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What is spyware?

If your computer was a refrigerator, would it be acceptable to you if it:

• Let the milk spoil every day, so you had to throw it out and start over?
• Add things you did not want, spill them all over, and make you spend hours cleaning them up?
• Change all your food around so it was inaccessible for you and unsafe for children?

Well, that’s what spyware can do to your computer. Even worse, it can silently alter your computer, invade your privacy and take over 100% of your computer power, without your knowledge or permission.

Spyware is loosely defined as a program that gains access to your computer, usually entering through your Internet connection. In various disguises, it tracks and disseminates information about you to other people or companies, uses the power of your computer for its own data processing and uses your Internet connection, stealing excess bandwidth, all without your consent, and often without your knowledge. Sounds creepy, I know, but it’s not exaggeration. I solve spyware problems daily and deal with countless clever variations, watching the insidious behavior, stolen disk space, and hidden files.

E-mail:  Helen @cclarity.com

Helen Gallagher  • Computer Clarity  • Phone:  847-998-6240

UPDATED 11/10/05