What is Spyware?

Spyware is software written to monitor information on a person's computer, and inevitably the individual using that computer. The software is secretly installed and runs undetected in the background while an individual works on local files or browses the internet. Spyware can collect a person's browsing history and re direct their web browser to undesirable sites to or even log key presses when logging on to internet banking sites storing passwords and pin numbers potentially leading to identity theft. Spyware is also capable of using your computer to forward thousands of junk emails. The telling sign of spyware is the slowing down of the computers activity and internet connection speed, or total loss of internet connectivity.

Where does it come from?

Spyware doesn't spread in the same way as a virus. Spyware gets onto a computer by deceiving the user or exploiting vulnerabilities in other software. This is done by the spyware being piggy backed onto another piece of software that the user downloads and installs, or even masquerading as security or optimisation software.

What can be done?

To correctly identify and remove spyware we use a number of recognised software's and run multiple scans of your hard drive to remove the malicious software. In some cases it is very difficult to entirely undo the damage caused requiring the system to be reinstalled, in this scenario we endeavour to recovery and clean all of the user's data.

What is a Virus?

A virus is software that copies itself from one person's computer to another with a malicious intent. This can be in the many forms either by email, USB pen drive, or floppy disk. A virus needs to be activated by a person using the computer this can be done by deceiving the person as to what the software is, this can be in the form of an email attachment masquerading as a family photograph (if you're in doubt as to the origin of the email the we advise you to not open it and delete it).

What can be done?

We strongly advise that good antivirus software is installed on your computer and kept up to date. If your computer does become infected by a virus and you don't have antivirus software installed you may notice a decrease in performance, to the point where the computer becomes unusable. If you believe you have a virus on your computer then power off and contact a support engineer for advice.