Spyware / Adware FAQ Uninterruptible Power Source (UPS) FAQ Spyware/Adware FAQWhat is Spyware? What is Spyware?Spyware is a malicious piece of code that attaches itself to your operating system, modifies operating system files or/and otherwise runs stand alone and does nasty things to your computer. For some reason, it's not illegal, and it's not a virus. Viruses do more damage then spyware but spyware can be just as bad. In fact, virus scanners are starting to also detect spyware and help remove it. It all depends on the spyware item (there are thousands out there) but in general spyware is a program that comes bundled with another program, such as KaZaA, that people want, and they install it, not knowing there's also spyware. If you read the entire license agreement, it will mention something, which is one of the reasons why spyware is not illegal. You just have to read the fine print. Spyware will usually do stuff such has log search keywords and send them to some server. From this point on, you will get ads targeted to what you typed, through the program the spyware came on, or by email, if they track down your email address, which is not that hard as they can search your registry for your email settings. So if you were looking for shoes and typed shoes in Google several times, the key logger will notice this and start sending ads footwear. Not all spyware work this way, but this is one example. Some spyware just sits in the background eating all your resources for no given reason. Most of it is just pointless and irritating. There are many ways to get spyware, and here are some of them.Social engineering: Gator, which is made by a company called GAIN is a good example. Sure it's a neat utility that can remember your passwords, but you have to look behind the scenes, or even on the GAIN website to realize that it has spyware such as OfferCompanion which tracks websites you visit! So use a more private way of storing your passwords. I actually found people installing Gator on public computers! That is a very bad idea, even if it did not have spyware. Also, Gator/gain publishing is also known to sue companies for saying that it's spyware like I'm doing now through this article! But I think it's good to get the word out anyway, even if I get a cute legal-looking envelope in my mailbox titled GAIN Publishing Legal Department Head Office. (I'm scaring myself now so enough about Gator being spyware... malware ...um never mind) Popularity: Popular programs, such as KaZaA also come embedded with spyware, and I mean embedded, as if you remove it, it will fail to start. (There are ways around this but I won't cover this here just use Kazaa Lite!) So spyware authors or whatever we want to call them, know that people like to use Kazaa to download stuff such as music and pirated software, so it's a perfect place to put spyware such as Cydoor. Pirated software aka Warez: Software pirates and crackers that condone spyware will not only crack software such as Windows XP to make it usable by middle classed citizens that can't afford it, but they will also add spyware to it. So people will use KaZaA (which has spyware unless you use Kazaa lite) to download pirated software, which will also have spyware. Next thing you know there's 100's of spyware items creeping on the system, grinding it to a halt. Hijacks: As mentioned in my article on using an alternative browser, IE is the most vulnerable to hijacks and most people, unfortunately use it. A hijack is basically a piece of malicious code on a web page that will be let through the browser to install junk on the computer, and mess it up. Some of these hijacks also contain spyware. All it takes is a few malicious pop-ups and you can kiss your PC goodbye (software wise) until you clean out all the junk, and not everyone knows how to do that so hijacks alone can cost quite allot of money for personal and business users. There are many other ways to get spyware as well but these are the base ways it can enter your PC. The main difference between a virus and spyware is that a virus would do more damage in most cases, and try to spread more. Spyware usually does not try to spread much... but it can get quite nasty considering all the files it changes and adds to your system. In general most changes involve registry keys so you have to know what kind of bad keys to look for. Getting rid of spywareThere are utilities out there that can help remove spyware. The most popular ones are Ad Aware and Spybot which work similar to a virus scanner, where you have to update the definitions. These are used mostly for after you have been affected, unlike a virus scanner that would stop a virus before. Spybot does have an option to immunize the system, which attempts to secure the system from about 1000 known items which is very good. It is good to run both Adaware and Spybot, and any other utilities you find work well, as they don't always cover all spyware. Another way to get rid of spyware, mostly only used for new undetected spyware, is manually going through the PC, checking add/remove (yes, some are actually nice enough to provide an uninstaller!) the startup folder/msconfig etc.. for unknown entries, and also searching the registry. This is something only a computer technician / computer savvy should do, as it is advanced enough and can mess things up if you don't know what you're doing. How to avoid spywareVery similar measures for avoiding viruses can be taken for spyware also such as the following. Be careful what you download. If you don't trust the source, do some research on the program to see if it contains spyware. For example, if you are not sure if Gator has spyware, just type Gator spyware in a search engine and you should get an answer and more information on what spyware in included. (and also an article talking about Gator suing companies for articles such as this one.:P) Stay up to date with patches, or use a secure browser, and a router. This applies more to viruses, but nothing stops it from being possible for spyware today or in the future to use these same security holes to install itself in PC's. Avoiding spyware is easier if you are knowledgeable in computers and can judge a program just by looking at the download page, and overall staying alert, but it may be harder for new users. So the best bet is to install Ad Aware and Spybot to regularly scan the system. In fact, to learn more, you can scan each time you install something new, and that way you will be able to tell what programs have spyware, and which ones don't. I use Ad Aware and Spybot here and there to be more sure that I have no spyware and as a PC repair business owner these tools are a must use as finding 600+ spyware items on a customer's PC's is normal, and these spyware tools do a good job at cleaning them. So all in all, stay alert, stay safe, and don't let the spyware bite! See you later Gator. Red Squirrel |
Uninterruptible Power Source (UPS) FAQHave you ever had a computer crash from a power outage, sag or surge? We thought so! What is a UPS? What is a UPS?An Uninterruptible Power Supply is a device that sits between a power supply (e.g. a wall outlet) and a device (e.g. a computer) to prevent undesired features of the power source (outages, sags, surges, bad harmonics, etc.) from the supply from adversely affecting the performance of the device. (back to UPS FAQ's) (back to FAQ's) How can it help me?An UPS has internal batteries to guarantee that continuous power is provided to the equipment even if the power supply stops providing power. Of course the UPS can provide power for a while, typically a few minutes, but that is often enough to ride out power company glitches or short outages. Advantages:
(back to UPS FAQ's) (back to FAQ's) What sort of stuff does an UPS do?
In addition, some UPS or UPS/software combinations provide the following functions:
(back to UPS FAQ's) (back to FAQ's) How long can equipment on an UPS keep running after the power goes out?How big an UPS do you have and what kind of equipment does it protect? For most typical computer workstations, one might have an UPS that was rated to keep the machine alive through a 15 minute power loss. If you need a machine to survive hours without power should probably look at a more robust power backup solution. (back to UPS FAQ's) (back to FAQ's) How about I use one of these UPS thingies with a laser printer?This is highly not recommended. If you ever measured the current draw of a laser printer during startup (and during printing) you'd be stunned at what it pulls. Most UPS manufacturers tell you not to do this. APC, just as an example, does rate some of their UPS units for use with certain laser printers. Note: These are rated stand alone just for the laser printer only. (back to UPS FAQ's) (back to FAQ's) Should I make sure I have a support/maintenance contract for my UPS systems?Most definitely, an UPS support/maintenance contract is just as important as your computer support/maintenance contract. (back to UPS FAQ's) (back to FAQ's) What sort of maintenance needs to be performed?Periodically testing the UPS's and their failure modes. A good time to do this would be right after a periodic backup. Low User input and you've got full backups of the machines. Functioning of the circuit breaker with the UPS on it to simulate and outage and see how the transition goes. Most UPS vendors suggest that testing an UPS by pulling the plug from the wall is NOT a good idea. UPS units like to have a good idea of what ground looks like. Though it is unlikely that unplugging an UPS for a short amount of time would be dangerous, but in any case, throwing a circuit breaker is the better thing to do. Note: It might be useful to install a GFI (Ground Fault Interrupter) socket to facilitate this testing without having to pull the plug, especially if you don't have your UPS protected machines on an isolated circuit (which you probably should). Most UPS units use sealed lead-acid batteries and do not have a battery memory hence they should be run dry as few times as possible. Note: depending on the manufacturer, UPS batteries can be expected to last between about 2 and 5 years before they ought to be replaced. As an UPS gets older, its battery life will become shorter. Of course there's no way to reliably test how long it is without running the battery down and you don't want to do that because they have lead acid batteries. All of these are very good reasons to get a support contract for them that include periodic battery replacement. (back to UPS FAQ's) (back to FAQ's) TEN REASONS FOR BUYING AN UPS
* NCC: National Computing Centre, UK. |