Introduction

Spyware: The Growing Epidemic 

Someone –maybe several “someones” – might be watching your every move online. They may know where you surf, what you buy and how you pay. They may not be able to identify you when you’re walking down the street, but they know everything else about you.

Paranoid yet? You should be. Every time you turn on your computer, you are vulnerable to being watched by someone who is using spyware. 

Spyware is a growing epidemic.  Within a few short years spyware has eclipsed computer viruses as the number one threat to computer users’ identity, personal information and internet security. Because of this, a war is going on between the creators of spyware and the research teams behind the anti-spyware tools built to combat spyware and adware. At the moment, it’s a battle of containment on the part of anti-spyware because spyware seems to be one step ahead of the spyware removal companies. 

You might be asking - why would anyone want to spy on your movements online? Why would anyone care that you email your old friends or look for stuff on eBay? The answer is simple: money. Spyware companies make over $2 billion each year and they want to keep it that way, even at the cost of your privacy and possibly your identity. 

So how do we fight this? That’s a more difficult question to answer. Many experts have technical, involved suggestions or possible solutions about why this is difficult, where the spyware is hidden, and the processes involved. But when you sit in front of your computer screen to cruise around the Internet on your suddenly sluggish PC, you just want to know how to protect your privacy and also get rid of the pop-up windows delivered by spyware or adware. You don’t need to be offered the latest refinancing proposal, get rich quick scheme, sexual enhancement, or ironically - spyware removal applications! 

The latter is the height of absurdity. Why would anyone buy a spyware removal program advertised with spyware?

        Forget the pop-ups. Simply surfing the internet, reading email and downloading music can infect your PC without you knowing it.  Your personal information can be hijacked by crooks and you won’t know it until it’s too late.

So what can we do? 

Shouldn’t we have a right to surf the internet in peace? How can we guard against an enemy we can’t even see? How do we stop this epidemic?

The best way to guard yourself and your family online is to learn about the realities of spyware. Once armed with this information, you will be able to take appropriate action and make the best choices to fit your particular computer.

Through this book, I will help you learn about spyware and how to prevent it. The more of us who know how to fight the battle; the less the epidemic can spread. Someday, maybe, we may even be able to eradicate this plague altogether. In the meantime, you can help by learning how to keep spyware off your computer. So read on and learn to inoculate your computer against this epidemic.

Chapter 1- What is Spyware >>