I am finally back online after several hours out of commission. And what caused this interruption in service you ask? Spyware, the new Spam. Just when one problem seems to be nipped in the bud, another one comes roaring out of cyberspace to waste more of your time. First it was viruses but those are less of a problem now that there are teams of people constantly working to stop them. Next there was Spam. That seems to have gotten better now that most email providers have better built in Spam filters. I guess they finally realized that people don't want to be bombarded with emails about penis enlargement and cheap prescription drugs from Mexico or Canada. But the newest and most malicious threat comes from Spyware.
Spyware is bundled into harmless programs and cookies that are downloaded from the Internet. Unsuspecting to you and I, the Spyware is installed and then proceeds to track your progress, pop up ads, or worst of all hijack your browser or even your computer. My computer was hijacked this morning and until just over an hour ago, I thought that the only solution would be to completely reformat my computer.
But thanks to a combination of patience and the benevolent work of the people at Symantec, Lavasoft, and Spybot, my computer is once again functional....for now. I believe that I am still overdue for reformatting as well as installing some kind of firewall, but at least it will be on my terms!
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twin peaks day
6 years ago
2 comments:
Amen Brother! We spent 2 weeks + just trying to get our stupid machine to work! Computers are wonderful things and you wonder how you lived without one until it freaks out on you and you can't use it anymore. Then you chastise yourself for being too dependent on it!
I concur, spyware is probably the greatest evil to attack our computers to date. I can't possibly imagine what will replace spyware once Symantec and company get up to speed and stop it, but the teens unable to express their angst in a productive way and the organized crime syndicates (more so these folks than the teens) will come up with something that is more invasive, more harmful, and more difficult to defeat. Makes me want to toss the computer out with the garbage and be done with it.
However, we must fight the good fight. A very good firewall for windows that I use on my laptop is Kerio Personal Firewall made by the good folks at kerio.com . The product alerts you any time your computer tries to connect to the outside world, and anytime the outside world tries to connect to your computer. When you first install it you will get several alerts about making connections as you normally surf the net. My advice is to install it and then spend an hour going to the sites you normally go to and logging in and out of all your bank and credit card sites. As each alert pops up make sure it is coming from the website you're visiting, then create a permanent rule to allow that traffic. Once this is done your computer will be well preotected and the firewall will be almost transparent to you.
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