Spyware
 Spyware Removal
If you suspect that your network systems or home PC is infected with spyware, contact us on 01827 830725 to discuss how we can help you to disinfect your systems and keep them spyware free
The term Spyware covers a broad spectrum of malicious software designed to sell you something, direct you to something, spy on your computer usage or damage your computer's operating system or software.  At best, spyware will slow your computer down to a crawl or even make it unusable.  At worst, it will spy on your activities, gain access to your credit card details and cost you money by causing your PC to dial premium rate numbers through the modem.

To find out how It Bytes can assist you in the removal and prevention of spyware and virus infections, call us on 01827 830725 and we will be happy to discuss this with you.

Adware
There are a number of facets to adware, also known as an Adbot.  These can be anything from profiling your browsing and spending online to giving you annoying poppup adverts.

Drive-by downloads
Drive-by downloads can occur when a misleading message or dialogue box "invites" you to click somewhere on a webiste in order to view a particular page or site on the internet.  This is usually something like "to view this site you must click yes."  This triggers a stealth installation of an adware or spyware application to the computer and, in most cases, the user will have no idea that they have installed the application. This software can then be very difficult to remove or uninstall.

Spyware
Spyware or snoopware has more sinister uses than adware.  Where adware is designed to either sell you a product or service or redirect you to certain websites, spyware covertly records you computer usage.  This can be anything from your internet history or passwords to logging every keystroke you perform including usernames and passwords and even credit card numbers.  This is then sent via an email to the creators of the spyware software.

Malware
Malware, short for malicious software, is  designed specifically to damage a computer system.  Viruses, Trojan horses, page or browser hijackers and diallers are all examples of malware

Diallers
A dialler is a piece of software favoured by pornography sites.  Once this is on the users PC, it replaces the default dialup settings with new ones.  This new dialup account connects you to a premium rate number, usually around £1.50 per minute.  These are also difficult to remove and will recreate or reinfect after removal.

Page Hijackers
Hijackers are designed to replace your chosen default website with one chosen by the hijacker.  After your default page has been hijacked, it is usually very difficult to reset it.

Trojan Horses
As the name suggests, a Trojan is a piece of software that appears to be something that it is not.  For instance, you may receive an attachment in an email or download from a website what you believe to be a movie, picture or music file.  This file actually contains malicious software that enables the writer to gain access to your PC or the information held on it or even erase your hard disk drive.