By Joseph Zollo
<GEEK> Editor ’04
You know what I can’t stand? Spyware. Spyware is software that is installed onto your computer without your knowledge. It will often change the configuration on your computer and somehow display popup ads. It also has the ability to send data to its creator, what could this data be? Various websites employ covert methods to hijack your browser and install this facetious software. My job involves computer service and repair, and almost every computer I’ve worked with has a ton of spyware installed. Recently, I worked on a computer that had over 200 spyware related objects.
This spyware problem isn’t going away anytime soon. Security holes in Internet Explorer (which is of course the most popular web browser) are to blame for most of the spyware you can find on your computer. Microsoft hasn’t done a very good job fixing these bugs in a timely fashion. Removing spyware is one thing, but keeping it off is another story. This month’s tip will focus on Spyware Removal and Prevention. Here are some suggestions I have…
1.) Get Ad-Aware! Ad-Aware is one of the best spyware detection removal tools available for your computer. It will go through every file on your hard drive and scan it for spyware. After it has detected all the spyware on your computer it will give you a detailed report of exactly what spyware programs have been installed and give you the option to delete them. Ad-Aware 6.0 Personal can be downloaded from www.lavasoftusa.com. I highly suggest updating and running this program every week to ensure that your computer is 100% free of spyware.
2.) Stop Using Internet Explorer! Let’s face facts; Internet Explorer is not a secure web browser. It uses a proprietary technology by Microsoft called ActiveX, which has been exploited numerous times to allow installation of spyware without the user knowing. Newer, and more frequently updated browsers such as Opera, Mozilla and Mozilla Firefox do not support ActiveX, which means there’s no way whatsoever for websites to install spyware. Opera can be downloaded at www.opera.com and Mozilla and Mozilla Firefox can be downloaded at www.mozilla.org.
3.) Use stricter security settings! Still insist on using Internet Explorer? Fine, but you’ve got to crank up those security settings. Open up Internet Explorer and go to “Tools” and then “Internet Options.” From the Internet Options dialogue select the security tab, you should see a list of content zones (“Internet”, “Local Intranet”…etc), select Internet and click custom level down below. You should see a whole bunch of settings regarding ActiveX controls. Set all of them to “prompt,” that way, you will be notified if any websites try to install anything without your permission.
Follow those simple suggestions and your spyware worrying days are over!