Q: What is SPYWARE?

A.  Spyware is a software installed on your PC without your consensus or through outright hacking of your PC. The spyware software can steal passwords, show unwanted advertisements, collects information about the user’s surfing habits and uses that information for directing advertisements, become a server for spam and spyware etc. In short, spyware can harm you financially, reduce your productivity, and decrease the performance of your PC.

Q: What is a BHO?

A.  Browser Helper Object are COM DLLs that provide additional functionality to the Web browser. For example, ACRORD32.dll helps the user view pdf files inside the Web browser.

Q: What is a rootkit?

A.  Rootkits are tools to hide resources. Malware are using rootkits to evade detection and to regenerate. Such rootkit wielding malware are hard to detect and remove.

Q: How do I protect my PC against spyware?

A.  Protecting your PC against spyware has three components:

• Do not download install software form the Internet unless you are sure about it.
• Use SpyWall to protect your machine from getting hacked while surfing the Internet.
• Clean existing spyware on your PC as they can bring newer and deadlier forms of spyware.

Q: What are the qualities of a good anti-spyware or browser security software?

A.  In selecting a browser security or anti-spyware security software, the user should look for following features:

• Ability to scan the PC and remove spyware
• Ability to audit plugins/BHOs and startup items where spyware hides
• Ability to protect against attacks that exploit browser vulnerabilities
• Ability to control download of executable content
• Ability to blacklist undesirable sites

These features together will ensure that your PC is free from spyware.

To defeat spyware that is bundled with other products that user downloads. The user should be very careful about downloading software from the Internet and use only reputable Websites for software download.