Section 10 - What are Adware and Spyware?

Adware is unwanted advertising banners, pop-ups, pop-unders, etc. in your web browser. Spyware is a catchall term for several types of malicious software. The consequences of a moderate to severe spyware infection (privacy issues aside) generally include a substantial loss of system performance and major stability issues (crashes and hangs). Spyware consists of computer software that gathers information about a computer user without the user’s knowledge or informed consent, and then transmits this information to an external entity.

How does it get onto your computer?

It often arrives attached to other software that you intentionally install. Many ‘freeware’ and ‘Shareware’ programs that you download over the net include from one to several parasite programs that will silently install themselves as you install the software that you actually wanted. Some may also arrive through email. Unlike viruses, these usually announce themselves. Many install themselves on your system when you simply visit a web site that hosts them. These are know as ‘Drive-by Installations’.

To get rid of Adware and Spyware visit the Computing Help website for more information.