Everyone that has a computer and uses it to browse the internet will eventually have to deal with spyware. Spyware is a computer program that is installed on your computer that you didn't ask for. Most spyware programs are used to keep track of your behavior on the internet. Spyware invasion happens to everyone at some time or another, so it is a good idea to be prepared and try to learn to effectively remove them; or better yet, not get them in the first.

Net Security Threats Spreading Fast

• Vulnerabilities are now exploited in 5.8 days on average
• 1,237 vulnerabilities came to light in the first six months of 2004
• 95% of these vulnerabilities were rated very severe or above
• 4,496 Windows viruses were detected in the first six months of 2004
• This number is four and a half times as many as in 2003
• Latvia, Macau and Israel are the top three sources of attacks
  

Some spyware programs attach themselves to your Windows program and then become impossible to remove. Not even if you go into your control panel and try to remove the program from windows directly.

Some of them will bring up porn sites every 30 minutes while you are online.

One of the reasons you get spyware is because often when a software designer wants to offer a free program, companies sponsor the effort for them on the condition that their program is encrypted into it. It advertises the sponsor's product as well as takes much of the cost away from the developer. For them it's a win, win situation, unfortunately the consumer loses.

The best thing that you can do to prevent spyware from reaching your computer is download a product that is specifically designed to remove spyware from your computer. Keep in mind that the first idea should be used first so that you don't have to use a spyware removal program. Keep in mind that all spyware has the potential for worms and viruses also.

Prevention is the best key to having a healthy computer. If you are like the rest of us, you depend on your computer for your everyday life, so keeping it healthy is a must.

20 Minutes

An unpatched Windows PC connected to the Internet will last for only about 20 minutes before it's compromised by malware, on average According to Internet Storm Center. That figure is down from around 40 minutes, the group's estimate in 2003. The Internet Storm Center, which is part of the SANS Institute, calculated the 20-minute "survival time" by listening on vacant Internet Protocol addresses and timing the frequency of reports received there.

"If you are assuming that most of these reports are generated by worms that attempt to propagate, an unpatched system would be infected by such a probe," the center, which provides research and education on security issues, said in a statement. The drop from 40 minutes to 20 minutes is worrisome because it means the average "survival time" is not long enough for a user to download the very patches that would protect a PC from Internet threats.

In a guide to patching a new Windows system, the Internet Storm Center recommends that users turn off Windows file sharing and enable the Internet Connection Firewall. Microsoft's latest security update, Windows XP Service Pack 2, will set such a configuration, but users will have to go online to get the update, opening themselves up to attack.

Internet Storm Centers Baumhardt stressed the importance of adaptability, using the human immune system as an example: "Imagine if your body said, 'Hmm, I have the flu. I've never had this before, so I'll die.' But that doesn't happen: Your body raises its temperature and so on, to buy time while other mechanisms kick in." "If the human body did patch management the way (companies do), we'd all be dead."