How to remove spyware

Question: I have ads popping up even when I’m not on the internet. What’s going on? –H.S.

Answer: If viruses, hackers, and spam weren’t enough, there’s another threat to your computer’s health. Yes, what you’re experiencing is a nasty little program from some marketer, generally called spyware.

Actually, the phenomenon isn’t that new. It’s been around pretty much since the internet as most of us know it appeared in the mid-1990s, but its nuisance factor has increased dramatically in recent years.

Spyware is usually an illicit program placed on your computer without your knowledge. It comes in various forms, and can collect data about you or your computer habits, and send that information to other people on the internet.

There also a category of spyware called a Trojan Horse. This is a program secretly installed on your computer and later used to access your computer across the internet without your knowledge, making your computer vulnerable to pranksters, spammers, or even data thieves.

(Before you read the rest of this article, start scanning for these infections now with this free on-line spyware scanner as it can take a while.)

Spyware programs can also collect data about your online habits, collect your files, or capture your keystrokes. That variation is called a Keylogger. It makes a record of every key you type, including passwords, financial account numbers, and other personal information. This data can be harvested and sent to others on the internet, with no hint to you of what’s happening.

Spyware can lie dormant until you’re active on your computer and then it forces ads at you (that’s what’s happening to you). Some corporations use this as a guerrilla marketing technique. Their ads can appear either in a pop-up window on your web browser, or on your desktop even if your browser isn’t open. They might offer you a free feature they hope you’ll want—perhaps a desktop enhancement like a clock or calendar – and, if you accept, proceed to collect data behind the scenes, or throw still more ads at you.

Less ethical marketing companies create programs to hijack your web browser and convert your home page from the one you’ve chosen to one run by the marketer. These nasty programs also use programming trickery to prevent you from using normal techniques to change your home page back to what you want it to be.

Sometimes Web Cookies can even be used as spyware. Cookies are little pieces of information – not much more than a tiny text file – placed into your computer’s web browser to track your web habits. They’re part of your web browser’s design – they’re there on purpose and they’re often not only not harmful, but actually helpful. For instance, a website can see you have visited it before and let you on without having to register again, perhaps without even having to sign in — pretty convenient. Cookies are also what web stores use to keep track of your shopping cart. Unfortunately, cookies are also sometimes used to customize website ads and track your progress through web pages.

Besides the obvious problems with privacy and security, spyware also hogs precious system resources like memory and hard disk space, slowing your computer’s processing ability and, in some cases, your boot-up time. If used to commandeer your e-mail and internet connection, spyware can be used to send spam from your computer, or to launch malicious attacks on other computers on the internet, making it look like you are at fault and, again, you won’t even know it’s happening.

So how did it get there? Well, spyware gets on your computer in various ways. It can arrive secretly via an automatic download behind the main window of a website. This is particularly common on questionable websites like those that contain pirated software or adult content.

Spyware can also piggyback on free downloaded programs. Sometimes unscrupulous authors of software increase their own revenue by knowingly including spyware in their downloader packages. Spyware can also be contracted via instant messenger (internet chat), if someone sends you a program, or via e-mail as an attachment.

Chances are you have some form of spyware on your computer right now, especially if the computer you use is a group or family PC that is sometimes used for playing games.

OK, now what? Well, the good news is that there are anti-spyware programs designed to help you rid your computer of spyware. Just like an anti-virus program, anti-spyware programs detect when spyware programs arrive, block their installation, and provide a mechanism for removal.

One of my favorites is CA Anti-Spyware 2007 (formerly eTrust Pest Patrol), which includes not only a spyware detector but also a keylogger detector. When spyware is found, the program categorizes it, provides you with a threat level assessment, and includes a mechanism to delete it. Links in the program also take you to information pages on the web that provide more information about that particular spyware program, its origins, and manual instructions on how to remove it if you choose to remove it yourself. It also reviews the cookies on your system and tells you which ones might be spyware.

You might also look at lots of anti-spyware programs available on [link removed].

When you choose an anti-spyware program, be sure that it allows you to regularly download spyware signature files to update the program’s detection ability. Since authors of spyware constantly keep creating new programs, it’s important to make sure your software is always working with the newest list possible.

For more information about spyware, see the FAQs: How to Stop Spyware.