How to thwart the Barbarian Spyware!

: Doug Woodall
Today,on most internet user's computers, we have theability to employ software, along with ourintelligence, to prevent viruses and spyware.To put this article into proper perspective, we'll useMedieval defense tactics.This is accomplished by 3 methods. First, a firewall...'The Castle Moat' so to speak. A firewall can't see inside your computer beforehand though, so if any viruses or spyware were present before the firewall was installed then its of no use. Of course, its extremely good at preventing newattacks.Second, a anti-virus program.... 'The Castle Drawbridge!They will not provide much help with spyware, but goodvirus protection is as desirable as one of Avaris'sdreams! One drawback can be the updates, of course.Ifyou've just updated Wednesday night and a virus hits thenext day, then you may not be protected till nextWednesday night, and by then it may be too late. If you'resmart, you will have signed up for email alerts withthe provider, or even better, you'll have a anti-virusprogram that has a real time update feature. I get thetingles when I see that little pop-up saying a updateis available and click here. Its downloaded ,installed, and updated in about 20 seconds! A new virus or Trojan or God forbid, a new keylogger can hit the internet and spread in a matter of days, and I'm sure this must make the definition writers lives a living hell. I have great admiration for them as they could have been wealthy doctors, but they have chosen to help us... the end users. (moment of silence here)Last, we have anti-spyware programs,'The Flaming oil'! (my favorite).Their update features are like the anti-virus programs, so you have to be as vigilant with this method of defense too as you would be with the others. I've heard there arepeople out there that don't even know when theirupdates run, or even if its configured to do so! Irefuse to believe this sordid rumor!So you've got your defenses set up, you're looking good.But the best defense is a good offense, attack!That's what some organizations do. They prowl the netlooking for websites that harbor drive-by downloads,URL Re-Directing and such. When they find them, theyshut them down, or report them so effective protectioncan be manufactured. These people have my sincerethanks for what they do. With identity theft on therise and Websense reporting that the average computerhas 28 items of Spyware on it, we need all the help wecan get. Oh sure, you're saying not my computer !Well, lets discuss those little boxes that you click"I Agree" to when you download something. Do you readthe entire statement? This is one way spyware hasbecome so rampant, because so many downloads have extrasoftware included in them. These can be harmful toyour computers well being. KeyLoggers, popups, adware, malware...Need I go on?So my idea is that we need these shining knights from thecastle to journey forth on a quest. They will belittle robots or spiders like the search engines use.They will be given absolute power over harmfulprograms they find. They will be like Gort in themovie "The Day the Earth Stood Still".Dell recently reported that 12% of their calls werefor spyware damage, Microsoft says half of theirreports of system crashes are caused by spyware. Thesecalls cost these companies millions of dollars inrevenue, which they then pass the costs of onto us,the consumers.Who knows, if viruses and spyware ever get controlled,the average computer may only cost a dollar!