How to find spyware on your computer. Examples of protection against spies, keyloggers, Spy software, rootkits. High battery temperature

Before we talk about how to deal with spyware, let's first find out what spyware is. This is a special program that performs some specific actions. These actions may include collecting the user’s personal data and displaying advertisements contrary to the user’s actions. This could be actions to change computer settings and a number of others. These programs are also called SpyWare.

It is difficult to recognize spyware using antivirus programs; to combat them, special utilities are used that can be freely downloaded on the Internet.
But remember, when installing special utilities to combat spyware, you need to take precautions. Install utilities only from well-known developers. Otherwise, instead of an anti-spyware program, you may end up with a spyware program on your computer, which can perfectly well be disguised as a fighter for a just cause.

There are some special signs by which a user can independently determine the presence of spyware on his computer without any utilities.

Signs of spyware on your computer.

1. When you launch your default browser, a page that you are unfamiliar with and that you have never set as default may load.
2. The operating system crashes periodically,
3. Unfamiliar items may appear in the “favorites” list,
4. There is an increase in outgoing traffic,
5. Various controls that are unfamiliar to you may appear in the browser,
6. An advertising window may periodically appear on your monitor screen. This window may appear even if there is no Internet connection,
7. New icons may appear on your computer desktop that lead to unfamiliar Internet pages,
8. New processes may appear in the task manager that use the computer at 100%.

In order to get rid of such spyware, you can perform the following steps to audit your computer:

1. Check the Program Files folder, go to the startup directory, as well as to the Add and Remove Programs section. Spyware programs that you are not familiar with may be located here.
2. Many spyware programs can place their shortcut on the right side of the taskbar,
3. Go to the Start-All Programs submenu. Spies unfamiliar to you may also appear here.
4. In your browser, check the page that opens by default. Also check your Favorites folder in your browser.

I think that's all for today. We have discussed with you the main ways to detect spyware without using special utilities. Next time we will look at the utility programs themselves, which are actively fighting spyware modules.

Almost all users today are familiar with viruses and the consequences of their impact on computer systems. Among all the threats that have become most widespread, a special place is occupied by spyware that monitors the actions of users and steals confidential information. Next, we will show what such applications and applets are, and discuss the issue of how to detect spyware on a computer and get rid of such a threat without harming the system.

What is spyware?

Let's start with the fact that spy applications, or executable applets, usually called Spyware, are not viruses as such in the usual sense. That is, they have virtually no impact on the system in terms of its integrity or performance, although when infecting computers they can constantly reside in RAM and consume part of the system resources. But, as a rule, this does not particularly affect the performance of the OS.

But their main purpose is precisely to monitor the user’s work, and, if possible, steal confidential data, spoof email for the purpose of sending spam, analyze requests on the Internet and redirect to sites containing malware, analyze information on the hard drive, etc. Itself It goes without saying that any user must have at least a primitive anti-virus package installed for protection. True, for the most part, neither free antiviruses nor, especially, the built-in Windows firewall provide complete confidence in security. Some applications may simply not be recognized. This is where a completely logical question arises: “What then should be the protection of a computer from spyware?” Let's try to consider the main aspects and concepts.

Types of spyware

Before proceeding with a practical solution, you should clearly understand which applications and applets belong to the Spyware class. Today there are several main types:

• key loggers;


• hard drive scanners;


• screen spies;


• mail spies;


• proxy spies.

Spyware penetration methods into computer systems
Today, due to the incredible development of Internet technologies, the World Wide Web is the main open and weakly protected channel that threats of this type use to penetrate local computer systems or networks.

In some cases, spyware is installed on the computer by the user himself, as paradoxical as this may sound. In most cases, he doesn't even know about it. And everything is banally simple. For example, you downloaded a seemingly interesting program from the Internet and started the installation. In the first stages, everything looks as usual. But then sometimes windows appear asking you to install some additional software product or add-on to your Internet browser. Usually all this is written in small print. The user, trying to quickly complete the installation process and start working with the new application, often does not pay attention to this, agrees to all the conditions and... ultimately receives an embedded “agent” for collecting information.

Consequences of exposure

As for the harm caused by spies, as already mentioned, this generally does not affect the system in any way, but user information and personal data are at risk.

The most dangerous among all applications of this type are the so-called key loggers, or, more simply, keyloggers. They are the ones who are able to monitor the set of characters, which gives the attacker the opportunity to obtain the same logins and passwords, bank details or card PIN codes, and anything else that the user would not want to make available to a wide range of people. As a rule, after all the data has been determined, it is sent either to a remote server or via e-mail, naturally, in hidden mode. Therefore, it is recommended to use special encryption utilities to store such important information. In addition, it is advisable to save files not on a hard drive (hard drive scanners can easily find them), but on removable media, or at least on a flash drive, and always along with the decryptor key.

Among other things, many experts consider it safest to use the on-screen keyboard, although they recognize the inconvenience of this method
Screen tracking in terms of what exactly the user is doing is dangerous only when confidential data or registration details are entered. The spy simply takes screenshots after a certain time and sends them to the attacker. Using the on-screen keyboard, as in the first case, will not give any results. And if two spies work simultaneously, then you won’t be able to hide anywhere.

Email tracking is done through your contact list. The main goal is to replace the contents of the letter when sending it for the purpose of sending spam.
Proxy spies are harmful only in the sense that they turn the local computer terminal into some kind of proxy server. Why is this necessary? Yes, only to hide behind, say, the user’s IP address when committing illegal actions. Naturally, the user has no idea about this. Let’s say someone hacked the security system of a bank and stole a certain amount of money. Monitoring of actions by authorized services reveals that the hack was carried out from a terminal with such and such an IP, located at such and such an address. The secret services come to an unsuspecting person and send him to jail. Is there really nothing good about this?

First symptoms of infection

Now let's move on to practice. How to check your computer for spyware if suddenly, for some reason, doubts creep in about the integrity of the security system? To do this, you need to know how the impact of such applications manifests itself in the early stages.

If for no apparent reason a decrease in performance is noticed, or the system periodically “freezes”, or refuses to work at all, first you should look at the load on the processor and RAM, and also monitor all active processes.

In most cases, the user in the same “Task Manager” will see unfamiliar services that were not previously in the process tree. This is just the first call. The creators of spyware are far from stupid, so they create programs that disguise themselves as system processes, and it is simply impossible to identify them manually without special knowledge. Then problems begin with connecting to the Internet, the start page changes, etc.

How to check your computer for spyware

As for scanning, standard antiviruses will not help here, especially if they have already missed the threat. At a minimum, you will need some kind of portable version like Dr. Web Cure It! or Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool (or better yet, something like Rescue Disc that checks the system before it boots).

How to find spyware on your computer? In most cases, it is recommended to use highly targeted special programs of the Anti-Spyware class (SpywareBlaster, AVZ, XoftSpySE Anti-Spyware, Microsoft Antispyware, etc.). The scanning process in them is fully automated, as well as subsequent deletion. But here there are things that are worth paying attention to.

How to remove spyware from your computer: standard methods and third-party software used

You can even remove spyware from your computer manually, but only if the program is not disguised.

Now a few words about the sensational Spyhunter utility. Many people call it almost a panacea for all ills. We beg to differ. It scans the system yet, but sometimes it gives a false positive. This is not the problem. The fact is that uninstalling it turns out to be quite problematic. For the average user, just the number of actions that need to be performed makes their head spin.

Legalized spying in Windows 10

But that's not all. All of the above concerned only how spyware penetrates the system, how it behaves, etc. But what to do when espionage is legal?

Is there 100% protection?

If you look closely at how spyware gets onto a computer and what it does afterwards, there is only one thing that can be said about 100% protection: it does not exist. Even if you use the entire arsenal of security tools, you can be 80 percent sure of security, no more. However, there should be no provoking actions on the part of the user himself in the form of visiting dubious sites, installing unsafe software, ignoring antivirus warnings, opening email attachments from unknown sources, etc.

The term Spyware refers to a spy program that is installed on a computer in secret mode and its purpose is to collect information regarding the configuration of the computer system and user activity. That is, all information about your actions on the Internet and inside the OS can become available to attackers.

To avoid such negative influence from the outside, it is necessary to control the process of introducing third-party programs without your knowledge. Today, there are several main types of spyware that can cause invaluable harm to users.

Spyware classification

1. A hard drive scanner is a spy program that examines the contents of the hard drive to identify valuable information, which is subsequently transferred to the owner.
2. Screen spy – takes periodic screenshots and forwards these screenshots to the owner. This type of information is of interest to various types of ransomware.
3. Proxy spy – when installed on a computer, it acts as a proxy server, which allows you to use someone else’s IP address to cover up your actions.
4. Mail spy - collection of information that includes email addresses, which is mainly of interest to people who send spam.
5. – recording all keystrokes on the keyboard, which allows, for example, to steal credit card numbers.

The above list of threats is far from complete, but it includes the main types of spyware.

Spyware Terminator 2012

Basically, programs that allow you to find a spy on your computer are paid versions of similar products. At the same time, there are a number of software solutions that offer free functions that make it possible to clean the OS of malicious components.

For example, the free version of Spyware Terminator 2012, which in the Freeware version does not have anti-virus protection and high priority updates. At the same time, the available functionality of this software solution allows you to find and remove programs that qualify as spyware.

Find spyware on your computer: procedure

To protect yourself in the future from Spyware, you should set up an automatic scan of your computer system for spyware in the same “Scanning” tab. Of course, antiviruses also have similar functionality, but at the same time, it wouldn’t hurt to check with a specialized tool in the form of the program discussed above.

Good day, dear readers of the blog site. We continue to study ways to protect your computer. In the previous note signs of a computer virus, I told you about how to detect a virus on your computer and then destroy it. Today we will discuss an equally pressing topic - malware removal spies SpyWare. Perhaps a spy has settled on your computer. Do you want to catch him and destroy him? Do you value your passwords and personal data? If so, then read on.

SpyWare programs, what harm they do

Spyware — This is a program that is installed on your computer without your knowledge or consent. If translated literally, it means: Spy - spy, ware - product. Those. spy product in Russian. I don’t want to burden a novice user with terminology about what it is and why in an extended description. Just a few lines, and then on to practice. So, spies are of the following types :

• Adware— these spyware modules, when entering your PC, are designed to display unsolicited advertising. Changing the start page in the browser, pop-ups in the browser with various promotional offers.
• Hijacker- this type of spyware that performs unconfirmed user reconfiguration of the system, most often the browser.
• Dialer- these nasty things make it so that they dial to the other side of the globe. Then you receive bills for cosmic amounts.
• Keyloggers– monitor keystrokes on the keyboard. For what? To find out passwords from your accounts, e-wallets for example.
• Screen Scraper– take pictures from your PC monitor screen and transmit them to the attacker.
• Security Analysis Software– various small programs for the browser that are installed spontaneously.

There are still a lot of different varieties, but this is enough to understand one thing: you need to fight these guys and defeat them!

How SpyWare gets into your computer

You may ask, how do these spies get into my computer? Very simple.

1. Through holes in the OS.
2. Through email clients ( mail download and viewing programs). You open an unfamiliar letter and at that moment an infection occurs.
3. When installing various programs. Yes, yes, this is not a typo. Spyware programs can be installed along with some popular program. Unlike the creators of viruses and similar nasty Trojans, for example, the author of spyware needs your confirmation and consent in order to install his spy on your PC. Moreover, from this procedure ( confirmation or consent) they distract you in any way they can. Installed programs (not all of them, of course) use windows with certificates and licenses in which you need to confirm reading. Those. you agree to the installation, but still don’t notice that in addition to the program itself, they are also installing a “barrier Cossack” with you. These agreements are rarely read by users, I certainly haven’t read a single one yet. That is, this is the easiest way to install spyware on a computer.

How to find and remove a spy? Spybot - anti-spyware

So we move on to practice. In order to find and remove malware Spyware, you need to use the very wonderful Spybot program. The program is free, there is support for the Russian language. Download Spybot you can here. We install, I remind you that for a full installation you need an Internet connection because the program downloads fresh updates.

• After launching the installer, a window appears to download additional files.

• If you see such a box, check the box, click OK and move on.

• Then after installation you will be prompted to save before starting the scan. a copy of the system registry settings. To be honest, I didn't do this. In general, nothing went wrong for me after this decision.

• Let's move on. Then we proceed to update the anti-spyware database.

• Next, select any update server. Poke the button Continue and check all the updates, then press the button Download. We are waiting for the updates to be downloaded and installed.

I almost forgot, before checking, a window like this might pop up:

It means that there are a certain number of temporary Internet files on your hard drive and accordingly offers to delete them in order to reduce the time it takes to scan your computer. You can agree or refuse. No difference in principle.

Tired? Well, we're finishing up. The last step is

Immunization and protection

After removing all the nastiness, we proceed to protecting our computer. To do this, select the tab in the main window Immunization (close all browsers before doing this), then press Immunize.

This function contains a list of malicious sites and all sorts of garbage that sneaks through the browser. Immunization will teach your browser what kind of nasty thing it is and will no longer allow it into your computer.

And one last thing. Spybot has a resident module TeaTimer which blocks unwanted addresses, notices changes in the registry and, if necessary, informs whether this or that change needs to be made to the registry. The following tray icon indicates that your resident module is active:

Well, that's all. Good luck in mastering the program and less to you problems with viruses and spyware.