you
download and make sure that an antivirus program has
already verified the files at their source. |
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10.
Make backups of important personal files (correspondence,
documents, pictures and such) on a regular basis. Store
these copies on removable media such as CD or DVD. Keep
your archive in a different location than the one your
computer is in. |
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