PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST SPYWARE

As each year passes our computers seem to become more intertwined in our lives, and more complicated to keep running and problem free.  This past year has proved no exception, in fact the major problems and disruption caused by SPYWARE in 2004 is something which many of you have experienced firsthand. It invades your computer silently and gradually takes over all the computing power with the result that you may wait 5 minutes for Word or email programs to open, may be unable to connect to the internet, or may have difficulty turning the computer off.   

Unknown parties benefit financially from your internet activities and some of these "silent" programs may include trojan horses or keystroke loggers which record every keystroke and transmit the data to a party unknown to you.  Obviously this presents an enormous risk in terms of identify theft, personal banking and other similar activities.

Fortunately, there have been improvements in Windows XP with the addition of Service Pack 2 and its security enhancements, and there are several anti-spyware programs which seem to be reasonably effective in protecting systems.