SAFETYSEND™

Benefits > Spyware Removal

SPYWARE REMOVAL AND PROTECTION

PROTECTS YOUR COMPUTER - Spyware is the greatest risk to your online privacy and greatest threat to your personal and financial information today. By using keystroke loggers, trojan horse utilities and back door programs computer hackers can get access to your online banking information, credit card numbers and even your private files. Let SafetySend's security team give you the best protection available from each of following computer security threats.

• SPYWARE
• KEYSTROKE LOGGERS
• TROJAN HORSE
• BACK DOOR VIRUS
• HIJACKERS

STOPS SPYWARE BEFORE IT REACHES YOUR COMPUTER - By destroying spyware and viruses before they reach your computer, SafetySend greatly reduces the risk of infection.

LIKE HAVING YOUR OWN SECURITY TEAM - By using SafetySend you are provided a team of security experts who maintain the latest and best security measures to ensure spyware, viruses and spam do not reach your computer.

How SafetySend protects you!

POWERFUL SPYWARE PROTECTION - SafetySend provides computer security tools that block spyware from every reaching your computer. Regular updates keep your computer running at optimal levels and protect your privacy from computer hackers.

SPYWARE DETECTION - Our online spyware scanner can tell you how much spyware is on your computer. Then by clicking our SECURITY TOOLS button located on your personalized menu upon secure authentication of your account.

SPYWARE REMOVAL - If it is determined that your computer contains spyware then you have the option of using our online scan utility to remove it or downloading our more powerful utilities to remove more pesky forms of spyware that require a system reboot to eliminate them from your computer.

SPYWARE INFORMATION - The best defense against spyware and other security vulnerabilities is information from a trusted source. Why not trust the source that many hospitals, law firms and financial institutions trust to protect their data.

PRIVACY - SafetySend is always AD FREE. Your privacy is of utmost importance to us so we will never sell or release your personal information to anyone.

Information on Spyware


1. What is Spyware?
Spyware refers to any software capable of collecting or reporting information that might compromise your privacy

2. What are the different forms of Spyware?
Spyware can be found in many forms, such as an application program, installation utility, ActiveX control, Browser Helper Object, "cookies", JavaScript, Java applet, the HTML code found on some web sites, or any combination of the above. In short, ANY form of executable code and/or user-to-host data exchange can potentially be used to implement "spyware" functionality.

Some of the more common types of spyware (but by no means a complete list) are:

a. Keyloggers: Small programs which run silently in the background, recording every key-press and mouse-click. The data can either be recorded to a log which, when later "played back", will then provide a complete step-by-step record of exactly what the user did on the computer, or it can be sent via a network connection to another computer where the usage of the primary system can be monitored directly. Although widely considered to be blatant "trojan horse" programs, keyloggers and similar utilities are also often marketed under the guise of "parental control tools" in an attempt to legitimize their functionality.

b. Ad trackers: Programs, scripts, etc., which attempt to collect data on who and/or how often a given ad has been viewed, and/or "clicked on," thus indicating a specific interest in that product or service. Ad trackers can be as benign as simple statistical counters, or as insidious as full-blown "E-pending" -i.e. the correlation of your personal data (name, street address, e-mail address, age, gender, income, credit history, etc.) with precisely which ads you have viewed and/or clicked on, when, and from what source.

c. Usage trackers: Programs, scripts, etc., which attempt to collect data on the usage of a specific program or function (for example, tracking which .MP3 files you download with file sharing programs like KaZaa; or your usage of a particular application program on a particular machine, such as is done by such DRM tools as C-Dilla). In most cases, the collected data is either sent to a third party (generally without the user's fully informed consent or knowledge) to be used later for any of a wide variety of purposes, and/or used directly to determine or alter the functionality of the host application program.

2. What is the difference between Spyware and Adware?
The term "adware" is sometimes used to describe a class of spyware. However, the terms are NOT interchangeable. Some spyware is also adware; but some (cf. Keyloggers and usage trackers, above) is not. Similarly, any given example of adware may or may not also be spyware, depending on how it operates. In its purest and simplest form, the term "adware" only denotes applications which are in some way supported by advertising (typically, as you use the program, part of your screen is used to display one or more advertisements). If and ONLY if, the application also engages in some sort of data logging/reporting (such as by "phoning home", i.e., reporting information or otherwise making information available to a third party such as the vendor or advertiser, usually via a surreptitious network connection) can it rightly be called "spyware". Adware MUST be implemented in such a way as to ensure the true consent of the user/owner AND not impinge on the user's/owner's security and/or privacy.

3. Why is Spyware a problem?
Even in its least objectionable form, spyware exploits computer security for users financial or personal use information for profit. The installation of unsolicited commercial software is generally done in a sneaky, misleading or unannounced manner. This compromises the security and privacy of affected users, usually without their knowledge or consent.

Many varieties of spyware will create unnecessary additional demands on the victim's CPU, memory and bandwidth resources, resulting in significantly reduced computer performance. Generally speaking, the older or less powerful one's system, the greater the performance degradation one can expect to see as a result of spyware infections.

How significant these additional demands will be on any given system will vary on a case by case basis; but, in general, even minimal impact spyware can represent a noticeable additional reduction in computer performance. In some cases, the basic functionality of the infected system is severely impacted. The user may no longer have a choice of desktop items, browser toolbars, web browser home page, or of which applications may be used for what task.

In the more extreme instances, the trojan horse virus and other types of spyware can do serious damage: They can gather information about email addresses and use an e-mail application's address book in order to propagate itself to your friends. Passwords, financial information, and credit card numbers can be also compromised by this type of program.

Advertising supported software in general falls under a slightly different category. However, it can and must be presented in such a way as to get the true consent of the user and not compromise computer security and privacy.

Monitoring spyware, such as Keyloggers, which are installed on business machines by an employer, also falls into a different category. The ethics of snooping by employers is a subject that continues to receive a lot of attention and debate. However, if you are using your employer's computer, it's a good idea to do so only for uses authorized by your employer.

Note that the above represent a general outline of some of the problems related to spyware, and is not an exhaustive or definitive list of all possible issues or concerns. There can also sometimes be mitigating circumstances where some "spyware" is actually legitimate and acceptable.

For example: - Some applications have an option to turn the spyware feature off. One of these examples are the "Cookies" in Windows Media Player, although Windows Media Player is rife with other computer security security issues.

Some applications phone home for potentially benign reasons, such as an auto-update.
If features like these default to "off," that's usually not a problem. If they come up with an alert box clearly and fully disclosing all relevant information and asking the user for permission to connect, that's usually not a problem. If, however, their default setting is to phone home without specific and explicit user approval, that should be presumptively considered spyware, as the user has no way to know what information will be actually up/downloaded, to whom, when, or why

4. How can I detect, remove and prevent Spyware from entering my computer?
There is not one fail-safe, guaranteed method of keeping a system spyware free. There are too many variables, such as what programs you commonly use, what your browser of choice is, how you connect to the internet, etc. In most cases using the spyware detection and removal tools provided by SafetySend and by using good sense will help reduce your system's susceptibility to spyware.

Spyware applications can infect a computer in many ways. The potential for infection while browsing is only one of them. Sometimes spyware is clandestinely bundled with freeware or shareware programs which are downloaded from the Internet, included in regular programs that you buy at a retail store, might come aboard during the use of file sharing applications, and so on.

Uninstalling a program which carries offending bundled spyware is usually only part of the computer security solution. In order to clean up spyware remnants from the original installation, you will probably need some spyware removal software, or at least some expert advice. There are various programs in our computer security tools section for free which will help you do that.

The best way to check a computer for infections is to use one or more of many "spyware detection" applications, and to become familiar with basic firewall terminology. Managing block lists and Hosts files will protect a computer against infection while browsing the Internet. Keep in mind that not all spyware protection programs are entirely legitimate.

5. Who can I trust to give me accurate information on protecting my computer?
USER BEWARE!! - Many companies claim to offer legitimate spyware protection programs. However, these are the very companies that produce the spyware themselves. They offer programs that might block their competitors spyware but allow their pop ups and non-solicited advertisements to come through. Use the SafetySend "Computer Security Checklist" to provide the maximum computer security from spyware and other forms of malicious software.

6. What types of "Spyware" are legitimate?
There are some legitimate software companies that require tracking for various commercial applications that may be installed on your computer. Sometimes those application need to verify a registration number against a licensing server. Is it spying on you? Well, it depends: If all the server does is check the number against a list and send back an acknowledgement then it isn't spying, at least not in the blatant, for-profit sense others have utilized this type of technology. Perhaps the server has a GUID ("Global Unique Identifier," your registration number) which is tied to your registration info, and it has your IP, and it knows when you're online. Let's say you open your web browser to visit a website and the website sends your IP to the licensing server, and the server returns your name and address, etc. to the website. That internet application is spyware.


7. What are "third party cookies" and what to they have to do with Spyware?
Third party cookies are a standard way for your browser to exchange information with the visited site. But, there is a privacy issue with third party cookies: When you go to a site A, which includes content from site B, site B gets to know a little about what you are doing at site A. If you visit enough of site A and they have a relationship with site B; who happens to be a big advertising network-- this can be used to build a profile of your web usage

8. Is PRIVACY the same as ANONYMITY on the internet?
No. Being anonymous in the Internet is not impossible, but it's very challenging. However, the abusive behavior of spyware vendors upon the user's presumed lack of anonymity *is* an issue.
A company derives value from something they take from you without your knowledge or consent. That meets the standards of most people's definition of theft by spyware.
Spyware exploits the "lack of anonymity" for profit and returns nothing to the victim. Under normal circumstances, there is no value derived from the tracks one would leave around the net: They are a by-product. The corporate world has created a value/potential profit-maker in your surfing habits that was never intended and you did not agreed to.


9. How important is the issue of consent important when it it refers to spyware?
Spyware typically sneaks into a user's computer without their explicit or informed consent. Being fully aware that something is spyware, and choosing to install it nevertheless, does not change the fact that it is spyware. However, since most spyware is designed to function clandestinely, we believe that terms like "informed" and "coerced consent" are important: I am about to install a program. Does it contain spyware? Am I fully informed? Informed should mean informed. Not "You should have read the "End User License Agreement" or EULA and deciphered it." EULAs can be intentionally ambiguous, and unfortunately you don't get a screen during the installation that says "This software monitors what websites you visit, keywords you search for, and reports it back to XYZ Spyware Company. Do you accept this?" Chances are that there are "phone home" violations, among others, whenever you see operative words like "opt-in", "opt-out", and "GUID." Licensing agreements that accompany software downloads sometimes warn the user that a spyware program will be installed along with the requested software, but the licensing agreements may not always be read completely because they are often couched in obtuse, hard-to-read legal disclaimers. A great deal of software users routinely click on the "I agree" button of a EULA without bothering to read it very carefully or thoroughly. Most of us feel that this click does not truly constitute consent.

Spyware can also be an application which is installed by coerced consent: For example, a user may be required to accept a EULA before they can install an essential update to a program they've come to depend on and this agreement might include consent to accept spyware. Or, a user may have already paid for an application only to find out too late for a refund that they have "explicitly agreed" to the installation of spyware


10. How can I get the best spyware protection?
Since spyware is an ever evolving commodity, there are new versions being released on the public every day. SafetySend offers the best utilities available which offer continuous updates to detect and remove spyware as it becomes known. SafetySend clients rave on our ability to keep their computers running at optimal levels. Join SafetySend now and find out why our clients say we are the best secure email and computer security solution on the market today.