Safe Computing — How to Spot Spyware

For a letter-perfect presentation, you need LetterPerfect Online!

All About Safe Computing
by Rev. Linda Smallwood

How to Spot Spyware on Your Computer

.....

What Is Spyware?
As discussed previously, spyware is a program secretly placed on your PC — usually via freeware and shareware — that gathers information about you (such as your surfing habits, what other software you have on your PC, etc.) without your knowledge or consent. Spyware is mostly used by online or software companies for spam marketing purposes.

Spyware sends information from your computer to a third party, usually as part of an advertising-supported software product. Spyware has become a generic term for the types of nuisances often referred to as 'adware', 'key loggers', 'malware', 'phishing attacks' and 'snoopware'. Not all spyware will actually spy on you, but it may instead pop up an advertisement or redirect your Internet searches.

Most spyware makers want information about your surfing habits to enable them to target pop-up advertisements or redirect you to paid advertisements where they benefit financially. In many cases, spyware violates your privacy even further by transmitting your personal information or key strokes without you knowing.

Spyware mostly takes advantage of:
• Vulnerabilities in the computer software you are running.
• Ignorance of users not knowing how their computers work.

Where Does Spyware Come From?

Spyware is often bundled with free software. Usually without you knowing, you accept to also install an advertising service they provide.

Spyware is often downloaded to your computer via some websites that require you to install an application before you use their site.

Some spyware makers exploit security breaches in your computer by way of trojan horses, viruses, nonsecure websites, and spam.

Software from small, unknown companies may look legitimate but secretly install spyware on your computer.

Some of the worst spyware products are keystroke loggers or key-loggers. Key-logging is a program that captures/records the user's keystrokes, usually without the user knowing it. It can be used legitimately by IT professionals to determine sources of errors in computer systems, and it is sometimes used by employers to measure employee productivity on certain clerical tasks. Such systems are also highly useful for law enforcement. However, as with any good service or program, there is also the threat of it being used illegally.

Through key-logging, a hacker can obtain passwords or encryption keys, thus bypassing system security measures. These programs secretly install themselves — usually via a Trojans — record your keystrokes, and then transmit them to criminals and con artists. In other words, if you type a lot of confidential information (i.e., user IDs, passwords, credit card numbers, etc.), someone else could also be viewing that information.

Signs That Your Computer Could Be Infected with Spyware

Poor performance: Your computer is running slowly or is frequently freezing up or crashing.

Your browser is being redirected to pages you don't recognize.

Pop-ups display when you're not browsing the Internet.

Trouble logging in to secure sites.

Your Internet connection is slower than usual.

Windows crashes (more often than it normally does!)

If You Suspect Your System Is Infected with Spyware...
The first thing you need to do is secure your computer!

Keep your web browser and computer up-to-date with Microsoft's security patches by going to Microsoft's Update Page: http://windowsupdate.com

Install an anti-spyware program that will warn you about sites or products which attempt to download spyware to your computer.

Beware of downloading free music or sharing files and programs via the Internet. Many popular free music and file sharing programs come with adware or spyware installed. Always read the license agreements before you install software (especially free software) to see if it contains any reference to advertising or third-party programs being installed. If in doubt, don't install these programs.

Never click links in a spam message, no matter how tempting the offer is. Even these links can often launch sites that download spyware and/or hijack your browser to an undesired site.

Use any of the recommended anti-spyware tools I provided in the November newsletter. Many other supposed free anti-spyware tools are inadequate — or can even download spyware to your computer! Many anti-spyware programs will often identify cookies as spyware. While you can argue that some cookies are spyware, cookies are normally harmless; without them, e-commerce would be a tiring exercise in filling out forms every time you visit each site. If in doubt, read a site's privacy policy before you provide personally-identifiable information.

A firewall will usually identify most programs trying to access the Internet from your computer.

Turn off "Active X" in Internet Explorer. This will go a long way to stopping spyware, as many spyware programs attempt to use Active X to install themselves.

If you are using Windows XP, you should upgrade to Service Pack 2. This will prevent Internet Explorer being vulnerable to the IFrame Exploit which, in effect, allows a website to download and install any software on your computer.

If you really want a certain program, game, or music file, use your Search engine to look for alternatives to spyware-laden software. There will usually be a free non-spyware alternative.

Leave your computer on overnight so your anti-virus and Windows Updates can be always updating/scanning your computer.

Be skeptical. Assume the worst. Many companies will assert that their software has no spyware. But they will often twist the definition of spyware to exclude whatever spyware they wish to install. Simply do an Internet search for the product name with "spyware" or "adware" to see what others say about it.

Always refuse downloads which were not requested by you. Most often, you are asked if you want to install a plugin. Unless you requested it, you should choose "no" or close the window.

Do not always trust download prompts which assert the software is "safe" or "Approved by Microsoft". These certificates can be obtained quite easily.

If other people also use your computer, set up a limited user account of their own to limit downloading software, thereby preventing potential damage to your account. If you don't know how to do this, contact me and I'll be glad to help you.

And last but not least, if you type a lot of confidential login details, consider installing an automatic form filler program, like RoboForm, that logs the data for you without you using the keyboard.

Again, I urge you to read and employ the recommendations in these articles. Together, we can stop hackers and spammers in their tracks! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

.....