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There is this one law school student whose thesis is about money laundering so oftentimes she would google the term to come up with a ready list of online references. This proved to be useful to her and the entire process of writing her paper. After several months of doing so, she was confronted with problems like being directed to a weird page totally not related to money laundering every time she types the same words.

At first she thought it was just a glitch in the internet system and then she rationalized that no it maybe a glitch in the search engine she is using but the persistent occurrence of such a thing made her think that someone bugged her. We all hate bugging people us but people we can fend of. What this law student is confronted with is a computer bug that she cannot fend off. In the first place she is not a technology savvy person and in the second place she never uses her laptop for any other things than academic research and actual writing of her papers.

The situation above is not an isolated case. There are many people who find themselves caught up in technology problems that are mind boggling but actually can be answered with two words and those two words are spyware and adware. The infamous term of spyware was first coined in the year 1995 but it was popularized in the year 2000. Spyware is a computer software innocently infiltrated in a personal computer to be able to access personal information of the user.

This is done by studying logging keystrokes, web browsing history and even scanning a user’s hard drive. Sounds like something we see only in James Bond movies but apparently we are wrong for anyone can be a victim of spyware. It is safe to use the word victim because no one wants to be monitored of all their online activities. Spyware can understandably be used to spy on criminals because such use is beneficial to society but how about the use of spyware to intercept credit card details and the like. There is simply no excuse for the lax of the use of spyware.

What ordinary people can do to protect themselves is to block spyware and all other software programs similar to it like adware and malware. This can easily be done by availing adware and spyware blocker programs online. The role of these blocking programs include to remove or disable existing spyware programs or to avoid the installation of these malicious software programs.

Spyware, adware, malware are not like virus or worms that self replicate but they can be just as hassle as their counterparts for whoever wants to be disrupted of their normal personal computer activities. One of the more popular hassles cause by these infectious software programs is the slowness of the computer which can really be annoying because when you are at work you tend to want to finish things quick not just because you are required but also because you want more done or you want to be able to go home early.

In some infections, spyware is not even evident as the bad guy so it can get away with its crime. It is best then to have a ready blocker to at least do something for preventing any infection to occur in the first place.

Adware, spyware and computer viruses share some similarities, one of which is that all three are major nuisances for computer users. Let's differentiate between the three.

Spyware is software that does not intentionally harm your computer. What they do is create pathways whereby someone else, aside from the computer owner, can communicate with the computer. Normally spyware record the various types of web sites you visit which are later used by web advertisers to allow them to send you unwanted emails and pop-ups.

This is why spyware are usually frowned upon and greatly avoided. They are more intrusive than adware. Spyware have their own separate executable programs which allow them to record your keystrokes, scan files on your hard disks and look at other applications that you use including but not limited to chat programs, cookies and Web browser settings.

The spyware will then send the information that it has gathered to the spyware author. The spyware agent will then use this information for advertising and marketing purposes. They often also sell the information to advertisers and other parties.

Adware, on the other hand, are more legitimate forms of freeware. Similar to spyware, adware are advertising materials which are packaged into software or programs and are installed automatically when a particular program or software is added into the computer system. Some forms of adware download advertising contents as a particular application is being utilized. It is quite unfortunate that most of the adware programs take the form of spyware in that they track and report user information to program authors.

Some signs of spyware infections include pop-up ads that seem to not be related to the site you are viewing. More often than not, spyware pop-ups are advertisements about adult contents. Also if you notice your computer slowing down, there's a big chance that spyware and its components have found their way into your operating system. When the Windows desktop takes a longer time to load, its best to scan your computer for possible spyware infections.

Meanwhile, viruses are a destructive form of software. They were purely designed and created for one purpose alone: to wreck havoc to your computer! They destroy whatever they come in contact with and will initiate self replication and infect as many components of the computer's operating system or network as possible.

A lot of anti-virus software also provides spyware and adware scanning and removal utilities. Some programs, however, are focused on locating and deleting or destroying spyware and adware programs. Whether is an anti-virus software or an anti-spyware dedicated scanner, they both search your computer and identify any spyware and virus installed on your system.

They then remove it as well as their components located in the system registry among other places in your computer. It is therefore, good to regularly update your virus or spyware scanner to ensure that your computer is protected from the thousands of spyware and viruses in the internet. Never be fooled from ads that claim that their products only contain adware.

These adware maybe spyware in disguise and are just waiting to be deployed for them to gather your information. Learn to setup firewall systems and always block pop-up blockers to minimize computer infection and ensure the security of all your computer files.

You can't go wrong with protecting yourself with good anti-virus software and and good firewall.

Cheers!
Jeff