Hacking,spam,virus are well known threats to the computer. A lot has been discussed about these menaces. So computer savvy people are well aware of such harmful elements. But nowadays another such malicious element has become the most potent threat to the internet users, which is known by the name of Spyware. In fact, there are several other names of Spyware. Some of the names are Malware,Scumware,Adware,Snoopware,Crimeware. Whatever be the name, the damage done by it is enormous,which is the total corruption of the data on the computer. In fact its harmful effect is much more than that of other viruses and spams.

Background

Spyware is but a nasty and rogue program which corrupts the information on a computer. It came into being in the last decade of 20th century. This malicious program first observes and tracks the net surfing habits of the internet user. Then using that information, its installs itself of the computer of the internet user and performs secret operations without the user's knowledge.

Spyware Infection Symptoms

Since Spyware is invisible, most of the internet users are not familiar with their name and features, but they are well acquainted with the symptoms. One of the major Spyware infection symptom is that the computer crashes frequently. Also computer speed becomes slower. Mysterious new tool bars appear which cannot be deleted. The number of pop ups increases considerably. Home page settings are altered. Search results throw up bizarre results. There may other infection symptoms also. But these are the most common symptoms. The user is advised to take the help of a network support provider whenever the symptoms are observed.

How Spyware infects computer

Spyware does not enter the computer in the manner a common virus does. It enters the system by deceiving the user or by utilizing the software vulnerabilities. Most of the Spywares gets installed in the computer keeping the user in the dark. Sometimes, these Spywares enter the computer by piggybacking on some other clean software. One examples of piggybacking is sharing doc,mp3,jpeg files.

Presenting themselves as legal application software to the user is another method of getting installed. Often the Spywares make the user believe that these are good software,such as security agent or web accelerator and tempt the user to install them. As the user installs the apparently legal software, Spywares make entry into the computer.

Sometimes the Spyware installs itself in a computer through security gap in the web browser software. If the user browses an internet site which contains a Spyware, the rogue code on that site infects the browser on the user's computer and installs the Spyware.

Spyware may also come the packaged form with other clean software. When the user installs the good software, the Spyware gets installed automatically without the knowledge of the user.

Spyware operations

A Spyware program does not act on a computer alone. It has its associates. So there could be not one but multiple infections. It could make CPU malfunction, corrupt the hard disk and disrupt network communication. As a result, the system crashes or fails to boot or freezes the already running application.

Some Spywares have been created to display advertisements. Pop up advertisements are regularly triggered by many specific Spywares. Few Spywares collect information about the user's browsing behavior.

In some cases Spywares have been used in identity theft. When the user performs some bank transactions on the net, the Spyware collects the vital information like the user name, password account information,etc and transmits over the net.

Solution to Spyware problem

Many PC support providers render solutions to Spyware problems. Whenever the user observes the Spyware symptoms on the PC, immediately the help of a network support provider should be sought, who would run the anti Spyware sofware on the infected computer to remove the nuisance.