Of course that’s a ridiculous question! With that in mind, the creators of spyware and other infections have worked very hard to disguise the how they infiltrate your system. There are 3 common methods of infection used by many types of spyware – Piggybacking, Sneaky Pop-ups and Drive-by Downloads.
Piggybacking
Most users download software or updates from the internet. Sometimes other programs are bundled with the download that will install spyware. Occasionally they are even listed in the End User’s License Agreement (EULA). Spyware developers are counting on very few people being willing take the time read the entire document and even if they did, they would have a hard time understanding it.
Sneaky Pop-ups
Spyware can bypass the download and EULA approach through innocent looking pop-ups or Active-X boxes. An example is a bogus pop-up asking if you want information on their product. If you press ”˜yes’ or ”˜no’, spyware will then be installed simply because you clicked on a button. For example, “Your Computer’s Clock is Wrong” is a popup with an offer to permanently fix the clock issue. The real problem will be the spyware download. To avoid this, it’s best to use taskmanager to close the popup and avoid possible spyware installation.
Drive-by Downloads
Web pages may forcibly install spyware on your computer just because you visited the site even if you didn’t click anything on the page. Often these sites’ names are a close spelling to a safe and normal site visited by millions of users everyday, such as google.com. A misspelling like google.cm might bring you to a another site with spyware awaiting you arrival.
Our Business Care Clients can enjoy true worry-free IT as all of these elements are completely managed and monitored 24/7/365 by The Launch Pad’s expert support team. Our RevITup Business Care series not only includes corporate antivirus and antispyware licensing on all servers and desktops, but our automated monitoring instantly detects any potential threats including user accidents and creates a ticket and immediate alert to our help desk. All of this is included in the monthly fee for Business Care clients. If you would live to find out more about incorporating this level of protecting into your business, please contact our Client Services Manager, Megan Meisner at mmeisner@launchpadonlien.comor call 813-920-0788 x210.