Spyware is Becoming an Epidemic

Spyware is becoming an epidemic. Untold millions of computers are infected with what some advertisers call "Browser Helper Objects". Others however, might disagree that they are in fact helping. Most perceive having applications surreptiously planted on their computers to track their movements and communicate with a central server as...well, hacking, more than marketing.

As data mining becomes ever more popular with advertisers, their efforts to collect data about you and your surfing habits gets more competitive. This information is then returned back to advertisers, who analyze the kinds of sites you visit, your online shopping habits, and where you are most likely to spend your time - which increases the liklihood of those advertisers being able to sell their wares to you.

As this competitive pressure increases, their efforts to produce results drives them to increasingly invasive tactics to acquire data to sell to advertisers. Thus the spyware epidemic.

The best defense against spyware is a good offense. Shut down unused services in your computer and close unecessary ports. Run a personal firewall and update your anti virus definitions weekly. Keep your Windows software up to date as well. By doing these simple items, you can greatly reduce the risk of being another spyware victim.

This article is courtesy of Free-Spyware-Adware-Removal.net. For more information on spyware, please visit their site.

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