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Frequently Asked Questions
- How can I keep my computer running smoothly?
- Signs your machine is infected?
- What is spyware?
- What is a virus?
- What is malware?
- What is a hijacker program?
- What is a popup?
- What is adware?
There are 4 (four) Basic steps to help keep you running smoothly.
- Update definitions and run full antivirus scan
daily
- Update definitions and run full anti-spyware scan
daily
- Check for Windows Updates weekly
- Run scandisk and defrag monthly
- You're deluged with pop-up ads.
- Your web browser defaults to a page you never requested, as if possessed
by a demon.
- Media files open in strange applications.
- Your machine takes a long time to do anything - boot, open programs,
shut down, etc
- You suffer frequent, unexplained slow downs
- Your computer just starts acting plain whacked.
Generically, adware (spelled all lower case) is any
software application in which advertising banners are displayed while the
program is running. The authors of these applications include additional code
that delivers the ads, which can be viewed through pop-up windows or through a
bar that appears on a computer screen. The justification for adware is that it
helps recover programming development cost and helps to hold down the cost for
the user.
Data collecting programs that are installed with
the user's knowledge are not, properly speaking,
spyware, if the user fully understands what data
is being collected and with whom it is being
shared. However, spyware is often installed
without the user's consent, as a
drive-by download, or as the result of
clicking some option in a deceptive
pop-up window.
adware, software designed to serve
advertising, can usually be thought of as
spyware as well because it almost invariably
includes components for tracking and reporting
user information.
The
cookie is a well-known mechanism for storing
information about an Internet user on their own
computer. However, the existence of cookies and
their use is generally not concealed from users,
who can also disallow access to cookie
information. Nevertheless, to the extent that a
Web site stores information about you in a
cookie that you don't know about, the cookie
mechanism could be considered a form of spyware.
Spyware is part of an overall public concern
about privacy on the Internet.
Spyware is any technology that aids in gathering
information about a person or organization
without their knowledge. On the Internet (where
it is sometimes called a spybot or
tracking software), spyware is programming
that is put in someone's computer to secretly gather information about the user
and relay it to advertisers or other interested parties.
In computers, a virus is a program or programming code that replicates by being
copied or initiating its copying to another program, computer boot sector
or document. Viruses can be transmitted as attachments to an e-mail note or in a
downloaded file, or be present on a diskette or CD. The immediate source of the
e-mail note, downloaded file, or diskette you've received is usually unaware
that it contains a virus. Some viruses wreak their effect as soon as their code
is executed; other viruses lie dormant until circumstances cause their code to
be executed by the computer. Some viruses are benign or playful in intent and
effect ("Happy Birthday, Ludwig!") and some can be quite harmful, erasing data
or causing your hard disk to require reformatting. A virus that replicates
itself by resending itself as an e-mail attachment or as part of a network
message is known as a worm.
Generally, there are three main classes of
viruses:
File infectors. Some file infector
viruses attach themselves to program files,
usually selected .COM or .EXE files. Some can
infect any program for which execution is
requested, including .SYS, .OVL, .PRG, and .MNU
files. When the program is loaded, the virus is
loaded as well. Other file infector viruses
arrive as wholly-contained programs or scripts
sent as an attachment to an e-mail note.
System or boot-record infectors. These
viruses infect executable code found in certain
system areas on a disk. They attach to the DOS
boot sector on diskettes or the Master Boot
Record on hard disks. A typical scenario
(familiar to the author) is to receive a
diskette from an innocent source that contains a
boot disk virus. When your operating system is
running, files on the diskette can be read
without triggering the boot disk virus. However,
if you leave the diskette in the drive, and then
turn the computer off or reload the operating
system, the computer will look first in your A
drive, find the diskette with its boot disk
virus, load it, and make it temporarily
impossible to use your hard disk. (Allow several
days for recovery.) This is why you should make
sure you have a bootable floppy.
Macro viruses. These are among the
most common viruses, and they tend to do the
least damage. Macro viruses infect your
Microsoft Word application and typically insert
unwanted words or phrases.
The best protection against a virus is to
know the origin of each program or file you load
into your computer or open from your e-mail
program. Since this is difficult, you can buy
anti-virus software that can screen e-mail
attachments and also check all of your files
periodically and remove any viruses that are
found. From time to time, you may get an e-mail
message warning of a new virus. Unless the
warning is from a source you recognize, chances
are good that the warning is a virus hoax.
Malware (for "malicious software") is any program or file that is harmful to
a computer user. Thus, malware includes computer
viruses, worms , Trojan horses,
and also
spyware, programming that gathers information about a computer user without
permission
A browser hijacker (sometimes called
hijackware) is a type of
malware program that alters your computer's
browser settings so that you are redirected to
Web sites that you had no intention of visiting.
Most browser hijackers alter default home pages
and search pages to those of their customers,
who pay for that service because of the traffic
it generates. More virulent versions often: add
bookmarks for pornographic Web sites to the
users' own bookmark collection; generate
pornographic pop-up windows faster
than the user can click them shut; and redirect
users to pornographic sites when they
inadvertently mistype a URL or
enter a URL without the www. preface.
Poorly coded browser hijackers -- which,
unsurprisingly, are common -- may also slow your
computer down and cause browser crashes.
Browser hijackers and the pornographic
material they often leave in their wake can also
be responsible for a variety of non-technical
problems. Employees have lost jobs because of
content and links found on their computers at
work; people have been charged with possession
of illegal material; and personal relationships
have been severed or strained. In one case in
the United States, a Russian immigrant was
convicted for possession of child pornography,
although he claims to have been the victim of a
browser hijacker.
Like
adware and
spyware, a browser hijacker may be installed
as part of a freeware installation. In this
case, the browser hijacker is probably mentioned
in the user agreement -- although, obviously,
not identified as a browser hijacker. The
problem is that users typically either ignore
the fine print or only give it a cursory
reading. A browser hijacker may also be
installed without user permission, as the result
of an infected e-mail, a file share, or a
drive-by download. To avoid contamination,
experts advise users to read user agreements
carefully, and to be cautious about freeware
downloads and e-mail messages from unknown
sources
A pop-up is a graphical user interface display
area, usually a small window, that suddenly appears ("pops up")
in the foreground of the visual interface. Pop-ups can be
initiated by a single or double mouse click or rollover
(sometimes called a mouseover), and also possibly by voice
command or can simply be timed to occur. A pop-up window must be
smaller than the background window or interface; otherwise, it's
a replacement interface.
A menu or taskbar pulldown can be considered a form of
pop-up. So can the little message box you get when you move your
mouse over taskbars in many PC applications.
A drive-by download is a program that is
automatically downloaded to your computer, often without your
consent or even your knowledge. Unlike a
pop-up download, which asks for assent (albeit in a
calculated manner likely to lead to a "yes"), a drive-by
download is carried out invisibly to the user: it can be
initiated by simply visiting a Web site or viewing an HTML
e-mail message. Frequently, a drive-by download is installed
along with another application. For example, a file sharing
program might include downloads for a
spyware program that tracks and reports user information for
targeted marketing purposes, and an
adware program that generates pop-up advertisements using
that information. If your computer's security settings are lax,
it may be possible for drive-by downloads to occur without any
action on your part.
Larry Townsend
Copyright © 2004 [ALARIC CORP]. All rights reserved.
Revised: 06/02/05.
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