|
| |
The Threats Are Real...
Viruses, spyware, and adware, collectively known as malware, presents
a clear danger to you, your family, and your computer. Although it may
currently infest your computer, its presence is not your fault. Many
unscrupulous individuals make their living finding new and tricky ways to sneak
this stuff onto your computer without your knowledge. The table below
describes these threats and their symptoms.
Malware - Internet Nasties
|
Threat
|
Description
|
Dangers
|
Symptoms
|
Spyware & Trojan Horses
|
Software that
secretly gathers your information through your Internet connection
without your knowledge, usually for advertising purposes. Spyware is often
bundled as something you downloaded or installed from a website you visited.
Once installed, the spyware monitors your activity on the Internet and
transmits that information in the background to someone else. Spyware can
also gather information about e-mail addresses and even passwords and credit
card numbers.
|
- Identity theft
- Unauthorized phone charges
- Computer hardware/software damage
- "Zombie" computer - Your computer is controlled
by someone else to perform malicious acts on others
- System instability
|
- Computer sluggish or unresponsive
- Hardware acting up (cd door opens by itself, random
reboots, etc)
- Browser acts up (Home page won't stay set, can't close
pages, etc.)
- Ads constantly appear in browser
- Windows error messages and crashes
- Modem dials 900 numbers automatically
- New "favorites" in web browser
- New toolbars on browser
|
Adware & Pop-Ups
|
A program that
displays targeted advertising, or reports users habits or information to
third parties. Often bundled in free internet software. |
- Computer hardware/software damage
- Performance decrease
- System corruption
|
- Annoying or inappropriate ads
display even when not
on the internet
- Excessive pop-up ads
- Pop-ups, pop-unders that won't close
- You try to close a pop-up and more
pop-ups show up
|
Viruses
|
A program designed
to replicate itself and spread to other computers. Some viruses additionally
are designed to damage data or halt operations on a system. Viruses can
spread through diskettes, CD-ROMs, email attachments, and the Internet. |
- Computer hardware/software damage
- Performance decrease
- Security threat
- System corruption
- Identity theft
|
- System crashes or won't boot
- Friends receive emails from you that you never sent
- Data files lost or corrupted
|
Most people don't really take much notice of the damage
caused by malware. For example, when you open your email, you will often find
yourself receiving tons of junk emails. Normally you just delete them, but
they just seem to be increasing in number. One of the common reasons for
receiving this junk mail is that a piece of spyware, or even a virus, is sending
your email address to these people so they can continuously bombard you with
junk e-mail. These types of spyware are called data miners. Another type
of spyware, the key logger, records your every keystroke and sends the data back
to the spyware developer in the hopes to get your account numbers and passwords. Don't be a victim,
contact Taylor5 today!
Taylor5 Has The Solutions...
Do you want to:
- Regain the stability of your PC?
- Experience the speed your PC used to have?
- Enjoy your computing once again?
- Get things done on your system without interference?
- Feel confident and secure online knowing you have active, ongoing
protection?
If so, call Taylor5 today. We will first rid your computer of this junk
and then put in place protective software barriers to defend your computer into
the future.
Note: Although rare, Malware cleanup may result in
loss of data. You are advised to backup your data prior to cleanup,
particularly if the computer is seriously infected.
|
