Spyware Removal

Adware and Spyware - what's the difference?

There seems to be a lot of confusion about what the difference is between "adware" and "spyware". Lets set the record straight with a brief description of what each one is.

Adware Any software application that has the ability to display advertisements on your computer. Some adware may track your Web surfing habits. These advertisements may be displayed in many forms, including, but not limited to, pop-up, pop-under, and banner advertisements. Adware may slow your Web browser's performance. Worst case scenario: Some adware may have the ability to download third party software programs on your computer without your knowledge or consent.

Spyware Software that transmits information back to a third party without notifying the user. It is also commonly referred to as malware, trackware, hijackware, scumware, snoopware or thiefware. Some privacy advocates also call legitimate access control, filtering, Internet monitoring, password recovery, security or surveillance software "spyware" because it could be used without notifying the user.

Slow Internet access: Spyware slows your connection down by importing information like pop-up ads, while sending out information such as user activity, bank account numbers etc.Less productive computer: Spyware can grossly slow a PC down because it operates in the background, taking up valuable resources. Other spyware applications store advertising on a computer's hard drive.

More pop-up ads: Adware uses something called a tracking cookie. Cookies that sit on your PC serve pop-up ads related to the site you are visiting, your personal information or online activities. True to form, the more cookies you have on your system, the more pop-ups you'll get.

Strange search toolbars: Spyware-riddled applications often install a new search toolbar on a system with the intention of hijacking searches for search terms. Depending on the legitimacy of the toolbar, searches may end up on a pay-per-click site, and some of those sites load additional spyware onto your PC via drive-by download. Malfunctioning anti-spyware or anti-virus software: To survive, spyware sometimes targets the software designed to find and remove it. Changed default homepage: The homepage hijacker spyware can reset your homepage so each time you start your browser, you end up at the wrong site. Strange toll charges on your phone bill: A dialer can initiate outgoing calls from your PC generating large phone bills charged to that phone line. They can also change your dial-up settings to an international number, instead of your local one.

How spyware can find you

Spyware can Infect your system in many ways:

Something as simple as surfing the net.

Free software can carry adware and spyware, read any documentation to see what you are installing exactly.

Using file share software can open your system up to infection.

Attachments on emails from unknown recipients could do damage if opened.

If you are not the only one using your computer this could have a great effect on the amount of spyware that enters your system.

With the vast span of ways spyware can find its way into your system, it's hard to consider yourself safe no matter how careful you are using the Internet.

What are these threats called and what can they do?

There are thousands of different variations of spyware on the Internet, but, similar to viruses, it's usually a handful of very well designed culprits that cause the most havoc. Here are some of the top spyware threats online that you should be aware of:

Gator (GAIN) Displays banner advertisements based upon your Web surfing habits. Usually bundled within free software.

Internet Optimizer This one will hijack error pages and redirects them to its own controlling server at http://www.internet-optimizer.com.

180search Assistant Delivers targeted pop-up advertisements to your computer.

CoolWebSearch (CWS) Can hijack web searches, home page and other Internet Explorer settings. Transponder (vx2) An Internet Explorer browser Helper Object which delivers targeted advertisements by monitoring requested web pages and data entered into online forms. ISTbar/AUpdate ISTbar is a toolbar used for searching pornographic web sites that may display pornographic pop-ups and hijack user homepages and Internet searches.

Advance Keylogger Has the ability to monitor keystrokes and take screenshots.

Hot as Hell This one is nasty! It's a dialer program that dials toll numbers in order to access paid pornographic Web sites. It can disconnect you computer from your Internet provider and reconnect the user to the Internet using an expensive toll or international phone number. This one doesn't exactly spy on you but it may give you a huge phone bill.

BlazeFind Can hijack web searches, home page and other Internet Explorer settings. Could change your home page to it's own search engine at www.blazefind.com. It can also change other Internet Explorer settings. TIBS Dialer

A dialer that can hijack your modem and dial toll numbers that access paid, pornographic Web sites.

Protecting yourself

If you have already run the Spy Audit tool, you will now know if you have spyware onboard or not. If you're not infected, you are lucky, if you are, you're like 90% of other Internet users - welcome to the club! Infected or not, anti-spyware software is a must-have for any PC user connected to the Internet.

Although this step generally targets those looking to remove existing infections, it's also aimed at those who don't want to become infected in the first place. In this part of the guide we explain spyware removal, anti-spyware software and line up some of the best programs to get the job done.

Manually removing spyware

Manually removing spyware can prove to be very complicated, even for seasoned users. If you have identified the types of infections you have, it is technically possible to delete individual files and make risky registry edits to delete the infections. Even with such brute force tactics, chances are that you won't completely remove the infection.