What is Spyware?
Spyware is ANY software or hardware installed on a computer without the user's knowledge or explicit permission which gathers information about that user for later retrieval by the interested parties who control the spyware. Spyware can be broken down into two different categories, surveillance spyware and advertising spyware or Adware. Surveillance software includes key loggers, screen capture devices, and trojans.
Information collected often includes: web browsing history, web sites visited, length of time spent there, items viewed, purchases made, your name, age, gender, address, phone number, email address, email addresses in your address book, passwords, online buying habits, the computer's hardware and software configuration and credit card information. Interested parties may include corporations, merchants, target marketing companies, the government, law enforcement agencies, private detectives, intelligence agencies, suspicious spouses and identity thieves.
Table of Contents What is Adware?
Adware is a function of a spyware program. It is is installed alongside other software or via active x controls on the internet, often without the user's knowledge, or without full disclosure that it will be used for gathering personal information and/or showing the user ads. In an utopian world adware makes perfect sense. The function of adware is to serve
up web pages or ads that you may like to see.
But this isn't utopia.
The adware program knows what you like because it is watching every web site and every search term you type into your web
browser. The adware program then sends that information to the "home" location for storage and ad placement.
It works like this. When you visit a web location the adware program looks at it's advertisers that match that description.
What you end up with is:
The original site you wanted
and pop-up or a pop-under of a related site.
This is an advertisers dream. You went to look at a store selling diamonds and another store selling diamonds popped up as well.
When the advertisers buy into an adware company they give the particular keywords and competitor's web sites that they want
to be associated with. So if you have adware on your computer and you do a Google search for "diamonds" then the adware
program knows to also display the advertiser's web site as well.
This is a great legal way to get to buyers while they are hot.
Advertising spyware uses the CPU, RAM, and resources of the user's computer, making the user pay for the costs associated with operating it. It then makes use of the user's bandwidth to connect to the internet and upload whatever personal information it has gathered, and to download advertisements which it will present to the user, either by way of pop up windows, or with the ad banners of ad-supported software. All of this can be considered theft in the cases of advertising spyware that installs without disclosure, however, most people do not read the disclosure statement when installing a program.
Table of Contents How does my computer get infected with Spyware and Adware?
Spyware and Adware are often "invited" by installing programs given away for "free" over the internet. Tool bar aides, screen savers, desktop wallpaper and utilities are the most common. The biggest culprits in spreading spyware are the popular peer-to-peer programs available today. Bearshare, Kazaa, Imesh, Limewire - all of these products install multiple advertising spyware applications.
Most reputable companies include a disclaimer or disclosure statement that practically no one reads indicating that information will be recorded. You agree to it when you click the "Yes" or "Install" button. Most people don't realize the price they pay for that pretty waterfall or cute little dog jumping around the bottom of their screen.
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What are Cookies?
A "cookie" is a small piece of information which a web server can store temporarily with your web browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, etc.). This is useful for having your browser remember some specific information which the web server can later retrieve. For example, when you browse through an "online shopping mall" and add items to your "shopping cart" as you browse, a list of the items you've picked up is stored by your browser so that you can pay for all of the items at once when you're finished shopping. It's much more efficient for each browser to keep track of information like this than to expect the web server to have to remember who bought what, especially if there are thousands of people using the web server at a time. As you browse the web, any cookies which servers might send to your web browser are stored in your computer's memory. When you quit out of your web browser, any cookies that haven't expired are written to a cookie file so they can be reloaded next time you run your browser. Many web sites will not allow you to visit them unless your browser is set up to accept cookies. Microsoft is one of them.
A cookie file is not necessarily a bad thing and is NOT a secret way for a web server to find out everything about you and what you have on your hard drive. The ONLY way that any private information could be in your cookie file would be if you personally gave that information to a web server in the first place and it decided to put that information into your cookie file for some reason. Also, each cookie is marked with information about what web server its for; most web browsers do not send any cookies to any web server they're not for. There is absolutely no way for a web server to get access to any private information about you or your system through cookies. Also, there is no current possible way that a virus could be spread through the use of cookies.
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What are Web Bugs?
A Web bug is a graphic on a web page or in an Email message that is designed to monitor who is reading the web page or Email message. These electronic tags help web sites and advertisers track visitors' whereabouts in cyberspace. Web bugs are often invisible because they are typically only 1-by-1 pixel in size; about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. A Web bug "is like a beacon, so that every time you hit a Web page it sends a ping or call-back to the server saying 'Hi, this is who I am, this is where I am and this is what I am doing. A Web bug can be used to find out if a particular Email message has been read by someone and if so, when the message was read. A Web bug can provide the IP address of the recipient if the recipient is attempting to remain anonymous. Within an organization, a Web bug can give an idea how often a message is being forwarded and read. Web bugs are used in "junk" Email messages to measure how many people have viewed the same Email message in a marketing campaign and to detect if someone has viewed a junk Email message or not. People who do not view a message are removed from the list for future mailings. Web bugs can "talk" to existing cookies on a computer if they are both from the same Web site or advertising company, such as DoubleClick, which uses bugs and dominates the online advertising market. Web bugs can also synchronize a Web browser cookie to a particular Email address. This trick allows a Web site to know the identity of people who come to the site at a later date.
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What are Worms, Viruses and Trojans?
Viruses - A virus is a small piece of software that piggybacks on real programs. For example, a virus might attach itself to a program such as a spreadsheet program. Each time the spreadsheet program runs, the virus runs, too, and it has the chance to reproduce (by attaching to other programs) or wreak havoc. Viruses have the ability to destroy files and data and crash your computer system.
E-mail viruses - An e-mail virus moves around in e-mail messages, and usually replicates itself by automatically mailing itself to dozens of people in the victim's e-mail address book.
Worms - A worm is a small piece of software that uses computer networks and security holes to replicate itself. A copy of the worm scans the network for another machine that has a specific security hole. It copies itself to the new machine using the security hole, and then starts replicating from there, as well.
Trojan horses - A Trojan horse is simply a computer program. The program claims to do one thing (it may claim to be a game) but instead does damage when you run it (it may erase your hard disk). Trojan horses have no way to replicate automatically.
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What are Pop Ups?
A Pop Up is an ad that displays or "pops up" in a new browser window. Pop up windows come in many different shapes and sizes, typically in a scaled-down browser window with only the Close, Minimize and Maximize commands. There is a strong resentment by some Web surfers towards pop-up ads. Marketers often do not realize the ill-will generated by pop-ups because it is easier to click the "close" button than send an email to complain. Some pop ups don't have any visible means to close them. Others while attempting to close will open a series of additional pop up windows that in turn pop up even more. It is not uncommon for pop ups to contain web bugs.
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What is the Registry and why does it need cleaned?
The Registry is the central clearinghouse for information regarding your computer and is the most crucial and important file in it. The computer constantly checks here to find files, drivers and everything else it needs to run an application. Because of the constant activity taking place here, the registry is prone to misplaced data, duplicate files and unwanted information. Whenever you install a software program or do ANYTHING on your computer, it is recorded in the registry. If you uninstall a program, chances are almost 100% that there are still remains of it left in the registry. As the registry gets larger, the computer takes longer to access it and find what it is looking for. A Registry cleaner will sort out all of the unwanted or obsolete files and remove them. It will then re-sort the data so your computer can access it faster. Once the registry has been cleaned and the other maintenance software employed your computer will run faster and smoother. Most computers will run as fast as they did when they were brand new.
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Why is the additional software necessary and why doesn't it come with my computer?
This is a major consumer complaint. As of this writing, most operating system manufacturers place only token system utilities in their product leaving the door open for 3rd party software companies to fill the gap. Some of the additional software packages necessary are an Antivirus program, a Firewall program, a Spyware and Adware removal program and a Registry cleaning program. Additional recommended software would include a "Window Washing" program to remove temporary, un-needed and unwanted files, a Pop Up blocker to prevent Pop Ups and a Spam filtering program for your email.
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I already have Antivirus and Firewall software installed. What now?
We will use your current Antivirus and Firewall programs and install the latest updates if your subscription is current. We are not in the business of selling software and because of this, charge only what we pay for any programs that need to be installed. If any additional maintenance and cleaning utility programs are purchased and left on the consumer's machine we will provide instruction in their use at no additional charge.
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Do I need to keep the additional software you install on my computer?
No you do not and if you choose not to have it left on, you will not be charged for it. However, without at least the basic Antivirus program, Firewall program and Spyware and Adware removal program your computer will be left open to a reoccurrence of all the problems that prompted you to have it serviced in the first place.
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I have scan disk and disk defragmenter on my computer. Isn't this enough?
Scandisk will correct some computer problems such as cross linked files, however, it isn't nearly as thorough as some of the commercial packages. Commercial system cleaning utilities will seek out and remove all of the unwanted files and clutter that accumulates on your system during daily use. They also repair damaged files. Disk defragmenter works wonderfully for sorting the files on your hard drives so that it runs smoother and faster, however, it doesn't remove clutter.
Table of Contents Is an interior cleaning necessary?
Your computer has a minimum of two fans inside to draw heat away from crucial components. These fans tend to draw dust into the machine and should be cleaned on a regular basis. This is especially important if your machine is on a floor with a carpet or if you work in a smoking or dusty environment. When these fans get clogged, they slow down and allow heat to build up in the machine. Should they stop altogether, your computer can literally fry and burn out.
Table of Contents Why do my drivers and operating system files need updated?
Hardware companies constantly monitor the performance of their products in different types of machines and with different operating systems and software applications. Lets say you purchased your machine 2 years ago and it contains an XYZ Brand Video Card. Since you purchased the machine, My Favorite Computer Games Company has issued a new game that won't run on your machine because of your 2 year old video card. XYZ Brand Video Card Company may release an updated driver or driver "patch" that will allow the new game to run.
The manufacturer of your operating system (Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows XP, etc.) is constantly releasing patches and updates to correct hardware and software issues and close security leaks. It is crucial for your computer's operation and security that these be kept current and up to date.
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Why does it take 7 to 10 days to perform a complete system clean up?
Most of the diagnostic and utility software programs take hours to run. Depending on the speed of your computer and size of your hard drives, some may take 12 hours or more. Because of the number of programs necessary to completely clean your machine of unwanted and problem files, the process takes 7 to 10 days.
Table of Contents What is the Bios?
The Bios is the program that first runs when you start your computer. It's function is to check the integrity of the main processing computer chip, memory chips, video card, hard disks and drives. Like your operating system, your bios should have the latest information available for it.
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