If you suffer an attack on your computer from spyware, you will be risking all your personal information. Once the malicious program has invaded your computer, it will take control, and your information and personal details will be at risk.

These spyware programs are often contained within the music, games or photo files that are downloaded all the time from the net – so you can easily find yourself infected. In fact if you do not have any Spyware Protection Software you stand a very high chance of spyware infecting your computer system.

This type of malicious program installs on your computer without your knowledge or permission, and it will then begin to track all of your online activity. This can then be passed back to the company that is in control of the spyware.

There are many tools on the market for removing Spyware, but really you should be looking a spyware protection software.

One company that has been producing computer system security software for ten years is Lavasoft, so you can be sure that they know what they are doing!

Their latest release Ad-Aware Internet Security offers a comprehensive malware protection package. This software is available as a free download for home use only. With the free version you will receive automatic updates, and it will protect you against trojans, spyware, rootkits, key loggers and much more.

The next version is the Plus Ad-Aware, and this has all the features of the free version plus anti-virus protection and removal, real time registry and process protection and a facility for blocking certain website – so if you have children you can protect them from online predators.

The other two versions available are the Pro and the Business, which as the name suggests has been specifically designed for businesses. More details about these versions of the software can be found here

Have some of your software functions stopped working properly?
Do you experience difficulty connected to the internet?
Do adverts suddenly appear on your screen?
Has the level of your junk mail suddenly increased?
Do unfamiliar toolbars suddenly appear?
Do you find additional icons by your clock?
Does your home page change unexpectedly and whatever you do you can’t change it back?

If you find that you have answered yes to some of these, then this could well be an indication that you have become a victim of spyware.

So what exactly is Spyware?
In basic terms it’s a program that spies on what you do with your computer.  Spyware is able to gather together all kinds of information all without your knowledge.

Some spyware programs are more irritating than harmful as they tend to only show adverts and they send the collected information to various advertising companies so they know the type of adverts to give you.  But there are much nastier versions of Spyware, those that try and catch your passwords or even your credit card details.

What are the potential soruces of spyware?
This can vary, but some of the more common ones to watch out for are:

• file sharing programs,

• programs that state they provide special offers while you are internet shopping

• programs that give animated cursors, smileys etc

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but these are certainly the more common ways to find your computer infected with Spyware.

To remove spyware from your computer you need to use a professional spyware removal program, and these are widely available.   Best of all you need to ensure that your spyware protection is upto date and then you should not find yourself troubled with spyware