Chances are, you have spyware on your computer. If you're using Microsoft's Internet Explorer, and if you've been visiting a wide variety of Web sites, that chance reaches close to certainty. And if you've ever clicked on a pop-up offer of any kind, including an offer to check for spyware, then you can assume you're infected.
After you're infected, you probably don't notice anything bad at first. And in many cases, nothing very bad does happen. Many spyware programs just report back on what Web sites you visit or what software you're running. But some report back your user names and passwords, checking account and credit card numbers, or even on the contents of your hard disk.
Wayne Rash has a nice round-up of products that help you fight spyware. He starts with explaining the basics of spyware, their impact on your privacy, your PC performance and then he reviews some of the tools available to get rid of spyware. As per Rash, the most workable solution is to ditch Windows and use Linus or MacOS. Secondly, he wants you to stop using IE and switch to Mozilla browsers to prevent your PC from getting infected again when you just cleaned it. Also, don't click on pop-ups, don't click on unexpected links in e-mail; they may lead you to spyware along with a lot of other nasty things.
Rash has reviewed Ad-aware, Spybot, MS Antispyware and Yahoo's Toolbar in this article. Any of the three applications will take care of at least most of the spyware on your system, and that will give you the breathing room you need to decide how you want to proceed.
After you're infected, you probably don't notice anything bad at first. And in many cases, nothing very bad does happen. Many spyware programs just report back on what Web sites you visit or what software you're running. But some report back your user names and passwords, checking account and credit card numbers, or even on the contents of your hard disk.
Wayne Rash has a nice round-up of products that help you fight spyware. He starts with explaining the basics of spyware, their impact on your privacy, your PC performance and then he reviews some of the tools available to get rid of spyware. As per Rash, the most workable solution is to ditch Windows and use Linus or MacOS. Secondly, he wants you to stop using IE and switch to Mozilla browsers to prevent your PC from getting infected again when you just cleaned it. Also, don't click on pop-ups, don't click on unexpected links in e-mail; they may lead you to spyware along with a lot of other nasty things.
Rash has reviewed Ad-aware, Spybot, MS Antispyware and Yahoo's Toolbar in this article. Any of the three applications will take care of at least most of the spyware on your system, and that will give you the breathing room you need to decide how you want to proceed.