Signs indicating your PC is affected by Spyware

• When you start your browser, the home page has mysteriously changed. You change it back manually, but before long you find that it has changed back again.

• You get pop-up advertisements when your browser is not running or when your system is not even connected to the Internet, or you get pop-up ads that address you by name.


• Your phone bill includes expensive calls to 900 numbers that you never made-probably at an outrageous per-minute rate.


• You enter a search term in Internet Explorer's address bar and press Enter to start the search. Instead of your usual search site, an unfamiliar site handles the search.


• A new item appears in your Favorites list without your putting it there. No matter how many times you delete it, the item always reappears later.


• Your system runs noticeably slower than it did before. If you're a Windows 2000/XP user, launching the Task Manager and clicking the Processes tab reveals that an unfamiliar process is using nearly 100 percent of available CPU cycles.


• At a time when you're not doing anything online, the send or receive lights on your dial-up or broadband modem blink just as wildly as when you're downloading a file or surfing the Web. Or the network/modem icon in your system tray flashes rapidly even when you're not using the connection.


• A search toolbar or other browser toolbar appears even though you didn't request or install it. Your attempts to remove it fail, or it comes back after removal.


• And the final sign is: Everything appears to be normal. The most devious spyware doesn't leave traces you'd notice, so scan your system anyway.

Easy solution to Adware/Spyware/Malware

Nowadays adware, spyware, dialers etc. have become a regular nuisance throughtout the net. HOwever there is one easy solution for avoiding them. Simply use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer for browsing. As most of the adwares, spywares, dialers etc. are made for Internet EXplorer, the risk of getting them is negligable. Further firefox has enhanced security features making browsing more secure..

Click on the link on the sidebar to get Firefox.

What is a Malware?

Malware or malicious software is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's informed consent. It is a combination of the words "malicious" and "software". 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.

Many normal computer users are however still unfamiliar with the term, and most never use it. Instead, "(computer) virus" is used in common parlance and often in the general media to describe all kinds of malware. Software is considered malware based on the perceived intent of the creator rather than any particular features. It includes computer viruses, worms, trojan horses, spyware, adware, and other malicious and unwanted software