Non Techies Guide To Spyware Infections and Prevention 

Spyware - The Growing Epidemic

Spyware is a growing epidemic.  Within a few short years spyware has eclipsed computer viruses as the number one threat to computer users’ identity and personal information, to the point that there is a war going on between the creators of spyware and the research teams behind the anti spyware tools built to combat spyware and adware. 

As it stands, the spyware removal companies are extremely outnumbered as the number of people churning out spyware is far greater than those combating it.  It’s really a battle of containment, an effort to keep the constant flow of new infections and more complex and “smart” variations of existing spyware at bay.

What drives this ceaseless onslaught is very simple; money. Spyware companies are making to the tune of over 2 billion dollars a year as a result of infecting peoples’ computers with their spyware garbage and they will fight tooth and nail to ensure they stay one step ahead of anyone trying to eliminate their bread and butter. 

That is the big picture. Now there are plenty of people out there that could talk circles around me in regards to their in-depth understanding of the inner workings of the spyware industry,  and that’s fine.  We need them to help you and me to surf the internet in peace. Where I am coming from is probably from the same place you are sitting right now – in front of a computer screen, perhaps with half a dozen minimized pop up windows, cruising around the Internet on a sluggish pc. Hopefully together we can make a difference, because a day doesn't seem to pass when some form of spyware delivers a pop-up ad right in your face offering the latest refinancing, get rich quick scheme, sexual enhancement, or my favorite - Spyware removal applications! 

How absurd!  Why would I buy your spyware removal program if you advertise with spyware?! Irony aside, spyware is a serious and growing threat that shows no signs of slowing down and if my experience is anything like yours then I can most assuredly feel your pain and frustration.

Heck, simply surfing the Internet, reading email, downloading music or other files, can infect your PC without you knowing it.  How do we stand a chance (insert mental picture of moron in a dark room cackling with delight as he unleashes his latest spyware creation...jerk!)?

So what are we to do? 

How can we ease our frustrations and gain peace of minds as we surf the internet and have fun online?  We shouldn’t have to worry about things as frightening as having our identity stolen or something less harmful but extremely annoying like popups! 

The best way to safe guard ourselves and our families online is to educate ourselves about the myths and realities of spyware. Once armed with this information, we will be able to take appropriate action and make the best choices to fit our particular situation.   

This is what I hope to help you to accomplish through this guide to spyware education and prevention. So get some coffee or turn the radio up and read on. 

What is Spyware? 

The wikipedia (sort of an every growing and expanding online encyclopedia) defines spyware as follows: Spyware is a broad category of malicious software intended to intercept or take partial control of a computer's operation without the user's informed consent. While the term taken literally suggests software that surreptitiously monitors the user as a spy would, it has come to refer more broadly to software that subverts the computer's operation for the benefit of a third party. 

What this definition means is that an individual or even an entire company can develop software that quietly installs itself on your computer so they can make money or obtain your sensitive information that they could then use for personal gain. 

A common way for these companies to make money is to sign up as an affiliate or reseller for numerous companies and when you purchase one of these items they will receive a commission or percentage of the sale. 

This is usually accomplished through popup advertising but they also employ more convert and less noticeable methods to ensure they receive credit for generating sales for these merchants. 

We’ve all heard of corporate espionage and covert spy activities and this is exactly what spyware sets out to do. The intent is to collect as much personal information as possible; like credit card, bank account and social security numbers or even intellectual property and business secrets. 

This type of activity would be on the very extreme end of what spyware is capable of doing.  Such things are real possibilities and have indeed been happening, but a greater majority of spyware infections are meant to make the creator of the program money and lots of it through means that are not as severe as stealing your identity or confidential information, but are still a serious invasion of your privacy. 

The Different Types of Spyware 

Spyware comes in many shapes and sizes, but there are several categories that the majority of spyware can be placed into:

System Monitors:  Functioning just the way you would think they would, system monitors’ purpose is to monitor the activities being performed on your computer in an effort to capture bank account information, usernames, passwords, and credit car numbers, This is done completely without your knowledge and the information is sent off through your internet connection to websites, via email, FTP and other means of sending data electronically.

System monitors can infect your system through bogus emails or instant messaging viruses.  Once infected, the hacker has pretty much free access to do whatever he pleases while in control of your system. According to a study by Webroot Software, the makers of the spyware removal software Spy Sweeper, 6% of infected PC’s contain some form of system monitor.  

Trojans: Just like the Trojan Horse was used to fool the Trojans, their digital counterparts masquerade as seemingly innocent items like e-mail attachments or even free software packages.  Once loaded onto your PC, the spyware is released and starts doing its damage. 

Cookies: Cookies are sort of a gray area when it comes to spyware.  In fact some would make the argument that cookies are not spyware at all but because there is so much talk about tracking cookies and many spyware removal programs include them in their definition databases,  I thought it worthwhile to talk about them a bit.

Cookies do have a legitimate purpose - they help the owners of web sites to save your personal setting and customizations so that when you return to the site it will be tailored to your tastes and interests. Cookies are also used by advertisers to track sales and clicks to better understand how best to spend their marketing budget. 

For example, let’s say you are reading a story about your favorite football team who was just demolished their biggest rival in the latest game.  Next to the story you see an advertisement like a banner or even just a normal text link advertising where you can get an authentic jersey of your favorite team. You click on this link and make the purchase.  The advertiser then knows that the site you came from is a good place to spend money advertising.  If too many people ignore the link, then they will not continue to advertise on your sports news site.  Without cookies, companies would be blindly throwing money at advertising opportunities without any way of knowing if it is effective. 

Cookies in some people's opinion are bad. But are more a nuisance than anything.  Most web sites these days use some form of cookie tracking technology. 

Adware: The fourth type of spyware is Adware.  Because there is a lot of confusion about the difference between spyware and adware, I have devoted a separate section to talk about adware and the problems it brings about.

Are Spyware and Adware the Same Thing? 

Spyware and adware are not the same thing, though adware is a form of spyware. Unlike the other forms of spyware that are meant to run undetected on your computer, adware serves a different purpose. Adware’s job is to keep track of the sites you visit and then use this information to serve you with related advertisements, often in the form of everyone’s favorite computer gremlins - Pop Ups! 

The advertising, as we know, isn’t always related to something we are interested in and can simply serve generic ads related to products and services the general population can use or need such as insurance and mortgage quotes, debt consolidation loans, pharmaceuticals, Viagra and other mass market, mass appeal items. My favorites are the ads that look like Windows system errors that tell you you need a spyware removal program! 

Adware is bug business for many companies who rake in millions of dollars through these backdoor channels.  The sad reality is that they would not be using these tactics if they did not work. So somewhere out there in Internet land, millions of people are clicking on the ads either through misunderstanding, curiosity, or in some circumstances, relevance to what they are looking for. 

Spyware is a very lucrative business (adware in particular), responsible for billions of dollars in revenue a year, but we’ve actually arrived at a very important distinction that separates spyware with its cousin , the computer virus. 

How is Spyware Different From a Virus? 

While computer viruses and spyware share many similar characteristics, particularly how they infect your system,  this is where the similarities end and their differences begin. 

You see, computer viruses normally have two purposes. The first purpose is to spread to as many computers and networks as possible, as quickly as possible in order to create the greatest amount of havoc and publicity. Publicity is key here and is what drives the second purpose of computer viruses; to make their creators famous among their peers and notorious to the rest of the computing world. 

Virus writing is one huge ego trip with the virus writer always attempting to trump their last creation, and the viruses created by their “underworld” compadres, by infecting more computers more rapidly in an effort to “stick it to the man”. 

Wow, I finally go to say “stick it to the man”.  Maybe this will make me seem cool in a trendy sort of way… 

Anyway, that’s the very very basic overview of what a computer virus is. 

On the flip side we have spyware. Unlike viruses, spyware is not meant to be noticed, found, discovered, and is certainly not meant to bring attention to any certain company or individual. No, spyware is meant to sit quietly on your PC collecting information, and serving ads and product promotions to you in an all out effort to make their creators not famous or notorious, but rich, rich, rich.  

Because there is money at stake, spyware creators are intensely passionate about undermining the effectiveness of spyware detection programs. Spyware creators bombard the internet community with an unending string of more complex variations and mutations of their original creations in an attempt to overwhelm and undermine the efforts of spyware remover vendors.

Now You Know 

You know what spyware is.  You now recognize the problem it poses. You hopefully understand the different forms spyware takes and that spyware is a very lucrative business that is guarded at almost all costs. The question you might be asking is, “how exactly do I pick up all of this junk?” 

Well, the answer is complex, but the short of it is that just about anyway you can think of to deliver information over the internet is used to deliver spyware onto your computer. Let’s take a look at some of the most common methods of infection. 

How Does Spyware Infect Your System? 

To understand how spyware infects your system, all you need to do is take a look at the most common activities and information people seek while online. If you can answer “yes” to any of the following questions, chances are you currently are or have been infected with some form of spyware: 

a)     Do you send and receive email?

b)     Do you download music, movies, or games?

c)      Do you download free programs and utilities?

d)     Do you use any instant messaging services?

e)     Do you use any file sharing programs like Kazaa, Grokster, BearShare, etc? 

I don’t know about you but my hand is raised.  How can it not be? These are the most basic activities people participate in online. We all communicate in some form online, and we have a fascination and attraction to all things “Free”,  whether it be music, games, or a simple seemingly innocent system utility or tweak we want to run on our computers. Furthermore we take these activities for granted as being part of the online experience.  We have been trained to look for free versions of everything from the scads of free information waiting to be discovered online. 

By tapping into and exploiting the most basic “no brainer” activities we perform, spyware companies can slip millions of instances of their software onto computers around the world with practically zero resistance. 

Take this into consideration the next time you are about to download the latest file sharing software, Smilies, or free software - A lot of the free programs are free because they make money by distributing spyware and adware. Furthermore, many of these free software programs justify their use of spyware because they often make mention of the existence of spyware and adware in their software license agreement. You know, the big long small type legalese statement you have to agree to before installing many programs. Usually buried somewhere in there is a sentence or two basically stating that by agreeing to this license agreement you acknowledge that the spyware programs are being installed and that you do not hold them responsible for anything that goes wrong as a result of installing their software. 

It’s a shady practice without question, but they are able to skirt by on the technicality that full disclosure was in their license agreement.  Since a very small percentage of people actually read these things, it often goes unnoticed and the spyware makes it onto yet another computer. So, while you don’t have to open your wallet to get the files and programs you are after, you are still opening up and laying bare your computer and your personal information to the spyware companies looking to profit from it. 

If a site or service seems shady or too good to be true, then it probably is.  Trust your own instincts and stay away. You are right about these types of things more often than you probably give your self credit for.

What are the Symptoms of a Spyware Infection? 

Spyware infections are a part of the online experience.  It doesn’t mean we have to like it and it doesn’t mean there aren’t ways we can drastically reduce the possibility of infection. 

The bright side is that many spyware and adware leave behind the same traits and characteristics that you can use to spot the possibility of infection. Here is a list of some of the common characteristics of a spyware infection; it is by no means comprehensive and certainly doesn’t mean if you experience none of these things you are spyware free. 

Remember the name says it all. Spyware is meant to work quietly on your PC without your knowledge. The problem is that there is so much spyware out there, all of them running together usually brings about these common characteristics.  

You can tell if you computer is infected with spyware if:

If you notice any of these things happening with your PC, then you are probably infected with spyware and steps should be taken to begin diagnosing and removing the infections.

How to Diagnose and Remove Spyware 

Once you are pretty certain you have a spyware infestation on your computer it’s time to take the necessary steps to remove the nasties from your computer. 

There are a couple different “stages” to removing spyware. Your first line of action should be to use one of the many spyware removal tools on the market. These tools greatly reduce the time and effort required to remove spyware by automating the task of detection and removal, leaving you to do little more than install the software and hit the scan and remove buttons. 

A good spyware remover will take care of the majority of spyware problems, but there are instances where you will be dealing with a particularly nasty bug that requires the help of an expert who knows what to look for and how to remove it manually. 

Fortunately there are several tools and helpful web sites and forums that will help you to cure your spyware ills for free. 

Free Spyware Removal Tools 

Spyware is such a huge problem these days that we are fortunate to have several very high quality and effective spyware removal tools available to us at zero cost. That’s right, you can have a world class spyware remover for free. 

The two best free programs in my opinion are Adware and SpyBot Search & Destroy. These two programs have been around since the very early days of spyware and have built solid reputations for being effective and accurate when it comes to detection and removal of spyware and adware. 

If you feel you have a spyware problem, your first line of defense should be to download both of these programs and scan your computer. In the case where these free spyware scanners fail to correct your problems, the next step will be to consider one of the many paid spyware removers available on the market. 

Paid Spyware Removal Tools 

When considering a spyware solution, the question often arises - why pay for a tool when you can get a very good one for free? This is a legitimate question and one you should ask yourself when considering your options. As stated previously, your first choice should be to try one of the free tools, as they could very well work and send you on your happy way through cyber space. But it is also very likely that a free tool will not get rid of your spyware, not because it’s ineffective, but because every spyware removal program available has a different set of spyware definitions used to detect and remove spyware from your PC. 

So you could have three different programs on your machine and only one of them might actually detect and remove a specific instance of spyware. That’s why it’s a good idea to have at least two spyware removal programs on your computer so you can increase your chances of rounding up the majority of spyware lurking on your PC. 

The real benefit of purchasing a spyware removal solution instead of relying completely on free software is the customer support you receive. If you ever find yourself with a spyware problem that will not go away, you are much more likely to receive personal one on one support through a company you paid than one supplying their service for free. In addition to better support you can expect more frequent updates to the spyware definition database from paid programs than free programs.  

Discovering, researching, testing, and implementing new spyware detection rules is an extremely technical and time consuming project.  It takes highly skilled and qualified people with in-depth specialized knowledge on the inner workings of your computer operating system to combat spyware. This is really what you are paying for when you buy a spyware remover application. The program itself is not costly, but rather the underlying database and constantly maintaining it is what can be expensive. 

Beware of Ineffective Programs Riddled With False Positives:

There are many spyware removers available and unfortunately many are complete junk. Spyware detection and removal is a very lucrative business and in the past year there have been a rash of spyware removers flooding the market in an attempt to cash in on the spyware epidemic and on unsuspecting consumers.

These applications often rely on an out-of-date and ineffective spyware detection database purchased for a few thousand dollars. In the end, they offer little in the way of support. In fact, some of these programs even “detect” spyware that is not on your computer in an attempt to get you to purchase their program. 

These “ghost” or non existent spyware infections are called “false positives” and now that I have you worried, let me do a little more explaining on the false positives issue. 

As not all internet cookies are a bad thing (as discussed in a previous section of this report), not all false positives are intentional and aimed at misleading you. What you really have are two types of false positives. 

The first type are intentional and meant to goad you into purchasing a product out of fear that your computer is infected with spyware. The second are not intentional and arise as a result of how the spyware definition database is set up to detect specific spyware infections. That said, even though some false positives are not deliberate, they are a serious issue because they can lead you to delete a legitimate system or program file necessary to operate you computer and programs.  

The good news is that the best programs have very few problems with false positives, because they rigorously test their updates before releasing them to the public to minimize any chance of false detections and removals of legitimate files and programs. 

What is the Best Spyware Remover? 

Choosing the best of anything is totally subjective and reliant on an individual’s opinion and preferences, but of all the spyware removal programs I have used, my favorite and the one I have found to be most effective is Max Secure Software’s Max Spyware Detector. 

It’s by no means is the most well known or the most praised and heavily reviewed, but in the six months I have been using their software it has eliminated my spyware problems and runs flawlessly. I have had trouble removing a few particularly nasty spyware and adware programs, but their support is top notch and extremely responsive. They have recently added the ability to send a report of your spyware scan directly to their support staff so they can study and help you remove problems specific to your PC. It is this level of personalized support that won me over.   

Their spyware database is updated several times a week, sometimes every day, and you can schedule scans to run on a schedule so you do not need to remember to run them each week or even every day. 

This really isn’t the place for a full review, but if you want to know more details about this excellent program you can click here to read an in-depth analysis.

Criteria for Picking a Good Spyware Remover 

With so many spyware removal solutions available today, it’s hard to discern the most important features and components from the hype and noise of the software company’s marketing machines. Aside from the scan engine that searched your computer for signs of spyware infection, there are several important and useful features you should look for when determining which spyware solution you should use:

Real Time Monitoring – With this feature, your spyware remover is constantly running in the background, searching for signs of infections and suspicious programs and processes while you are busy surfing the web or scanning photos. If anything out of the ordinary is detected, your anti spyware solution will attempt to block the infection before it happens.

Spyware Database Updates/Live Updates – Spyware is constantly changing and evolving.  Your spyware remover of choice should allow for easy or automatic updates to the spyware detection database to keep your computer current and protected.

Restore Browser Settings - In case your home page is ever changed or your browser settings manipulated, you should be able to restore your web browser’s settings back to their original state using this feature.

Log File Analysis – No matter how advanced and up-to-date your spyware detector software is, there will always be circumstances when a simple scan will not eliminate your problems.  With log file analysis you can send a copy of your spyware scan results directly to the software vendor’s technical support team so they can analyze and fix your spyware problem personally. 

Safe Restore and Rollback – A good spyware removal program must be able to not only detect infections, but also safely remove them without hurting the functionality of your computer.  If you do encounter problems after removing spyware, you can easily undo the changes made to your computer to get it back in working order. This will still leave you with a spyware problem, but will help prevent more harmful changes to your PC. 

An Alternative to Spyware Removers 

While spyware removers are the easiest and most common way to rid your PC of spyware, there is an alternative that has proven very effective and in most cases is free: Log File Analysis. 

While it may sound scary and complex, log file analysis isn’t something to be scared of.  In fact, the whole process is quite simple. In a nutshell, you download a program that will scan your computer for all running processes.  Once the scan is complete, a log file is created listing all the results and details of the scan.Then all you do is go to one of several forums dedicated to log file analysis and copy and paste the contents of your log file onto the forum. An expert will review the details of your scan and tell you which files to remove and how to remove them.

That’s it.   

You do need to have a little bit of technical know-how to delete the files and make the changes suggested. Also, you will need to wait a couple of days to get an answer in some circumstances because the folks running these forums get a high number of help requests on a daily basis. To be honest, I’m amazed that such a time consuming and tech heavy service is free and my hat is off to these wonderful folks. 

Note of warning: this sort of spyware solution does have a limitation in that it could become a confusing mess of fixes if you are trying to correct numerous spyware problems through this technique.  

At the very least you should download one of the free Spyware removal solutions mentioned in the previous sections to eliminate as much spyware as possible and then use log file analysis to knock out the annoying pests that are still hanging around. 

The Best Tools For the Job 

If log file analysis* is the route you want to take, all you really need is one program called Hijack This.  You can download Hijack This and other useful utilities from SpywareInfo.com  We have also created a tutorial showing you step by step how to use Hijack This. Once you run your scan, you can post your log file to one of the forums listed in our resources section for analysis and feedback. 

*check to make sure your any spyware remover applications you may consider using has log file analysis build in before you purchase the program. 

With Max Spyware Detector you just run a spyware scan, then click on the “Export Worms” button to send your log file directly to their support team. You must be connected to the Internet to take advantage of this feature.

Once they receive your log file they will analyze it and find a solution to your specific spyware infection.  

Can Virus Protection Software and Firewalls Prevent Spyware Infections? 

A common misconception is that if you have a quality virus protection program and firewall software installed on your computer, then you are protected from spyware threats. This is simply not true. It is not that your virus and firewall protection are inadequate, but rather that these programs were designed to protect you from different types of threats and infections. 

While a firewall can alert you to suspicious programs attempting to access your PC from the Internet, or send information from your computer thought the Internet, it does not remove spyware threats or detect all incoming or outgoing activity with 100% accuracy.   

Instead of trying to replace or substitute one solution with another, it is best to think of Spyware, Virus and Firewall protection as a defensive triad that forms a strong security defense on your computer. To be safe, you should have a good virus protection, spyware, and firewall solution installed on your PC at all times.

Preventing Future Spyware Infections:

Many spyware removal applications do just as their names imply: remove spyware. What they are not great (but constantly getting better) at is preventing future infections before they happen. The top spyware removers like Max Spyware Detector and others do have real time process scanning and home page protection to prevent your default browser page from changing. They also have active cookie protection to help keep the number of cookies on your computer to a minimum, but they still are improving in this area as it is a relatively new advance in spyware removal technology. 

In a continual effort to protect yourself, there are several things you can do to tighten up the security of your PC and web browser to help defend against spyware attacks. In this section I’m going to list the things you can do as an overview and link to more in-depth tutorials when appropriate, showing you step by step how to implement each suggestion. 

1.      Secure Your Browser Settings: The default settings for Internet Explorer can let some spyware through. 

2.      Use a Firewall:  Windows XP comes with a basic firewall or for even more protection. Download Zone Alarms free personal firewall.

3.      Change Web Browsers Completely: Internet explorer has some security issues and because it is the most widely use web browser, it is also the target of most spyware creators. Try using the Fire Foxweb browser. It’s free, more secure, and is overall a better web browser than Internet Explorer  

4.      Occasionally Monitor The Program Installed on Your PC:  Use the Add/Remove Programs control panel to see if any strange programs or toolbars have been installed.  

5.      Check Your Startup Programs For Any Strange Entries: Some spyware places itself in your startup folder which is used to execute certain programs and services every time your computer is started up. 

For fore information to help make you computer more secure checkout the Tutorials section

Taking these small steps can help you to keep your computer spyware and adware free to some degree, but should not be relied upon as the sole means of protecting yourself, as many of the latest threats are able to evade detection and leave no obvious traces.  They don’t appear as icons on your desktop or in your list of installed programs. 

Spyware is Growing More Complex 

Even if you use all the tools and take all of the steps mentioned to secure your PC, it will not be enough to completely eliminate future spyware infections. Like most organisms, spyware constantly evolves and changes to stay one, two or three steps ahead of spyware removal tools. A perfect example of this constant evolution is a piece of spyware called WinFixer. 

WinFixer is disguised as a solution to common PC errors and problems, but uses shady tactics to trick people into installing it on their PC’s. The most common method of infection is through pop-up ads disguised as error messages and alerts claiming that your computer is infected with spyware or has numerous problems and errors. 

Once the ad is clicked, it often begins to install itself without your permission or knowledge and generally takes over your system with phony error messages and pop-ups. While this is a common method of infection used by many shady applications, WinFixer is extremely difficult to remove once it’s made its way onto your system. 

Through talks with several different spyware remover vendors, including Max Spyware Detector, I have learned that the people that have created the WinFixer spyware constantly monitor the major spyware removal tools like WebRoot’s SpySweeper, Spyware Doctor, and Adaware for any updates that may remove WinFixer. When these updates are released, the WinFixer spyware is modified to bypass any attempts to detect and remove it from your system.  It is not uncommon for WinFixer to release several different updates and variations per week to evade detection by your anti-spyware programs. In some instances where a spyware remover can indeed remove WinFixer, it only works for Windows 2000 or Windows 98 and not Windows XP. 

As you can see, from this one example alone, spyware is and will continue to be a growing threat to all computer users that will only grow in complexity as time goes on. 

No Single Tool Can Prevent Everything 

By this point, you’ve learned all of the basics of spyware and spyware removal tools, and while there are, without question, some finer technical points that could still be addressed, I’m confident you have a better understanding of the realties of spyware and adware. So the question that remains is, “what is the best tool for removing and preventing spyware?” The answer, like everything to do with spyware is not that simple. Regardless of what anyone tells you, there is not one super duper cure-all/prevent-all spyware removal tool. Without question, there are some great tools out there, but every single program works a bit differently and detects a different range of spyware and adware. 

The best spyware defense is to have multiple forms of protections. I suggest downloading at least two free spyware removal programs such as Adaware and Spybot Search and Destroy, and if you have the means to - invest in at least one of the paid spyware removers like Spy Sweeper or Max Spyware Detector. Having a premium tool in your arsenal can prove extremely helpful over the free programs, if only for the improved support and customer service. 

Spyware is a nuisance and a danger that is not going to go away or slowdown.

The problem will become much worse before it gets better.  Fortunately there are many great tools and resources at your disposal to help eliminate your spyware frustrations and fears. 

I hope that you have found this guide useful and helpful and that it didn’t make you nod off too many times. Now go and arm yourself with one of the recommended spyware tools. Even if it is a free one, it will prove extremely helpful in your battle against spyware. 

Spyware Prevention Tools and Resources

Free Spyware Removers and Utilities: 

¨      Adaware

¨      Spybot Search and Destroy

¨      Microsoft Anti Spyware

¨      Hijack This 

 Spyware Support Forums: 

¨      CastleCops

¨      SpywareInfo

Spyware Information Sites:

¨     Spyware Wikipedia

¨      Spyware Guide

Premium Spyware Removers:  

¨      Max Spyware Detector

¨      SpySweeper