What is spyware?
The term spyware refers to software that is designed to intercept or take partial control of a computer's operation without the informed consent of the user. These programs track what users do with their computer and then send that information over the internet. Spyware can collect various types of information about a user. Most spyware programs attempt to track what types of websites a user visits and send this information to an advertisement agency. Other versions simply launch popup advertisements. More malicious versions can try to record what a user types to try to intercept passwords or credit card numbers. Usually, spyware will not interfere with the computer's normal operation. However, when there is a lot of spyware running, it can cause the computer to run slowly. Spyware is very uncommon on Macs.
How do I get rid of it?
Removing spyware is mostly done through the use of several third party freeware programs which will automatically scan for and remove harmful agents on your computer. You can acquire the following programs from http://www.download.com: Spybot - Search and Destroy and Ad-Aware. If you cannot access the internet, you may come to the Helpdesk to obtain a CD that has these programs on it.
Once these are downloaded, restart your computer and BEFORE the Windows screen appears, tap the F8 key several times. You may hear a beep from your computer. A menu with several options will appear. Use the up/down keys to highlight Safe Mode, and hit enter. A large quantity of white text will scroll by rapidly and then Windows will start. If windows cannot start in Safe Mode, contact the Helpdesk for further assistance.
Once Windows has opened, you should install both programs. After they are installed, run Spybot. It should come up with a series of steps to do before you scan. The scans will perform better if you download and install all of the updates. However, Safe Mode disables internet access, and you must be connected to the internet to receive updates. Just run the scan for now and worry about the updates later. Once the scan is complete, make sure all of the problems are selected and hit the fix selected problems button.
Now run Ad-Aware, and make sure to click the update link before scanning. This will automatically scan for new definitions files, which Ad-Aware uses to recognize adware on your computer. After these updates are downloaded and installed, click finish. Click next. On the next screen, select "Full System Scan" and hit next. The scan will then proceed, and when the scan is done (which could be about an hour), it will bring to your attention the files that it recognized as adware. Right-click on any one of them and select "Select all objects." Hit next. The files will then be encrypted, quarantined, and deleted!
Symptoms
The symptoms can vary immensely from virus to virus. The way that we often diagnose a virus is if the computer is acting very strange, and there seems to be no other explanation for it. If files start disappearing for no reason, you may have a virus. If your computer gives errors for missing files, you may have a virus. Other strange behaviors may also indicate that you have a virus, including system crashes (although a system crash can be caused by a number of other problems).
Some virus symptoms are easier to diagnose. If a paper gets page breaks throughout it for no apparent reason, you might have a virus. If your file won't save or print you might have a virus. If your Word file now has an icon with an arrow on it, that usually means it is infected.
The reason that it is hard to diagnose a virus is that the symptoms can almost all be reproduced by poorly configured hardware or software on your computer. The best defense is to assume that it is a virus first and take appropriate action. If there are no viruses found, then the problem is most likely something else.
How Do I Protect My Computer From Spyware
If you have a Mac:
If you have a PC: