Beware of Free Spyware Protection!

By Dark Sith

The Internet is a very wonderful thing. Arguably one of mankind's greatest inventions, the Internet changed the way modern man conducts his business, have fun, communicate with his fellow man; the Internet changed the way he lived. A single personal computer hooked up to a network cable is enough to open a world of knowledge and possibilities.

However, like most places, the Internet can also be a haven for lots of bad things. In this case, spywares are one of the most common problems a regular cybersurfer encounters. Spywares are programs that install themselves in your computer in order to send out information to the Internet. Some spywares are capable of stealing private data on your computer and transfer them to another person.

Several "free" anti-spywares out there are actually spywares themselves. Once you install them into your system, they will start their programmed task of bogging down your computer while sending out various information about your system to the Internet. Some spywares that are more malicious even take sensitive information outside, leaving you open to cyber attacks from other malicious software. Others cripple your system so that you will not be able to use it properly, causing you to just reformat your computer. If you haven't backed up your files, then you're pretty much shafted.

The problem is that most of these "free" anti-spyware programs are, themselves, spywares. They employ the classic trojan horse tactic. After you install these software, they immediately go into your system and maliciously get sensitive information, as well as do some other nasty tasks. In no time, you will find your computer slow down to a crawl, or even stop completely.

Be careful when you download "free" anti-spyware programs over the Internet. If you're not sure, try and research about the company that's making them first before doing any downloading. If the company checks out okay, then go ahead and get it. Remember that a good spyware detects and deletes any potential spyware before it even gets into your system. There are good free anti-spywares out there; you'll just have to keep on looking.

If you are not comfortable with downloading free software, you can also try online spyware scanners. You do not have to download anything to your computer, but only have to visit a website and click on scan.