Spyware and adware are also known as malware. They are files that are created by publishers to allow them to spy on your web surfing activity to see what you purchase and what web sites you visit so that they can send you "pop-up" ads.They are malicious in their own right as they can confiscate your credit card information, which can spell disaster for you. On the lesser side of damage, they can slow your computer down or cause it to freeze up or crash. But on the higher side of damage, they will record credit card numbers or worse.
It is easy to get these types of bugs simply from surfing the net, reading email, downloading files etc. These are the most popular of computer infections with over 90% computers infected at one given time. The good news is that there are very good spyware and adware removal tools available on the net. As long as you stay on top of things by regularly running your spyware remover, you can keep them in check.
A Trojan (horse) on the other hand is a computer program that claims to do something interesting so that you download it and are tricked into running it. It may look like a useful program, but it can hold big problems for your computer within its structure. Once you run it, the havoc begins. The danger ranges from annoying to severe. They can do silly things to your computer like changing your desktop, redirecting your browser to other web pages or adding icons to your desktop - pretty annoying but hardly a catastrophe. The more severe Trojans can cause serious damage to your computer and delete or destroy information on your computer. Trojans also create what is known as a "backdoor" on your computer that gives malicious users access to your computer remotely. This is the perfect setup for those looking to steal your personal information and your identity. The good news is that they can not replicate themselves and are easy to detect if you have a good spyware remover.
There are several things that you can do to protect your computer from computer bugs. You need a good anti-virus software package coupled with adware and spyware removal software. When combined together, anti-virus, adware and spyware removal software can be a powerful combination to detect and remove all types of pests from your computer.
Secondly, once you install these removal programs, run them weekly to check your system for bugs. What good is having them if you don't let them check your system periodically? While they run in the background trying to detect bugs trying to gain entry to your computer, you need to run a "full system" check weekly on your own.
Thirdly, make sure to update the bug definitions of these programs weekly as well. When you launch the programs to do your weekly sweep of your computer, click on the "check for updates" button first to download the latest definitions so your program to work more efficiently. New viruses and other bugs are created on a daily basis while the software was created with an initial list of bugs to scan for. So it is important to download new definitions of recent bugs found, otherwise they would never be found on your computer. You would be limited to the definitions loaded in the software when you installed it.
Now you know what to look out for you should really think about what program to use to protect your PC.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ed_Steel
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