Spyware has become a general term used to describe many types of malicious software. Software that gets installed without the user's consent is normally considered spyware, which can have a variety of effects on your computer.

The most noticeable effect of spyware is popup advertisements. These annoying advertisements continually show up on your screen, even when you’re not browsing the internet. The spyware distributors don’t care about who is using the computer. They will display pornographic and other adult-themed advertisements, which children might end up seeing.

Spyware will also slow down your computer. It is just like any other program. The only problem is that spyware isn’t very nice when it comes to sharing your computer’s resources.

Spyware will sometimes add toolbars and change settings in your internet browser. Your homepage and your search settings are some of the most common changes made. Some of the changes allow other spyware to easily get onto your computer.

Identity theft could also occur with spyware. Keyloggers will send every keystroke you make to the spyware distributor. This includes usernames, passwords, account numbers, etc.

I’ve heard this saying many times when it comes to peer-to-peer (P2P) software and every person that has said this has fought with spyware and virus infections on their computer. With P2P software, others on the internet are sharing their files with you and you with them. Can you trust what some of these people have? The spyware distributors love to poison P2P networks with garbage. Most users (even those not using P2P) are unaware of spyware so should you trust their files? I think not.

After all of that, here’s the real kicker. Most P2P software is even bundled with spyware. Kazaa, Morpheus, eDonkey, and iMesh all install spyware when you install them. The “share aware” philosophy is very flawed.

Avoid web sites that are not well-known or trusted. Some websites will take advantage of an internet browser’s security vulnerabilities and install spyware without your consent.

Only download software from trusted web sites. Spyware piggybacks on other software. You may know that program X is safe, but a website could package their spyware with it.

Read privacy statements, license agreements, etc. I know these have a lot of lawyer-speak, but at least skim them to see if it will install other software or use your personal information.

Beware of anything advertised as “free!” since rarely is anything truly free. There’s always a catch.

If you have one piece of spyware, chances are that you have several. Uninstalling the piece of software that the spyware was bundled with probably won’t help. To ensure that all spyware gets removed, you’ll want to use a spyware tool such as SpySweeper, SpyBot, AdAware, or Windows Defender.

There are a lot of tools on the internet. Some are free. Some are not. Some are good. Some are not. Read reviews of each product before installing any of them. There are programs that claim to remove spyware, but instead, they install more of it. Look for reviews from PC Magazine, ZDNet, PC World, or another trusted news site.

There are also tools that not only remove spyware, but also prevent spyware from being installed. These tools work like an anti-virus program. They watch the programs and files that are being used and alert you if something looks bad.

If you are using a Park University computer that is suffering from spyware, enter a ticket in Track-It and the Information Technology Services department will assist with removing it.

You can learn more about spyware at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyware.