Aladdin Computers

CIASA Member

Spyware is type of software inside of a larger group of software called malware. The Definition for malware is any program that is designed to take control of/damage a computer without the user's knowledge or permission. As a comparison to the severity of malware, by definition, viruses & trojans are also malware.

Spyware is defined as a program that sends information about a user to someone on the internet without the user’s knowledge or permission. This information can be anything from what websites have been visited to credit card numbers. Spyware can quite often be associated with adware, although they both perform different functions.

Adware is software that displays advertisements on a user computer. These can be displayed in popup windows to even taking over homepages and search engines. Adware quite often works in conjunction with spyware to provide more relevant advertisements. The spyware tracks what websites have been visited, and now knows the users’ interests. From that data, the adware can send advertisements about the content of the sites visited.

Spyware and adware can be very difficult to remove because they often integrate themselves with the Operating System (Windows) and Web Browser (Internet Explorer). We recommend using spyware removal tools to remove the malware from an infected computer. Two free programs to remove spyware are Spybot – S & D and Ad-Aware Personal. If the computer still has problems after running the spyware removal tools, the spyware is too severe to be handled by these programs. Just bring the computer into our store and our trained technicians will do what they can to bring the machine back to brand new condition.