Lately we have had client after client call with similar symptoms...
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“computer is slow”
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“computer locks up”
- “computer won’t boot”
- “computer won’t shut down”
- “computer won’t stay connected to the Internet”
- “computer tries to dial the Internet by itself”
- “can't logon to computer (if user account)”
- “can't logon to ISP”
- “redirected to wrong website (browser hijack)”
- “Windows 'search feature' doesn't work”
- “pop-ups (usually ads) appear from nowhere”
These are all symptoms of spyware/viruses/adware. Each has a slightly different purpose.
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Spyware is any software that runs on your computer and attempts to gather your
personal information without your knowledge or consent and then upload that information to brokers who resell it. Spyware is very dangerous as it harvests your social security number, bank account numbers, and credit card numbers which is the basis for much identity theft. According to the FBI, one in every 10 households was a victim of identity theft last year. Spyware is an epidemic; 4 of every 5 of our new clients’ computers have spyware. One client had 3,713 different spyware components on her computer. Spyware is also used by intelligence agencies and law enforcement to spy on you.
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Viruses have many different forms and purposes. Some are intended to delete information from your hard drive, some are part of a Denial of Service (DoS) attack, some are relatively benign. But all can make your computer unusable. Think your computer is protected because you have an "antivirus package" installed? Keep reading.
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Adware is designed to track your surfing habits. For example, if you visit a gambling website, your computer's IP address is sent to brokers who resell it to other gambling websites.
You can minimize your risk by following some rules. They are:
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Never open an email attachment. This is the route most spyware and viruses take. Note that just because an email is from someone you know, a family member or friend, for example, does NOT make the attachement safe to open. The reason is quite simple. Often the sender's address book in their email program (usually Outlook/Outlook Express) is harvested and then the spyware/virus mails itself to everyone disguised as a "friendly" email. If you open it, not only does your computer become infected but now you have just put all the people in your address book at risk.
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Do not believe that all you have to do is buy and install one of the popular "antivirus" packages. This was the case many years ago. Today, these packages are almost totally ineffective,
leaving your computer unprotected. Viruses are now so smart that they actually
detect the presence of most popular "antivirus" packages and disable them. We see both
Norton AntiVirus and McAfee VirusScan routinely disabled on our client's computers. A client had 43 different viruses on his computer and it had an up-to-date, paid for, and working copy of Norton AntiVirus installed. Antivirus programs also do nothing to protect you against most spyware or adware.
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If you want to download music, pay for it. Most "free" sites send you lots of "free" spyware.
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If you are tempted by a "free toolbar assist" that is supposed to make your web surfing easier, think carefully before you click that mouse. What it really does is infect your computer with a very nasty spyware component, one that takes hours to remove.
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Don't fall for any "free" password manager. It will remember your password alright. But it will also send it to brokers who send it along to identity thieves.
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Any website that offers "free computer games", whether they are played only on your computer or played against other computers over the Internet may be sending you "free" spyware.
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Be very careful of "look-alike sites". They work like this. You get an email supposedly from a
merchant you know and trust. It contains a link to click on to take advantage of a special offer. You click on it and are taken to a site that looks exactly like the merchant’s site. You decide to buy, check for the "https" in the location bar and/or lock/key symbol so you are positive your transaction is secure, enter your credit card number, and become the latest credit card fraud victim. How can this be? You see, the web pages comprising the site were simply stolen from the merchant (EBAY and AMAZON
are common targets) and used to populate another site with a slightly different name. Examples might be “www3.ebay.com” or “offers.amazon.com”. This is so easy to do any high school student can figure it out. So the bogus “look-alike site” gets your name and address and credit card number and you have no idea that you’ve just been had. That’s right; the bad guys are now using your awareness of security to lure you into being a victim.
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If children share your computer, read children & computers.
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Check the settings in your email client (most likely Outlook/Outlook Express or Mozilla mail/Thunderbird) and be sure that "scripting/javascript" is turned OFF. If you need specific instructions on how to do so, contact us.
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Above all, if you notice any of the previously stated symptoms, contact us immediately. The longer that spyware/viruses/adware remain in your computer the more damage they do. Whatever you do, DO NOT download any virus or spyware removal tools, free or otherwise, from the Internet. Many of them are spyware themselves!
While it may seem impossible to protect your private information the truth is
that we do this for our clients every day. We use a multi-layered software
approach that prevents anyone from snooping on your computer. The software we
install is free; we charge to install it and train clients in its use. To the
best of our knowledge, none of our existing clients has ever had any personal
information stolen. We offer an additional level of protection for businesses
that have computer networks; we essentially "lock-down" their network so their
computers are invisible to anyone on the Internet.
A word of caution. If your computer exhibits any of the symptoms previously
stated and it is suggested that you "format your hard drive and wipe it clean",
you are dealing with someone with zero knowledge of spyware. "Wiping it clean"
does nothing to correct the spyware problem; that is, it does nothing to ensure
it won’t happen again, and does nothing to educate you about spyware prevention. Further,
unless you have up-to-date backups, "wiping it clean" also results in the loss
of all your software and information. Equally useless is the suggestion to "upgrade your antivirus package". Once your computer is infected, spyware removal requires the use of sophisticated detection and removal tools. In many cases additional manual procedures must be performed to correct the damage caused by the spyware.
Contact us. We are
computer security experts and will correctly solve the problem. First,
we make every attempt to recover all your information from your computer
regardless of how badly infected it is with spyware. This means we can,
in almost all cases, preserve any financial information, documents, photos,
bookmarks, address book entries, and any other information you deem important.
Second, we install a safe and secure spyware prevention system. Third, we train
you in its proper use. The bottom line is that we not only remove the spyware
and do everything possible to prevent its reoccurrence; we also make every
attempt to correct any damage it may have done to your computer while
preserving your important personal information.
Here's a tip: 95% of all viruses are transmitted via the email route. You can eliminate that risk by using
Mailwasher Pro. It allows you to manage your email while it is still on the email server, BEFORE you download it to your computer. That makes it all but impossible for your computer to become infected. It also gets rid of SPAM (junkmail). We recommend
Mailwasher Pro to our clients (and use it ourselves on ALL our computers).
