To put is bluntly, much of the blame for the sorry state of security on the Internet is due to an epidemic of ignorance. Read the rest of this Post »

Yes, children. Many of the web sites children like to visit are heavily laced with adware and spyware, often very attractively disguised. All it takes is a click or two, and their computer may be seriously compromised. These are sites that are designed for children, with content that appears appropriate for children. On these sites and many others, children are prime targets for spyware and adware. Read the rest of this Post »

This article is about a hapless Internet user who learned the hard way about malware.

The problem came to his attention when his phone bill had over $300 in charges for calls he did not make.

When Davis took his computer in to have the redialer program removed, the technicians at his Internet service provider said they found 6,500 viruses, more than 100 worms and 80 different adware and spyware programs.

http://bismarcktribune.com/articles/2005/05/29/news/local/nws01.txt

And he had no clue until the phone bill arrived.

Don’t let this be you!

Or anyone you know for that matter.

You had better believe that with spyware being such a problem, that it also presents an attack vector for the villains. There are a large number of malware programs that purport to be anti-spyware, but are actually malware programs themselves.

This article details one such program: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1821134,00.asp

Our advice stick to the short list of recommended programs that are provided by well known established vendors.

Some of our recommendations can be found here: http://internet-insecurity.com/blog/recommended-list/