You lock you car before leaving it on the street in some places, don't you?
You need to be careful about aspects of using your computer, too. You wouldn't tell a stranger the password to one of your online accounts, I hope? Spyware is a way for others to get such information without your knowing help. So how do you avoid un-knowingly telling?
Some of what follows is "dated"... I wrote it long before this paragraph, which is new 11/20. But the principles remain. Indeed many things that are part of using computers today might be called "spyware". SOME of them are all but unavoidable. But because the landscape has become more complex, you need to be MORE careful. You mustn't throw in the towel, just say "It's all too much for me." AT LEAST have a GOOD anti-malware package in place, and doing its updates properly. For years (at 4/25) I've used eSet's product for all of my anti-malware needs. I've used that and been careful in what I do on my computers.
It is possible for a programmer to give you two programs in one. The first might be a simple free game which you might be inclined to pass on to friends. Buried within it can be a second program which could do lots of bad things. For instance, it can "watch" what keys you type, and send reports back to the programmer from time to time, typically when you are on the internet. This can include web addresses, user names and passwords. Another, less dangerous, but perhaps more annoying, payload which malware can deliver is "junk mail" which will clutter your screen.
How do you get infected? By installing programs, which you may do intentionally, or by opening email attachments, or by visiting the wrong websites without proper protection. Of course, if you are not the only person who can access the computer you are using, there is always the chance that someone else got it infected with spyware.... or that they deliberately installed a keystroke logging program. In the latter case, as long as they can re-visit the machine later, it doesn't need an internet connection to compromise your passwords.
How can you protect yourself from malware?
Start with good anti-virus and firewall protection. They are both present in a good anti-malware suite. (A virus is just one sort of malware.) Don't, by the way, fall for the I-hope-now-dead myth that you can't get viruses on a Mac (Apple).
There are additional programs to help you... but be sure you only go near reputable ones. There are many wolves out there wearing sheep's clothing. More on them in a moment.
As much as I hate to say it, I really, really would move to Windows 10 at least. And probably even Windows 11, sigh. For reasons of "security". It is one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't propositions.
Long ago, there were two protective programs often mentioned as being well written and effective. In April 2025 they were still around(!)... but I've stopped following the current anti-malware product rankings.
Now I can only personally recommend eSet, and a professional technician. The products I listed here for many years were Lavasoft's Ad-Aware and Safer Networking, the home of Spybot and other tools. Both were free downloads. There was more about what malware is at their sites. I first learned about much of this from a discussion of spyware at Weather Graphics' interesting site. (They no longer appear to have anything about spyware, but I'm leaving this link "for old times sake"!) I would also like to thank the British magazine Computer Shopper for the good material in their Feb 2005 issue. (Rest in peace: A victim of Covid, after 32 years of fabulous service to the computing community. ComputerActive is good at April 2025
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For a long time, I suggested you go to GRC, use their tools to check your system. I revisited the site 3 Apr 25. It is still interesting! It has been around for a long time! I suspect much of the stuff is good... but I can't say I know that. Ant it probably isn't for the casual computer user.
All that said, if you are interested in the security of your computer, have a look around www.grc.com for... "fun"? And to see what things you can learn? Their "Shields Up" service has been around for a very long time.
STAY AWAY from pages without a longstanding good reputation! There are many pages that purport to "check" for bad stuff when actually what they do is INSTALL it!.
This paragraph dated: There are many pages that purport to "fix" when actually what they do is MAKE WORSE!...If you become infected... good luck to you. I am lucky- I know someone more expert than me whom I trust and would take my computer to him.
If you are on your own, for stubborn things, you may need to employ a current equivalent of "Hijack This". ("Hijack This" may still be good.) DO NOT just waltz into the Hijack This community and post logs without some careful preparation. Hijack This is.. was?... a program which examines your computer and prepares a report, the "log" I just mentioned. *IF* you have done everything else that you should, FIRST, you send that log to experts. They then advise you.
Don't be scammed! If you get a message on your machine saying that you're infected, ignore any "Just click here, and we'll help you remove it" type stuff. There are people out there who infect you, and then charge you for removing what they've done.
In case it amuses, here's a note about a trick that was used before doing similar things across the internet was easy...
A long time ago at 11/20, someone devised very neat little piece of hardware which the "bad guy" inserts between the keyboard and the computer. In the early days it was as fat as a PS/2 plug, and about 3cm long. Typically, it would be attached to the end of the keyboard's cable... it could still be put between the keyboard's dongle and the computer... and plugged into the connector on the outside of the "box". (It could be installed inside the box). Once that was in place, it monitored what people type. The "bad guy" comes along at his/ her leisure, opens up something like Notepad, types "MySecretPassword", and into the Notepad document (or into at thumb drive or internet account) spills recent keyboard activity. At the time I first wrote this, I picked 128k as an almost unimaginably big chunk of data! (It was 35 times the text in this document at that time.) There are also ways to do essentially the same thing using programs within the computer. They give the bad guy more things to overcome to install them... but in many cases, it wouldn't be difficult. Now of course, it is possible to for the bad guy to harvest the keystroke log remotely.
Do you use computers at the library, in a hotel lobby, at an internet cafe? As Phil always said: "Let's be careful out there....."
Progress? Not! I first started warning people about spyware on one of my pages in December 2001. It seemed pretty esoteric then. I'm sorry that malware in general has become a mainstream serious problem. Once upon a time, the malware writers were like kids throwing bricks through windows. In some ways, we didn't know how lucky we were. In those days, if you got hit by malware, you knew it, and the writers were disaffected misfits on the fringes.
Today the problem is much more serious for two reasons:
As we were waxing all nostalgic a moment ago, let me share another story: Around 1984 I was working in a school. A colleague was alarmed by reports of pornography being circulated on floppy discs. (5- 1/4" floppies, of course!) I told him not to worry... graphics were so crude in those days that the viewer needed a good imagination. I guess I'd be more concerned today.
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Why is there a script or hidden graphic on this page? I have my web-traffic monitored for me by eXTReMe tracker. They offer a free tracker. If you want to try one, check out their site. Neither my webpages nor my programs incorporate spyware, but if the page has Google tools, they also involve scripts.
I have numerous sites. The following homepage is perhaps the most comprehensive. It will give you the sheepdogsoftware.co.uk material, but also links, mostly, to other pages created by me... Sheepdog Software homepage