Spyware and computer viruses are one of the online threats that can be harmful to your system. Protection against these threats is essential and every computer should have at least a basic protection.

National Cyber Security Alliance in 2005 online safety study has reported that 81% of computer home users lack basic protection. This study shows that most people still don’t know about PC protection and even though some of them know about it, they don’t know where to find good software to protect their system.

In this article, I will tell you what are the anti-spyware and anti-viruses that you can use for free and will give you the protection that you need.

Avast! Anti-virus is created by ALWIL Software and one of the top anti-viruses. I like this the most because it has seven protections. Instant messaging, Internet mail, network shield, outlook/exchange, P2P shield, standard shield and web shield.

Another good software is AVG. AVG is created by Grisoft and you can get new virus definitions almost everyday. It also has a real-time protection against viruses. Install one of these software because you cannot have more than one anti-virus in a system.

Now let us go to the anti-spyware solution. The first one is Spybot Search and Destroy and it’s also free software. This software is very good and it can remove almost all threats such as adware, spyware, and keyloggers from your computer. It also has some real-time protection.

Ad-Aware 2007 is also one of my favorite software. The free version of this software lacks Ad-Watch, which is the real-time protection against spyware. However, owning the free version of this software is enough because you can use other software to provide your system a real-time protection for free.

The software that can provide you real-time protection against spyware are Spyware Terminator and Windows Defender. Both are free and both are good enough to give real-time protection for your system.

Anti-spyware has a different rule than anti-viruses, not like anti-viruses, you can install more than one anti-spyware in your system. Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever been surfing the Internet and been inundated with pop-up after pop-up? Have you ever opened your web browser and noticed a new tool-bar sitting conspicuously on the top of the window? Have you noticed your computer becoming slower and slower? If you answered yes to any of these question, then your computer is probably infected with spyware.

It’s nearly impossible to use the Internet and not end up with some sort of unwanted and often malicious guest on your machine. In fact, you’ll most definitely end up with more than one on your computer at any one time. Some studies have shown that upwards of 90% of computer users have or have had some form of spyware on their machines.

Spyware can cause a range of problems from minor inconveniences to legitimate identity fraud threats. Once installed, spyware is ridiculously difficult to remove and can seem like a battle in hopelessness. I speak from experience on this. You think you’ve removed it only to find it running again once you reboot your machine. The key to keeping your computer free of spyware is two-fold: install good network security software as well as the best remover available.

Network security software, such as a firewall, will let you control your Internet traffic and lock some of the back doors most commonly used by spyware programmers. Don’t worry, almost every firewall program will come with pre-programmed settings so you won’t have to be a geek (like me!) to set it up. It will probably be as easy as clicking a few buttons and watching it install.

The same can be said for the best spyware removers. These programs do their job without you having to do much of anything. They can be scheduled to run at certain times, like while you sleep, and can be set up to automatically take care of threats as it sees fit. The best spyware removers will also warn you of potential threats as they occur so you can take measures to stop it. This can be anything from warning you when you access a dangerous site to letting you know that something is attempting to change certain files. Knowing about threats as they occur is key to keeping your computer clean. Read the rest of this entry »