In my quest to make the world a better place, I just want to spread a little awareness, and if I can save at least one hard drive out there from the dreaded “Format C:”, then my work here is done.

You don’t have to “download” anything to get viruses and spyware on your computer anymore. That Anti-virus program you and/or your employer has installed on your workstations and servers aren’t cutting it. Times, they are a changin’. All you have to do is browse webpages that have spyware and/or worm viruses embedded in them that will infect your computer.Spyware is in a lot of ways worse than a virus. For one, it’s more widespread and easier to get, and for two, most people run Anti-virus software thinking they are protected from everything in the world, when in fact, it does not stop the spyware. Spyware is getting more malicious by the day. It gets right into your hard drive. Some of the nastier stuff will install little programs, files and scripts way deep into your windows registry that will launch every time you turn your computer on, and you don’t even know it’s there. What you will notice, as you get more and more spyware, is that your computer is getting sluggish. It’s taking longer to open and close programs. Your computer will “lock up” for no apparent reason and the only way out is to reboot. It can also render a computer unbootable. You’ll start seeing popup ads when you’re not even browsing. Toolbars on your browser and windows components that just appeared by themselves. You’ve been violated!

Those little scripts and files that this spyware installs on your computer, without your knowledge or consent, are gathering information on you, and sending it back to the hackers who wrote this crap. I can’t stress how dangerous this is, and how damaging to your computer. “This should be illegal”, you might say. Well, it is, to a degree. Policing it is another story. I’m afraid the onus is on the user to protect themselves. Just recently I tackled an employee’s infected computer at work that was loaded with spyware. I spent upward of 20 hours over the last 3 days trying to remove it all, to no avail (and I know what I’m doing!). After the 3rd day I had to consider the loss of productivity, and the risk of this getting onto the network and bringing the whole office down, so I had to make the decision to Format C. (wipe out the hard drive). I don’t need to tell you what a pain it is to have to re-install all your programs, files, emails, addresses, settings, etc. That is just one example of the mayhem I’ve seen caused by malicious spyware.

“So, what can I do to protect myself, and my computer?”

1. Stop using Internet Explorer to browse the web. Just because you run a Microsoft operating system, doesn’t mean there are rules that say you must use their browser. Bill Gates’s goons are not going to show up at your door and confiscate your computer.

[rant]And yes, Microsoft came moonwalking out with IE7, after breaking all the rules of universal browsing and stripping it of basic functionality all in the name of fluff.

“Look everyone, we created TABBED BROWSING and a POPUP BLOCKER and our browser is now MORE SECURE!”.

Wow. Congratufreakinglations, Einsteins. Newsflash - Opera created tabbed browsing years ago, Firefox users have been enjoying popup blockers for years, and it’s because of your shitty-assed browser that there was even a need for a more secure one after your vulnerable code was responsible for destroying milllions of computers all over the world, but hey, MS - THANKS FOR STEPPING UP! You’re really a decade too late, and none of this technology was your own, but that’s okay. You have a small group of loyal followers who will always be there to support you! [/rant]

I highly recommend Mozilla Firefox . It’s free, and it’s safe. It has a popup blocker built in, and will do everything that IE does, only better and faster. You can download it for free here: http://www.mozilla.com They offer a great email program as well called Thunderbird, free for the taking. Also available from the above link.

2. Keep up with your Windows critical updates and service packs. Everytime a new exploit is discovered, they have to write a patch to fix it. Until you install these patches, you are vulnerable to new and more malicious exploits! Access Windows updates here: http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.com/en/thanks.aspit It will auto-detect your operating system and let you know which critical updates you need to install.

*Note - you will need to keep Internet Explorer on your computer for the purpose of doing your Windows updates. Microsoft, in all their capitalist glory has fixed it so that Windows updates can only be done with their browser.

3. Stay off questionable sites (and yes guys, that means porn!). Online gaming sites and casinos are horrid, graphic sites (screen savers and wallpapers), a lot of shopping channels. A good indication of a questionable site is the amount of popups and advertising you get nailed with when you go on it. Any sites with popups that ask you to make them your homepage (yeah, cos they’re just THAT important ). Popups that ask you to register, or vote for them. DANGER. Any site that would undulate their users with 20 popups in the face are the kind of sites that get a lot of money for allowing these spyware developers to embed their scripts in their pages that will infect your computer, and not only will they not lose a night’s sleep over it, they’re laughing all the way to the bank.

4. Do NOT, under any circumstance use Kazaa to download music. That is the single biggest distributor of spyware on the internet.

5. In addition to your Anti-virus software, install a spyware removal program and run it on a regular basis. At least 2-3 times a week. I would recommend Ad-Aware. You can download it for free here.

Once you download and install it, do the following:

- Reboot your computer and launch Ad-aware

- do NOT start your web browser or any other program

- There’s a little globe icon on the top right of the Ad-Aware screen. This launches the WebUpdate. Just like anti-virus programs, the definition files need to be kept up to date in order to protect you from every new strain of spyware that comes out. Last week’s definition files aren’t going to save you from this week’s nasties.

- Follow the instructions on the screen (“Connect” – then “OK” to download the new build files) let it self-install, then hit “Finish”

- Click “Start” to start scanning. The first time you run this you will be amazed, and probably frightened by the amount of stuff it finds on your hard drive.

This is ALL spyware that has wormed its way into your computer by you just browsing the internet. Feel like taking a shower yet?

- Once it’s finished, click “Next” to continue.

- Right-click in the box to the left of the first item in the list, and choose “Select All” from the popup menu. (this will save you from having to sit there and click 300+ boxes)

- Hit “Next” to have Ad-aware safely remove these files. It’s always good to reboot after it’s done.

Do this often, and keep up with your definition files!

May the force be with you!