How To Detect If Infected by Spyware

Depending on the type of pest that afflicts your computer, it may be very easy to check an infection, if you know the indications. Unluckily, some of the most harmful infections (spyware and Trojans) can be very hard to find. That’s why most of the checking and removing of plagues is done with software designed to do just that. Nevertheless, there are various general symptoms you need to know:
Trojans, spyware and other plagues use system resources, such as memory, CPU cycles and Internet connection.

Slow computer:
There are several things that can make your computer slow, but if you know it well, you can notice changes in his speed. Of course, a computer may slow down by running many programs at the same time, or by running a resource-starved application. Fortunately, the computers are machines, they do not slow down because are on atrocious mood. A fulminate change of you computer speed may be a sign of spy ware or ad ware.

E-mail:
If you get a lot of bounced back mail, or see indication of messages sent from your account without your knowledge, it is probably possible that Trojan spamware is causing Spam from your computer. These programs are very pesky, as your friends may open these messages, believing that you sent them… and may get infected. Even if you computer is not being used to send Spam, a Trojan can steal all the addresses of your friends, and transfer them to a spammer.

Noises and mysterious activity:
Victims of some Trojans report CD drives opening and closing enigmatically, or programs running and terminating without reason. Your computer is using the hard drive often, even though you are not doing anything? Is there an unexplored icon in your Windows system tray? Or perhaps your Internet connection displays activity, although you are not using it. These are all signs a program may be up to no groovy in the background.

Browser with its own will:
A very regular symptom is the change of some browser settings. In some cases the browser changes its start page without reason, and it even declines to acquire a start page change. Another indication is the redirection to a search page when you type a wrong URL. These symptoms show that you are most possibly infected.

Pop-up ads: Legitimate or ad ware?
“pop-up” ads are new browser windows which open directly over your browser. The “pop-under” ads are similar, but they open behind your browser.

These ads are often legitimate promotion, served by the site that you are visiting. But they can be also a symptom of ad ware on your computer. Clicking on a rogue pop-up can direct to an infection or take you to a website where danger exists.

Most legitimate pop-ups open over your browser when you visit a website. If the site is well known (ESPN, USA today, etc.), then the publicist is usually legitimate and well known as well. In some cases, the title bar of a pop-up advert starts with something like “USAToday.com advertisement” so you know where the ad developed.

When you see a pop-up, ask yourself some questions:
– Are you on line? If the ad executes when you are using Excel, or some other application that does not use Internet, is possible that the ad is caused by ad ware.

– Did you just visit a Web site or open a new Web page? Most legitimate pop-up ads execute when you open a new page.

– Which site is visiting, and who is the advertiser? Several legitimate websites use these ads, but if you’re trading in the risky waters of the Web, such as hacker sites and pornography, the pop-ups are more likely to be untrusted and deceptive and could lead to a website where spy ware or ad ware hides.

– The announcements are cognate to your recent web searches? Some spy ware and ad ware programs use this method.

By answering these questions you may surmise that there is some ad ware executing ads on your machine. If the ad looks fishy to you, or appears when you are not using Internet, or advertises work at home or get rich quick-type messages, never click on it…