A Victim Of Adware Spyware Without Knowing It: Could This Be You?

Chances are pretty high that you are a sitting duck to be a victim of fraud or identity theft, thanks mainly to Adware and spyware on your computer that is constantly harvesting your personal data and you may not even be aware of what is happening.

Statistics and figures on the widespread nature of adware and spyware are scary. A November 2004 study by AOL and the National Cyber-Security Alliance, clearly indicated that 80 per cent of surveyed user's computers had some form of spyware. With a staggering average count of 93 spyware components per computer.

In 2006, Webroot Software, makers of Spy Sweeper announced that 9 out of 10 computers connected to the Internet are infected with some form of spyware. Computers that use Internet Explorer are much more exposed to adware and spyware attacks, their report concluded. The main reason for this should be obvious. It is because Internet Explorer is the most widely used browser by far. Therefore scum artistes and spyware distributors are bound to concentrate all their efforts on penetrating any defenses on it. There is another, albeit more technical reason why Internet explorer users are more exposed to spyware. This is because the browser's tight integration with the Windows operating system allows easy spyware penetration to critical areas of the system.

What this means is that very few computers, actually 10 per cent or less are safe from spyware. It goes without saying, therefore that chances that you have a serious adware and spyware problem are pretty high. Which means that even as you read this, you are bound to be very vulnerable to many dangers.

What also helps fool a lot of people is the fact that most spyware is adware in the sense that it displays advertising. This leads many computer users to wrongly believe that spyware hardly goes beyond irritating but harmless spam advertising like pop-ups.

Are you a a victim of spyware or adware?