Why is my computer so slow, how did my homepage get changed, what is up with all these pop-up ads? If you are asking these questions you may have adware or spyware on your computer. Learn what it is and how to get rid of it.
What adware and spyware is and what it does:
Adware and spyware are small software programs that are downloaded, often with out your knowledge, to your computer. These small programs are often hidden inside free programs that can be downloaded from the Internet.
Most commonly they are hidden inside search engine tool bars, free stock tickers, weather trackers, smiley face programs, and in downloadable MP3s, movies, or music videos. Adware and spyware is not limited to these programs however, and can be hidden with in even seemingly legitimate software program downloads.
The purpose of adware and spyware is to track your activity on the Internet in order to display advertisements that will appeal to you. These advertisements are often in the form of those very annoying and increasingly intrusive pop-up ads. The adware and spyware programs will record the types of content and web pages that you are looking at on the Internet and send the data back to the owner of the adware and spyware. This person or persons in turn use the information to classify you and target advertisements toward your interests.
Some adware and spyware will go so far as to change your home page in your web browser. In other words, if when you log on to the Internet you usually see Google or MSN, you may instead see a different website. Most of the time these replacement homepages are adult content related advertising websites. Websites such as these make their money by being paid per click. In other words how much they get paid is based on how many times an advertisement on their web page is clicked on by a web user. These websites will sometimes create so many pop-up advertisements that it become virtually impossible to use your web browser.
There are also more sinister adware and spyware programs that record your key stokes on your computer. This type of adware and spyware program can lead to major privacy concerns. These programs can be used to record data that you may using to access confidential information, such as bank accounts. By recording your key stokes the adware and spyware programs can record your user names, passwords, and even credit card numbers.