|
Who's Watching Your Every Move? |
|
|
|
 Do you ever have the feeling that you're being watched? Is it a comfortable feeling? If you knew that you were being watched and could do something about it, would you? Well, chances are, you are being watched -- at least your movements on your computer. With identity theft and phishing schemes on the uprise, it makes sense to protect yourself.
Spyware and adware are two classes of programs that end up on the
majority of PCs without the owners realizing that they are even there.
Yet the symptoms are something that most people can readily identify:
- A barrage of popup ads appear
- The computer begins running slower than normal, sometimes getting to the point of being practically unusable
- Weird things happen: a printer stops working or works
erratically, the computer dials out by itself, you hear your hard drive
crunching away while you aren't even using the computer
- Error messages appear out of nowhere when you boot up or shut down Windows
Is this happening to you? If so, your computer has probably been
infiltrated by adware, spyware, viruses, worms or trojans. Adware and
spyware both can be used to make popup windows appear. They can also
run code on your computer that reports the details of your Internet
usage to a remote computer where it is tracked and sold to marketers --
who then hit you with more targeted popup ads. Viruses and worms can
do everything from destroy your data to affect the operation of your
PC. Trojans can be used to download more software onto your computer
without your knowledge, send out spam all over the Internet without
your permission or provide an open door for a remote hacker to access
your computer as if sitting in front of it.
Pernicious? Diabolical? Wrong? Yes, but very possibly on your computer.
Since WingNET advertised our spyware/adware/virus detection and removal
service, we have had a good response of customers who have brought in
their computers for checking. We found that 100% of the computers
brought into our offices had some type of adware/spyware/virus on it. That's 100%.
Further, at a local business where we were asked to come perform this
check, we found that 40% of the computers in the building were
infected. The severity of infections ranged from porn adware to popup
software to backdoor trojans and even one keylogger for capturing
keystrokes. Try doing your online banking with that loaded on your PC!
What can you do? The first thing is not to download every piece of
software you see that claims to clean your computer. Unfortunately,
some of the software that claims to rid you of spyware is actually
spyware itself. That's a cruel joke, but the people who write such
programs don't care.
WingNET began offering our scanning service to our customers because we
had heard from so many people about the problems they were having with
their computers running slower and slower and that popup ads were
becoming unbearable. During the time you bring your computer, we
check for the various software mentioned above. We also attempt to
update your Windows operating system itself. If you run Windows XP, we
attempt to install Service Pack 2 and related patches and updates. Our
goal is to help you get a clean computer and help you keep it that
way. It makes for a better Internet experience, and it helps to reduce
your frustration with computers -- at least a little. ;-)
The price for this service is $39.95 for computers dropped off at our
location. Just bring the computer itself without monitor/kb/mouse.
If you do NOT have an antivirus software package that is current, we sell licenses for AVG which cost $33.30 + tax for two full years of antivirus protection as well as free support with their helpdesk.
Contact us by phone (559.5465) to arrange your appointment or e-mail us using the contact form on this website. |
Access Numbers
