Spyware & Malicious Software Removal

Spyware is Internet jargon for Advertising Supported software (Adware). It is a way for shareware authors to make money from a product, other than by selling it to the users. There are several large media companies that offer them to place banner ads in their products in exchange for a portion of the revenue from banner sales. This way, you don't have to pay for the software and the developers are still getting paid. If you find the banners annoying, there is usually an option to remove them, by paying the regular licensing fee.  Spyware programs designed to monitor users' web browsing, display unsolicited advertisements, or redirect affiliate marketing revenues to the spyware creator. Spyware programs do not spread like viruses; they are generally installed by exploiting security holes or are packaged with user-installed software, such as peer-to-peer applications.

 

Why is it called "Spyware" ?
While this may be a great concept, the downside is that the advertising companies also install additional tracking software on your system, which is continuously "calling home," using your Internet connection and reporting statistical data to the "mother ship." While, according to the privacy policies of these companies, there will be no sensitive or identifying data collected from your system and you will remain anonymous, it still remains the fact, that you have a "live" server sitting on your PC that is sending information about you and your surfing habits to a remote location...

 

Are all Adware products "Spyware"?
No, but the majority are. There are also products that display advertising but do not install any tracking mechanism on your system. These products are not indexed in our database.

 

 

Malicious Software

as defined by Wikipedia

 

Malware, a portmanteau from the words malicious and software, is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's informed consent. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code. The term "computer virus" is sometimes used as a catch-all phrase to include all types of malware, including true viruses.

Software is considered malware based on the perceived intent of the creator rather than any particular features. Malware includes computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, most rootkits, spyware, dishonest adware, crimeware and other malicious and unwanted software. In law, malware is sometimes known as a computer contaminant, for instance in the legal codes of several U. S. states, including California and West Virginia.

Malware is not the same as defective software, that is, software which has a legitimate purpose but contains harmful bugs.

Preliminary results from Symantec published in 2008 suggested that "the release rate of malicious code and other unwanted programs may be exceeding that of legitimate software applications." According to F-Secure, "As much malware [was] produced in 2007 as in the previous 20 years altogether." Malware's most common pathway from criminals to users is through the Internet: primarily by email and the World Wide Web.

Purposes

Many early infectious programs, including the first Internet Worm and a number of MS-DOS viruses, were written as experiments or pranks generally intended to be harmless or merely annoying rather than to cause serious damage to computers. In some cases the perpetrator did not realize how much harm their creations could do. Young programmers learning about viruses and the techniques wrote them for the sole purpose that they could or to see how far it could spread. As late as 1999, widespread viruses such as the Melissa virus appear to have been written chiefly as pranks.

Hostile intent related to vandalism can be found in programs designed to cause harm or data loss. Many DOS viruses, and the Windows ExploreZip worm, were designed to destroy files on a hard disk, or to corrupt the file system by writing invalid data. Network-borne worms such as the 2001 Code Red worm or the Ramen worm fall into the same category. Designed to vandalize web pages, these worms may seem like the online equivalent to graffiti tagging, with the author's alias or affinity group appearing everywhere the worm goes.

However, since the rise of widespread broadband Internet access, malicious software has come to be designed for a profit motive, either more or less legal (forced advertising) or criminal. For instance, since 2003, the majority of widespread viruses and worms have been designed to take control of users' computers for black-market exploitation.  Infected "zombie computers" are used to send email spam, to host contraband data such as child pornography[7], or to engage in distributed denial-of-service attacks as a form of extortion.

For more information on Malware, read the Wikipedia encyclopedia

 

If you live or work in Austin or San Antonio we can help. Spyware removal is one of our specialties, and we'll come to your location to thoroughly purge your system of aggressive marketing spyware that hogs your computer's resources and violates your privacy. For more information or to set up an appointment, contact us.

 

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