Bookmark Your Favorite Websites

If your work involves a lot of internet browsing, you can save time by using a store bookmark. Storing and organizing your bookmarks in one place helps when you wish to access a particular website that you visit often. It helps speed up your search in amazingly quick ways.


Bookmarking
Normal bookmarking is done usually by using the menu for the same, but this can have many drawbacks. If you use another computer at your workplace, you will not be able to access your saved bookmarks from your PC or laptop. If you wish to share your bookmarks with your friends or family, you will not be able to do so when you use normal bookmarking. Store bookmark can help you with this problem by helping you store and use your bookmarks as a webpage.


Faster Browsing
With the internet becoming an inevitable part of daily living, using the online bookmarks option has many benefits. It helps you to put together your favorite links and most visited web pages for easy access. More than this other people can search through your bookmark lists. This new phenomenon has great potential if you wish for more visitors to your website. Your links will draw visitors to your website through non-reciprocal links. Storing, managing, and organizing bookmarks become easy when you register at the store bookmark website.


The Procedure
The social bookmarking site has an easy procedure to follow. You can sign up through the popular social networking account or by registering on the website by filling out the online form in five easy steps. You then get access to toplinks or any of the usual sites you visit. You can add new websites to your list of links to access easily with one click. You can bookmark your site and add a subcategory as well. This helps you visit your favorite sites with one simple click on the webpage.


Power Search
Store bookmark site has a powerful search option which makes your search faster and gives you greater results. When you enter the search criteria in the given search box and click on the search button, you will see three distinct areas. The first is the usual search results, the second is the bookmarks from other members related to your search topic, and the third is the relevant content areas where you can find the related search topics in various sections.


Organizing Your Sites
Adding and rearranging your favorite sites is easy. You have to type your site into the search button. And when the site opens, you click on the top right-hand corner and click on add to topsites button. If you wish to rearrange the sites, simply click and drag the sites and arrange.


Bookmarking a site is simple as you only need to enter the name of the site on add new bookmark area, add a subcategory if you wish, and click the done button. You can add this to the toplinks and click on the thumbnail when you wish to go to your favorite website. Store bookmark is a faster and more efficient way to browse the web.

Networks

When most people think of computer networks they think of large businesses. Many people have networked their home systems to enable a shared internet connection, shared files and even shared printing capabilities. The process of sharing resources and data between more than one computer is referred to as computer networking. When you link the computers together they are capable of not only sharing the internet connection, printer, FAX and other components but are also capable of sharing files, pictures, songs and other data stored on the hard disk.


Networking Explained
The network can be divided into a local or small area network such as a LAN network where computers are shared within an office building or home space, MAN where two or more locations are connected throughout an area and WAN where the network can be created to connect to a home or office from anywhere in the country.


WAN is the most common use for connectivity, it allows the network to connect to millions of computers across the globe. The WAN network is the world's largest network and through connection if a router and running the proper software you can be connected to any location from just about anywhere in the world.
Computer networks can be wired or wireless, although there are not many who use the wired feature these days. Depending on the set up you need, how you need to access the main computer and how many you need to link together will determine the type of network you need to create.


There are two main ways to connect the computers, through client-server systems and through peer-2-peer servers. The client-server network has a main computer or computers that work as the server for the network. The data, files, pictures, docs and other information is stored on these servers that are then accesses from various computers that are on the network. The other computers in the network are called the clients and they are linked to the server to get any or all of their information.


Peer-2-Peer networks allow each computer to choose what information will be shared. There is no main server where it is all stored, each hard drive is open to the network and each computer on the network will be given the appropriate access to the hard drives on each system. Most home users have the peer-2-peer network setup where they can pick and choose what information is needed or wanted from each system in the home on the network. Most businesses use the client-server network with different topologies or structures or designs within their layouts.


The common language or communications between computers when networking are known as protocols. The most popular and commonly used protocols are the TCP/IP where it works with several protocols and not just a single protocol. The TCP/IP protocol can be used and will work with either wired or wireless connections and can be used through the client-server or peer-2-peer networks.


Setting Up a Home Network
There are some great programs out there that will walk you through setting up a home network in no time. You do not have to be a network engineer and it takes little knowledge of how the network actually works. You basically only have to the systems you wish to connect or link together in the network, an internet connection and the ability to follow simple instructions.
 If you are setting up a wireless internet connection you will not have to worry about running cables from one computer to the next and the only thing that will be done is some simple changes in the networking section of each computer. 
You can create a secured connection that is protected with a password to ensure that you do not have an open connection to outsiders who wish to snoop through your shared files. You get the option on each system to choose what you want to share and what you do not. 
You can create a folder that is for the network and put it on a virtual drive, this way no one can enter the actual computer's hard drive, just the file and what is stored on it. The process for computer networks is simple and easy to do and can make a multiple computer home run much smoother.

10 Quick Facebook Marketing Tips

Here's 10 simple Facebook tips to help you make money on Facebook. They are simple to implement and yet missed by many marketers using Facebook to promote products.


1. You can have more than one fan page. This might seem like simple information, but lots of marketers don't know this. You can create a fan page for each niche you are active in.


2. Cloaking Facebook links - If you paste a link into the Facebook's Share link form, FB sends a spider to the page and builds a link. If you're doing affiliate marketing, the link describes the affiliate management site rather than the product you are promoting.
You can post a link without this happening by writing a status update about the product, then adding a comment with the link. Links within comments aren't read by Facebook so only the URL shows.


3. When you post status updates on Facebook, immediately add a comment with additional information. This increases the size of your update in news feeds and makes it stand out.


4. Don't use your name for your fan page unless you're famous. If you aren't Brad Pitt or Sigourney Weaver, you should be using a descriptive name that includes keywords for your pages.
When you use your name for a fan page and your profile, you risk confusing people, and miss out on people finding your page when they use the Facebook search form.
Also, when someone shares something on your page with their friends, your name will mean nothing.


5. You must include a newsletter opt in form on your fan page. Most of the people who see your page - even the ones who like your page, will forget about you within days or weeks.
Remember, Facebook will stop showing your updates to people to liked your page if they don't interact with your page. This takes 7 to 14 days depending on how many friends the fan has, and how many pages he likes.


6. Don't worry about how often you should post on your Fan page, instead concentrate on posting information that will benefit your fans.
Copywriters have a saying, "It can never be too long, just too boring." This means as long as you have someone's attention, they will keep reading.
On Facebook, if you provide information your fans benefit from, they won't mind a few posts now and then that don't interest them.


7. If you provide your clients with free wifi, set your Facebook page as the default landing page they see after logging in.


8. Create a special landing page just for people who aren't already fans, and set it as the default landing page. On your welcome page, tell the people why they should like your page.
Take it to the next level and offer them a bonus free report for liking your page.


9. Don't be afraid to post links to competitors and peers on your fan page. The more links you post to quality content, the more you'll learn about your fans.


10. Send updates to all your fans every few weeks with links to articles on your blog, website or fan page. This will get your fans back into your funnel.


These ten tips will help you get better results on your Facebook fan pages.

Social Proof

Social proof is continuing to play a paramount role in determining how a web page ranks in the search engines. This article is going to define what is social proof and what you need to know to use it to your advantage.


Social proof means that the actions which other people have taken in the past can influence people in the present to believe that those actions represent correct behavior. The effect of this is that those people take the same actions themselves. Social proof is especially powerful on the internet where it influences people to do all kinds of things just because someone else has done it before them.


Most of the time, social proof reflects a real truth, other times it does not. Whether or not that action is in reality correct or not seems to be a moot point, however.


Some examples of social proof could be putting a ticker for either your total number of subscribers for your email list or your Twitter following. If you have a substantial number of Twitter followers, someone is far more likely to also follow you while you have that proof in place.


We're starting to see social proof being shown off everywhere. Virtually any popular blog or website which you go to has social network integration. Even the major social networks have available integration with the other major players.


Of course this proof isn't just aesthetic or important to impress potential followers, friends, etc. but it's also very important in terms of the search engines. Google for example has recently shaken up their algorithm which they use to rank web pages. They do this quite often, but recently they dealt a large blow to content farms.


I believe that a major effect of this update was that Google took a much greater emphasis on proof. Whereas content farms were symbols of low quality, Google looked for the only true metric for measuring quality according to other people. This is again where social networks like Facebook come into play.


The more "Likes" a web page has, the more implied quality is in its content. Google knows that bad content won't get praised by its peers, so this is a reliable way from its eyes to decide what is of higher quality and deserves a more visible search engine ranking. Google is effectively putting its own users in charge of deciding what is good and what is bad and, consequently, how a web page should be ranked.

Social Bookmarking

Now if you've been involving yourself in the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) business for quite some time, then you would know all too well about the significance that link building serves in the profitability and online visibility of any web marketing business. Obviously, online businesses need a good website that features useful content and information about the services and products that you are offering online. No matter how good your website is or how interesting or how useful your content is though, all of that would certainly amount to nothing if online users can't even find it online which is why some form of online advertisement is clearly needed. Backlinks are a significant part of implementing such advertisements and one of the most effective methods for building links lies in social bookmarking.


What exactly is social bookmarking?
Social bookmarking as an effective and viable SEO strategy revolves around storing and organizing bookmarks in fairly much the same way as you add sites to your favorites except that in this case, the websites that were bookmarked can be accessed by anyone online. Websites for social bookmarks were initially intended as an online resource that practically anyone could tap into that is until it was discovered that it presents an excellent opportunity for one-way link building. These sites often feature fairly high page ranks which mean they possess relevance and authority in the eyes of major search engines which will certainly benefit your efforts at attaining quality and effective backlinks.


Social bookmarking and its advantages
If you look up several resources online about the subject, you'll find that among the significant advantages of this particular solution for building links is its accessibility and convenience. You can access your bookmarks from practically any computer connected online. This enables web marketers to reach out a broader range of audience making it an important tool for web marketing.


Another significant advantage of social bookmarking is that it yields a large number of backlinks and generates ample traffic from potential consumers looking for a specific product or service. That and the implementation of effective strategies for building links helps web marketers generate the traffic they need to strengthen their online businesses and create more opportunities for generating profit. Link building is after all a highly competitive and tedious business. If there is to be any chance of success, online businesses need all the leverage they can get in their SEO efforts. Link building through social bookmarking can offer you just that!

How To Create Strong Passwords

Why do I need a strong password?


We want to believe that we live in a world where people "just do the right thing", but experience tells us that is not true. My company requires the use of strong passwords because we understand that there is an Internet "underground" full of people who cause damage and distress, just because they can, or more commonly, for profit. These people will use scanning programs that randomly search the Internet looking for servers and computers, and then scan the servers for access by looking for easy to crack passwords.


Most of the time, they don't care who you are or where you work - they just want in to your computer so they can use it for their purposes.


This guide is intended to help you create strong passwords and remember them.


Creating Strong Passwords:
Your password must contain characters from at least 3 of the following 4 (all 4 is better!) classes and be 8 characters or longer to be considered strong:


Description
1. Upper Case Letters
2. Lower Case Letters
3. Numbers
4. Special characters (punctuation/symbols) ex. ({},.<>;:"'/?|`~!@#$%^&*()_-=+)


- Your password may not contain your e-mail name or any part of your full name (see our "Passwords to avoid" at the end of this guide).


- A complex password that cannot be broken is useless if you cannot remember it. For security to function, you must choose a password you can remember and yet is complex.


- Here are a couple ways to create passwords you can remember:










First letter of every word in a phrase or song:
My son is 5 years old = Msi5!YOld
I have lived in California for 5 years now = IhliCf5#yN
The Devil went down to Georgia = TDwd2GA
The Lord is my shepherd and I shall not wander = TLims&Isnw. (you can use the period and symbols (including the "space") in Windows and a lot of websites)


Mash up a pet's name with numbers:
Buster = bust1936R (ok, it's Buster with Grandpa's birthday in the middle and a capital R at the end)
Spot = spot#611 (ok, it's Spot with a zero and our home address at the end)
REMEMBER - NO STICKY NOTES ON THE MONITOR OR UNDER THE KEYBOARD!!!


Ok, but why letters, upper case, lower case, etc.?


There are 2 kinds of password cracking programs- dictionary scanners and brute force attackers. Dictionary scanners are literally loaded with every word in the dictionary (usually multiple languages) and they try every word in the dictionary. Trying every word in the English language usually takes a modern computer about 2 minutes, which makes using a word as your password a very bad idea.


Brute force password cracking programs try different combinations of letters and numbers at an average rate of 100,000 tries per second. Faster computers work at 200,000 or more tries per second.


Passwords to Avoid at all costs:
- The words "password", "passcode", "admin", "letmein" or any form of those words
- Rows of letters from a keybaord - for instance "qwerty" or "asdf"
- Your username or login name
- The name of your significant other, or a relative or pet
- Birthplace or the birthplace of your relatives or significant other
- Automobile license plate numbers
- Office or cell phone numbers
- The simple modification of any of the preceding by adding a number to it (especially a 1) or reversing the order of the letters.
- Swear words

What Is Cloud Computing

Most computer users today are already using cloud computing. Do you use Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo email: congratulations you are in the cloud. If you are reading this you are in the cloud: the Internet is the cloud.


Way back in the day, your computer's hard drive was the repository for all your digital information. Emails, photos, documents were all stored inside your computer. Cloud computing changes the way you store your digital information: your emails are no longer stored on your computer, but exist only on Google's servers (think hard drive) if you use Gmail, or Microsoft's servers if you use Hotmail, etc.


The benefits of using the cloud to store your information should be obvious: you can check your email from your computer, your smart phone, any computer connected to the web, etc. With cloud computing your information is readily available on a wide range of devices as long as you have an Internet connection. If your computer crashes and can not be repaired you will not lose your emails: they were never stored on your computer. Cloud computing will mean never having to say your sorry worry about moving all your programs and data to a new computer (obscure movie reference deleted). Plug the new computer in, get online, and your data and programs are available.


The downside of using the cloud to store your information should also be obvious: lack of service. If your Internet connection goes down or the server housing your information crashes, you will have no access to your stuff until the problem is repaired. Do you risk loosing all your stuff forever if you use the cloud? If you are dealing with a reputable company with a solid background in cloud computing (Google, Amazon, etc.) temporary outages will occur, but data loss should not be a problem. Hackers have and will continue to attack the cloud: large databases with personal information are a rich target. Will your stuff be 100% safe in the cloud? No. Will you have an alternative if you want to live with all the conveniences the cloud offers: no. Think of the problem of cloud safety this way: would you stop driving a car because a certain number of people are killed in accidents every year?


Cloud computing will eventually offer every software program now available (accounting programs like QuickBooks, web publishing programs like DreamWeaver). Rumours are floating around that Windows 8 will be heavily based in the cloud, Apple is busy developing iCloud, and Google Chromebooks (web only laptops) have already been released.


For better or worse the cloud is already here.

How To Stop or Avoid Spam Email

Spam: Meat-Like Substance Or Menace To Society?
If you're a member of the current millennia, you've probably heard the word. For those of us that use email (which is most of us these days), the experience is all too familiar and annoying.
Let's talk about what SPAM is, where it comes from, and hopefully the reader can gain some insight into how to avoid spam and spammers.


If you've ever gotten emails pushing the sale of prescription drugs or pornography, prompting you to refinance your mortgage, or expounding the wonders of the latest get rich quick work from home business, you've most likely been spammed.


Sparing the tedium of a formal definition, SPAM emails often have no "opt out" links (any newsletter you get is supposed to have these in case you decide you no longer want the emails). The ones that do are phony, and you will most likely continue to receive emails or receive even more as clicking the link verifies that the email address in question (yours) is real and is being used. These types of emails are not permission based and usually appear out of nowhere. Legitimate emails from businesses usually have useful information and/or coupons/specials, and are sent out on a regular basis, but not so often as to become annoying. One can easily opt out without worry of repeated offense.


Now for the good stuff: how the heck do spammers get your email address?
There are actually a few ways this is done. One popular method is by way of the spider (search engines use these for legitimate purposes also), also called spam bots or robots. These are just programs that "crawl" the Web or the Internet looking for email addresses posted on websites, such as emailatmyaddressdotwhatever (had to write it this way or I could not submit the article; any way to request an exception for cases like this???). Think twice before you post your email address on blogs, personal sites, online directories, and other websites where it can be easily picked up.


Ever sign up for an online subscription or buy something online? How about those enticing freebies such as eBooks and webinars (note: if we offer something free in exchange for your email, etc don't worry; we are not spammers)? Most web companies use this information to build a legitimate opt in list so they can send out newsletters, specials, and market to you. A few may sell the info to other online companies (read their privacy policy-if they have one, but the ethical ones usually won't; they just want to grow their business).


When you buy something online most of the time you will have to enter an email address to check out. Some sites allow you to check out without registering, while others that make you register keep your email address to themselves and do not share it.


Other guys aren't so nice. Some will sell lists of email addresses to spammers to make extra money. Create a "throw away" email account on Hotmail, Yahoo, of Gmail and use that for online purchases and subscriptions. And as boring as it may be, consider checking their privacy policy (see above).
Special programs can be used to automatically create millions of possible email addresses. Many use names of popular internet service providers (ISPs) and well known companies (i.e. you@largefirm.com ) to create them.


Why many spammers don't get caught or shut down
We've already discussed malware. Some malicious programs are designed to silently take over an ordinary computer or server and turn it into a spam bot which can send out thousands upon thousands of emails in a relatively short time. This makes catching the spammer harder, because your computer or server takes the blame, not the spammer's.


If your computer seems to be running slow for all the sudden or for no apparent reason, you could be a spammer and not even know it! Keep your security software up to date. Install operating system and productivity software patches and updates. If you suspect you have an infection our website can help along with the forum.


Spammers often spoof their IP addresses and/or strip their emails' headers' sender info. They can also make the email look legit to avoid detection by spam filters. Some use funny characters or misspelled words.
All the info on spam could fill volumes, but the basic prevention techniques offered here will be a big help if used with regularity.


And yes, sometimes you can judge a book by its cover: many websites that deal in pornography, get rich quick gurus, and gambling have questionable ethics to begin with; why would they have any qualms about spamming people to make an extra buck?

Improve Computer Performance With Some Easy Tips and Tricks!

I've always loved finding out cool and free ways on how to improve computer performance.
Now, I want to share with you the most important thing you can do right now for your computer...
Make sure your computer is free from viruses, trojans, spyware, and other pieces of software that can seriously serve to slow down your computer. I know it seems like common sense but if you have a virus you might eventually be dealing with bigger problems then just a slow computer.


It's extremely important that you keep your computer protected in order to improve computer performance. The first thing I did when I got my new computer was to install firewall. To explain this in our language, a firewall is basically a barrier to keep destructive forces away from our computer. That's why its called a firewall because its job is similar to a physical firewall that keeps a fire from spreading from one area to the next.


This not only gives me peace of mind that my computer is safe but it really does improve your computer's performance.


Now I'm also gonna give you a couple super easy quick tweaks and tools that I applied that will improve computer performance and boost computer speed:


Tweak 1-
You should update your drivers as frequently as you can. Having new drivers helps in improving computer performance and it doesn't cost anything.


Tweak 2-
I didn't actually think this was going to work but if you lower your display resolution your PC will get faster. In fact, the lower you go the faster your PC is going to get. So test it out and figure out how low is comfortable for you.


Tweak 3-
Another tip is to clear up the internet cache. When you browse the internet, all of your history is saved in a file called a cache. Once you clear up the internet cache you will feel a difference because it gets rid of all the unwanted programs that gets downloaded on your system. This will boost our speed tremendously.


Tweak 4-
Un install any programs you are not using. Open your systems and look through all your programs. You might be surprised on how many programs you have in your system that you are not using. They unfortunately occupy a lot of storage space thus causing your PC to slow down. So make sure to delete those programs and you will see a major difference


Tweak 5-
Check if you have enough RAM. If you do not have enough RAM installed in your PC then it will cause poor computer performance. RAM is like your computers memory, so if you are downloading programs and you don't have enough memory your PC is going to slow down. Make sure to add more RAM if needed to see some great results!


Tweak 6-
Use a windows registry cleaner. This is a great way to improve computer speed because it removes all kinds of redundant registry entries. These entries are useless so they cause major speed problems. Use them in a regular bases and you will reduce your chances of your computer slowing down.


Tweak 7-
Clean your hard drive of any useless data. You do this by erasing all temporary files and then clean up your system from any cookies you might have. Having a clean hard disk will speed up your PC.


Tweak  8-
I love this tweak. I do it all the time and it really helps to speed up your computer. So, first of, files, documents, and images take up a lot of space on your computer. And the more files you have the more disk space you need. Usually what happens is we over cram our storage space and this causes our computer to slow down. You can prevent this by zipping up your files. Basically, what you do is hold all your related files into one zip folder and you'll get a lot more disk space. You can create different zip folders for different file categories as well.


Tweak 9-
Get a disk defragmenter. This organized the information on your disk better so that it's more efficient in retrieving and storing information. I actually scheduled this tool to run a couple times a week and I suggest you do the same. Its easy to do and it makes such a difference.


It doesn't matter what operating system you have. Whether you have a Windows 7, Windows XP, or Windows Vista, these tweaks work!


These tweaks are so easy and fun to do and your PC performance will blow your socks off once your done doing them! How to improve computer performance is cake!


Hope you found this info valuable. It really helped me out and I know it will do the same for you as well. In order to improve computer performance, just go through these tweaks step by step and let me know how it went for you, I love feedback so leave a comment if you like.

Search Engines - Web Crawlers

It is the search engines that finally bring your website to the notice of the prospective customers. Hence it is better to know how these search engines actually work and how they present information to the customer initiating a search.   

There are basically two types of search engines. The first is by robots called crawlers or spiders.

Search Engines use spiders to index websites. When you submit your website pages to a search engine by completing their required submission page, the search engine spider will index your entire site. A ‘spider’ is an automated program that is run by the search engine system. Spider visits a web site, read the content on the actual site, the site's Meta tags and also follow the links that the site connects. The spider then returns all that information back to a central depository, where the data is indexed. It will visit each link you have on your website and index those sites as well. Some spiders will only index a certain number of pages on your site, so don’t create a site with 500 pages!

The spider will periodically return to the sites to check for any information that has changed. The frequency with which this happens is determined by the moderators of the search engine.

A spider is almost like a book where it contains the table of contents, the actual content and the links and references for all the websites it finds during its search, and it may index up to a million pages a day.

Example:  Excite, Lycos, AltaVista and Google.

When you ask a search engine to locate information, it is actually searching through the index which it has created and not actually searching the Web. Different search engines produce different rankings because not every search engine uses the same algorithm to search through the indices.

One of the things that a search engine algorithm scans for is the frequency and location of keywords on a web page, but it can also detect artificial keyword stuffing or spamdexing. Then the algorithms analyze the way that pages link to other pages in the Web. By checking how pages link to each other, an engine can both determine what a page is about, if the keywords of the linked pages are similar to the keywords on the original page.

What Is Search Engine Optimization SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a process of choosing the most appropriate targeted keyword phrases related to your site and ensuring that this ranks your site highly in search engines so that when someone searches for specific phrases it returns your site on tops. It basically involves fine tuning the content of your site along with the HTML and Meta tags and also involves appropriate link building process. The most popular search engines are Google, Yahoo, MSN Search, AOL and Ask Jeeves. Search engines keep their methods and ranking algorithms secret, to get credit for finding the most valuable search-results and to deter spam pages from clogging those results. A search engine may use hundreds of factors while ranking the listings where the factors themselves and the weight each carries may change continually. Algorithms can differ so widely that a webpage that ranks #1 in a particular search engine could rank #200 in another search engine. New sites need not be "submitted" to search engines to be listed. A simple link from a well established site will get the search engines to visit the new site and begin to spider its contents. It can take a few days to even weeks from the referring of a link from such an established site for all the main search engine spiders to commence visiting and indexing the new site.

If you are unable to research and choose keywords and work on your own search engine ranking, you may want to hire someone to work with you on these issues.

Search engine marketing and promotion companies, will look at the plan for your site and make recommendations to increase your search engine ranking and website traffic. If you wish, they will also provide ongoing consultation and reporting to monitor your website and make recommendations for editing and improvements to keep your site traffic flow and your search engine ranking high. Normally your search engine optimization experts work with your web designer to build an integrated plan right away so that all aspects of design are considered at the same time.

Feel Like Somebody’s Watching You?

Spyware is one of the fastest-growing internet threats.  According to the National Cyber Security Alliance, spyware infects more than 90% of all PCs today.  These unobtrusive, malicious programs are designed to silently bypass firewalls and anti-virus software without the user’s knowledge.  Once embedded in a computer, it can wreak havoc on the system’s performance while gathering your personal information.  Fortunately, unlike viruses and worms, spyware programs do not usually self-replicate.  

Where does it come from?

Typically, spyware originates in three ways.  The first and most common way is when the user installs it.  In this scenario, spyware is embedded, attached, or bundled with a freeware or shareware program without the user’s knowledge.  The user downloads the program to their computer.  Once downloaded, the spyware program goes to work collecting data for the spyware author’s personal use or to sell to a third-party.  Beware of many P2P file-sharing programs.  They are notorious for downloads that posses spyware programs.

The user of a downloadable program should pay extra attention to the accompanying licensing agreement.  Often the software publisher will warn the user that a spyware program will be installed along with the requested program.  Unfortunately, we do not always take the time to read the fine print.  Some agreements may provide special “opt-out” boxes that the user can click to stop the spyware from being included in the download.  Be sure to review the document before signing off on the download.

Another way that spyware can access your computer is by tricking you into manipulating the security features designed to prevent any unwanted installations.  The Internet Explorer Web browser was designed not to allow websites to start any unwanted downloads.  That is why the user has to initiate a download by clicking on a link.  These links can prove deceptive.  For example, a pop-up modeled after a standard Windows dialog box, may appear on your screen.  The message may ask you if you would like to optimize your internet access.  It provides yes or no answer buttons, but, no matter which button you push, a download containing the spyware program will commence. Newer versions of Internet Explorer are now making this spyware pathway a little more difficult.

Finally, some spyware applications infect a system by attacking security holes in the Web browser or other software.  When the user navigates a webpage controlled by a spyware author, the page contains code designed to attack the browser, and force the installation of the spyware program.

What can spyware programs do?

Spyware programs can accomplish a multitude of malicious tasks.  Some of their deeds are simply annoying for the user; others can become downright aggressive in nature.

Spyware can:

1.            Monitor your keystrokes for reporting purposes.

2.            Scan files located on your hard drive.

3.            Snoop through applications on our desktop.

4.            Install other spyware programs into your computer.

5.            Read your cookies.

6.            Steal credit card numbers, passwords, and other personal information.

7.            Change the default settings on your home page web browser.

8.            Mutate into a second generation of spyware thus making it more difficult to           eradicate.

9.            Cause your computer to run slower.

10.        Deliver annoying pop up advertisements.

11.        Add advertising links to web pages for which the author does not get paid.  Instead, payment is directed to the spyware programmer that changed the original affiliate’s settings.

12.        Provide the user with no uninstall option and places itself in unexpected or hidden places within your computer making it difficult to remove.

Spyware Examples

Here are a few examples of commonly seen spyware programs.  Please note that while researchers will often give names to spyware programs, they may not match the names the spyware-writers use. 

CoolWebSearch, a group of programs, that install through “holes” found in Internet Explorer. These programs direct traffic to advertisements on Web sites including coolwebsearch.com. This spyware nuisance displays pop-up ads, rewrites search engine results, and alters the computer host file to direct the Domain Name System (DNS) to lookup preselected sites. 

Internet Optimizer (a/k/a DyFuCa), likes to redirect Internet Explorer error pages to advertisements. When the user follows the broken link or enters an erroneous URL, a page of advertisements pop up.

180 Solutions reports extensive information to advertisers about the Web sites which you visit.  It also alters HTTP requests for affiliate advertisements linked from a Web site.  Therefore the 180 Solutions Company makes an unearned profit off of the click through advertisements they’ve altered.

HuntBar (a/k/a WinTools) or Adware.Websearch, is distributed by Traffic Syndicate and is installed by ActiveX drive-by downloading at affiliate websites or by advertisements displayed by other spyware programs.  It’s a prime example of how spyware can install more spyware.   These programs will add toolbars to Internet Explorer, track Web browsing behavior, and display advertisements.

How can I prevent spyware?

There are a couple things you can do to prevent spyware from infecting your computer system.  First, invest in a reliable commercial anti-spyware program.  There are several currently on the market. Other options provide the anti-spyware software as part of an anti-virus package. Anti-spyware programs can combat spyware by providing real-time protection, scanning, and removal of any found spyware software.   As with most programs, update your anti virus software frequently. You can find also freewares very effective.

As discussed, the Internet Explorer (IE) is often a contributor to the spyware problem because spyware programs like to attach themselves to its functionality.  Spyware enjoys penetrating the IE’s weaknesses.  Because of this, many users have switched to non-IE browsers.  However, if you prefer to stick with Internet Explorer, be sure to update the security patches regularly, and only download programs from reputable sources.  This will help reduce your chances of a spyware infiltration.

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And, when all else fails?

Finally, if your computer has been infected with a large number of spyware programs, the only solution you may have is backing up your data, and performing a complete reinstall of the operating system.

Securing Your Computer System

Today, more and more people are using their computers for everything from communication to online banking and investing to shopping.  As we do these things on a more regular basis, we open ourselves up to potential hackers, attackers and crackers.  While some may be looking to phish your personal information and identity for resale, others simply just want to use your computer as a platform from which to attack other unknowing targets.  

 Below are a few easy, cost-effective steps you can take to make your computer more secure.

1.                  Always make backups of important information and store in a safe place separate from your computer.

2.                  Update and patch your operating system, web browser and software frequently.  If you have a Windows operating system, start by going to www.windowsupdate.microsoft.com and running the update wizard.  This program will help you find the latest patches for your Windows computer.  Also go to www.officeupdate.microsoft.com to locate possible patches for your Office programs.

3.                  Install a firewall.  Without a good firewall, viruses, worms, Trojans, malware and adware can all easily access your computer from the Internet.  Consideration should be given to the benefits and differences between hardware and software based firewall programs.

4.                  Review your browser and email settings for optimum security.  Why should you do this?  Active-X and JavaScript are often used by hackers to plant malicious programs into your computers.  While cookies are relatively harmless in terms of security concerns, they do still track your movements on the Internet to build a profile of you.  At a minimum set your security setting for the “internet zone” to High, and your “trusted sites zone” to Medium Low.

5.                  Install antivirus software and set for automatic updates so that you receive the most current versions.

6.                  Do not open unknown email attachments.  It is simply not enough that you may recognize the address from which it originates because many viruses can spread from a familiar address.   

7.                  Do not run programs from unknown origins.  Also, do not send these types of programs to friends and coworkers because they contain funny or amusing stories or jokes.  They may contain a Trojans horse waiting to infect a computer.

8.                  Disable hidden filename extensions.  By default, the Windows operating system is set to “hide file extensions for known file types”.  Disable this option so that file extensions display in Windows.  Some file extensions will, by default, continue to remain hidden, but you are more likely to see any unusual file extensions that do not belong.  

9.                  Turn off your computer and disconnect from the network when not using the computer.  A hacker can not attack your computer when you are disconnected from the network or the computer is off.

10.              Consider making a boot disk on a floppy disk in case your computer is damaged or compromised by a malicious program.  Obviously, you need to take this step before you experience a hostile breach of your system.