Similar problems can be encountered with malware as with a virus. Malware is essentially a programme that is installed onto your computer (usually unknowingly) that does things that you are unaware of. For instance companies, like Microsoft or advertising agencies, put tracking cookies or data mining cookies on your system that will provide them information about your computing practices.
Most of these are not dangerous but sometimes a more malicious one will take control of parts of your computer. For instance when you connect to the Internet it takes you to a website you haven't seen before, or you get pop up ads from dodgy places (often pornographic), or it tries to dial another phone number instead of your ISP.
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All of these are frustrating and can be prevented with a combination of a good antivirus programme, a firewall, and a programme to detect and eliminate malware. A couple of free programmes that assist with malware include AdAware and Spybot.
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You can purchase these programmes by downloading them from the Internet, or get them free from magazines (or me). To find the download sites on the Internet just do a search on your favourite search engine and they will show up quickly. However be very careful when downloading what you think is a programme to get rid of spyware as many variations are available and some spyware pretends to be a genuine anti malware programme. Currently there is an effort being made to prosecute several companies that have tried this scam. Your best defense is to ask a professional in this field before doing anything yourself, or at least do some research before you take the plunge. |