John Locke said that “no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions”, Yet as I sit here at my computer this morning, I get the feeling that the attempts being made to keep the Internet’s safe will not come to fruition soon.

Yes, I can hear you saying, “don’t be such a downer, Doug”

Well, hear me out.

Lets explore John Lockes quote shall we?

Life. Yours, mine, your loved ones. Its yours, to do with what you will. Well, sometimes your will is to use the Internet’s. But how secure are you? Is your AntiVirus, Anti spyware nd Firewall working and up to date? Do you know what is a Spam email is and not to click on the URL they provide? These decisions can affect your life if you are online.

Next, Liberty or as I prefer to think of, Freedom. To have access to particular resources without constraint. If online threats are making your life hectic, would you consider your rights violated? I would if I found out that some drive by download had installed a keylogger on my computer and then cleaned out my bank account. Or how about while you’re trying to conduct business online and you keep getting these awful pop=ups telling you about the sale at Harveys Fish Emporium.

Are your Liberties/ Freedoms being constrained yet?

Now we come to the best part, the pursuit of spyware Ok, so John Locke didn’t say anything about Spyware, Write your own article, this ones mine!

Threats to our online safety are growing in leaps and bounds by the day. I learned long ago, there is always someone out there who is better than anyone previously. The attacks on servers, the Bot networks, the phishing, the URL re-directs, Keyloggers, Image Spam, it just goes on and on. Your personal information is at risk every minute you are online.

I know, you have the best AntiVirus, Anti spyware and Firewall there is. But is it really? How do you know? When was the last time you ran “Hijack This” and uploaded the results to a help Forum like MajorGeeks, Bleeping Computer or DaniWeb? Its the only way to make sure your computer is clean. And theres no guarantee it wont become re-infected two minutes after you leave the Forum.I know it happens because I frequent these Forums and I see hundreds of freaked users pleading for help. Many are repeat submitters.

Which brings me to the whole purpose of this article. To bring into the spotlight those out there who fight everyday to help keep us safe. They sit at their computers for hours at a time, examining postings in Forums to help others they don’t even know stay out of the clutches of those who would benefit from the misfortune of others.

Ever get that feeling of helplessness that comes when your computer wont work right.

Remember? Not fun huh? These people read your postings and know your pain. Its hard to do this also, they have to help you fix your computer thru posting instructions for you to do. Miscommunication and frustrations can cause it to take longer and compound the repairs.

Then there are the organizations that go after the meanies that cause your pain.

They put out alerts and issue fixes. These include The Alliance of Security Analysis Professionals, The Anti-Spyware Coalition, The Council of Advocates for Relief from Malware Assimilation, The Spamhaus Project, just to name a few. There are plenty more out there that are fighting the good fight every day. The goal is a communication arena where all can participate without concern of malicious intent.

Kind of like the old days when the Internet first existed.

Back then there were “Hackers”. They were mostly driven by ego and competition to see who was the best. Now its mostly about money. Legions of Bot captured computers sending out Spam and ads going to millions and millions of unprotected servers, computers and of course, into your email. Theres also the Pharming of websites, waiting like a spider in its lair for you to show up and give you a lil driveby download of something special. You name the evil that people do and you can find it online. Thank goodness the goodness of the Internet’s is on the other side of the scale.

So, the solution? Make another one and try again? I don’t have the answer, I do know that there are good people out there who want safety for all and are making a good show of it. They deserve our thanks.

I believe there is alway bad that comes with the good. A balance or whatever. And like the other saying goes, Retaining Freedom for all requires constant vigilance.

So be vigilant.

Software such as Spyware is commonly used to perform certain actions and behaviors such as online advertisements, also known as pop up ads, collecting your personal information, and/or even changing the your computers configuration entirely without you even knowing it and without your consent!
Having a freeware spyware remover installed on your computer system not only removes the existing spyware nd adware pests, it also prevents your system from being attacked and invaded by future threats. The program will auto update to ensure you are protected from all forms of virus attacks and keep your computer protected as long as you have the service installed.
You can choose from an unlimited number of anti virus remover software on the net these days, but the one that I like most is the “NoAdware V4″ remover. It is a Free Download and can be used immediately to remove those nasty malicious attacks that are embedded within your computer system. Once installed, it will unleash its fury upon those nasty viruses and began to detect, identify and destroy them dead in their tracks! NoAdware features real-time protection and monitoring to ensure your computer is not under future attacks and thus keeping your files and system safe from prying eyes.
There are many other virus protection software on the market that will also effectively do the job of getting rid of computer viruses. Just be sure you do thorough research on the type of anti-virus removal software you plan to use and please ensure they are not bogus or false downloads. Otherwise, you are looking to have more devastation and destruction added to your entire computer system. And surely, you would not want that to happen by no means!
These bogus spyware emovers (I call them pretenders) will pretend to be an anti virus ad remover, which are only pop-ups proclaiming they detected spyware n your computer now and will prompt you to click on their download button now to get rid of the threats. But don’t do it! A REAL anti-virus removal system will never “so call” remotely quick scan your computer and state that you have a threat, nor will a REAL virus removal program request you download directly from the net after this “so called” quick scan. This bogus trick has happen to me before and let me tell you, once it has installed and embedded into your computer system, it will effect not only one computer but any other computers that are sharing your network system…ouch! Now you have doubled your troubles.
Some virus removal products can actually cause more harm than good and some are just simply not effective enough. These are the ones that can pose more threats to your privacy and security than certain other bogus programs. For example, such less effective spyware are only able to detect the virus threats after they have been installed and embedded in your system, and only then will they try to scan and remove the nasty culprit.

Don’t be fooled–Real Antivirus s a scam. How it starts is you get flooded with intrusive, deceptive pop-ups telling you that your computer is infected and the only hope is to click the pop-up. You are scared that your computer may be harmed, so you click the pop-ups and go to the Real Antivirus also called RealAV) website where a fake scan runs and tells you that you are infected. Yes, I said fake scan. The files it lists as infecting your computer are not on your computer. If you do a search you will find they don’t exist, but most people are so alarmed at this point that they just want to get the infection off their computer without even checking if its real or not.After the scan you are pressured to pay $89.95 on a credit card for a full version of Real Antivirus Many cave in at this point, falling for the scare tactics, and give their credit card information to get the infection off their computer. The problem is you are not giving your credit card information to a legitimate company–you are giving your credit card information to scammers. There is no telling how they will use your credit card information.Now that you have given your money to Real Antivirus you get the “program.” The program is really a bundle of spyware, malware and adware . You still get pop-ups, your computer is being monitored for personal confidential information that will get sent to the original programmers of Real Antivirus, and your computer could be being used in denial-of-service attacks or for spamming others. Your computer will completely slow down because of all the background processes running on your computer, thanks to Real Antivirus. Real Antivirus is also known to hijack your web browser. We’ve also seen this program before as a different name; Real Antivirus s a clone of Antivirus 2008.How did you get this infection in the first place? Maybe you opened up some spam and got it, or maybe you thought you were going to watch a video and got it since it likes to disguise itself as a ActiveX codec. Aside from spam, the most common place to find it is on porn sites, but that doesn’t mean that is the only place to find it. Creators of programs like Real Antivirus re always looking for more ways and places to spread their programs.So how do you remove Real Antivirus I hate to tell you, but it is not easy. You have to do some research. As you learned with Real Antivirus not all programs that say they get rid of infections on your computer do so. Some, as you have learned, are infections themselves. That is why you have to do some research. The best place to start is to look for a program with awards. Some examples of legitimate awards are Tucows 5 Star Rating, Soft14.com’s 5 Stars, 5StarShare.com Editor’s Pick, Topshareware.com 5 Stars, and WUGNET’s Hall of Fame. If a program has any of these awards you can be assured you’re getting a legitimate program that has proven itself to work well. I mean, if you are going to spend money on something, don’t you want to be sure it not only works, but works well?

When running across different products on the Internet, such as MS Antivirus, you have to be cautious.  Programs cannot download themselves onto your computer until you give them access to do so, however now-a-days you may be giving t hese programs access and not even know it.MS Antivirus is a great example of this situation.  The program will pop up on your computer while you are on the Internet, pretending to be able to scan and remove malicious software (malware).  Unfortunately, MS Antivirus cannot do either.  The only thing this program can do is download its own malware onto your hard drive.  The way it does this is through getting you to click “OK” to a free scan of your computer system.  Once you click “OK” to the free scan, this is the only access MS Antivirus needs to start downloading.  Meanwhile, you will be presented with an elaborate show of a scan which is completely fabricated.  Once the scan is complete and the list of harmful programs is presented to you, MS Antivirus will try to get you to buy the full version of their program to get rid of the problem programs.  Even if you opt to not buy a full version, wary of the program’s validity, you will still be bombarded with pop ups telling you that your computer is at risk.  These pop ups will slow down your computer substantially and continue to harass you about buying their product.The worst part of this whole situation is that this MS Antivirus is not just ruining your computer for fun.  MS Antivirus s lifting your personal information, often keeping track of your every key stroke and waiting for you to enter your credit card number or anything else that they can use to gain a profit off of you.  Now that you have encountered this program and accidentally downloaded it, you need to get rid of it.  Your computer is useless and your personal information is at risk here.  Unfortunately, you cannot just hit “uninstall.”  The programmers were smarter than this.The problem here is that the Trojan horses that allow the programmers to hide their malware in your computer are very well hidden.  These files will be temporary and be given names that make them appear essential to your computer.  So, even if you find and delete most of the files from MS Antivirus, you can never get all of them.  You will need to seek professional help for your computer in order to get rid of this malware that you are now stuck with.  It is not the end of the world, and there are many reputable companies that can help you, but you need to be cautious.  Find a company that has a great reputation and even a guarantee on their services.  Your malware problem is not the end of the world, but you do need to take care of it quickly and reliably by seeking help from people who know all about malware.

Does your computer lock up? Have files become unusable? Do you have problems accessing the internet? Or do pop ups constantly appear on your screen making it impossible to search the internet? Do you frequently have documents you need to save and don’t have adequate memory on your computer? Do you worry about your security when you open emails, attachments, download and make purchases online? If so, then the Panda Software protection and repair products may be what you need to repair and protect your computer and information.
Internet Security 2008 offers the total package of features: parental controls, anti spam, anti rootkit, anti phishing, blocking of unknown threats to your computer, anti phishing, firewalls, identity protection, detection of the newest viruses personal computer “tune ups,” ; and an information backup system on their secure server.
First, Panda Software protects your computer from viruses, spyware spyware phishing, and spam. It provides your system with valuable firewall protection. Junk mail is filtered from your email inbox. Phishing is used to trick consumers into providing their confidential information by pretending to be from a legitimate site like a bank or well-know shopping service like Amazon.com. This software detects the programming behind these phishing email messages and identifies them as dangerous. Internet Security 2008 also detects the rootkit technology used in spyware rograms, which are used to creep into your system undetected and “steal” information stored on your computer as well as monitor your internet usage. This information is then used for identity theft, fraudulent use of your information to gain employment, credit lending and many other purposes. The firewall protection keeps hackers from accessing your computer when you are using the Internet.
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