James Power

VIRUSES AND SPYWARE

UPGRADES AND INSTALLATIONS

TUNE-UP AND OPTIMIZATION

BACKUP AND RECOVERY

Do you receive strange dialog boxes or message boxes that appear on the screen? Do you hear strange sounds or music playing from the speakers? Has a program disappeared from your computer that you did not uninstall? Are you unable to start your computer because certain critical system files are missing? Does your computer spontaneously restart unexpectedly? If you answered yes to any of these questions

your computer is probably infected by a virus. Computers connected to the internet are under constant attack by viruses

once your computer is infected the virus will usually attempt to send itself to your friends

family

and associates by accessing your email address book. What is a Virus? A virus is a common type of malicious code and is usually placed on a file. A virus can damage or alter data and programs on a computer without permission or knowledge of the user. The goal of a virus varies from gaining unauthorized access to completely disabling a computer. A virus is typically delivered through email

but also IRC channels and websites can place viruses on a computer. Have you noticed the appearance of new program icons or folders that you did not install? Are you being bombarded by annoying pop-ups? Have you noticed new toolbars on your web browser that you did not install? Has your web browser start page changed? If you answered yes to any of these questions

your computer is probably infected by spyware. But even if you don't see anything

your computer may be infected

because more and more spyware is emerging that is silently tracking your surfing behavior

or even worse

recording your personal information. Keystroke Loggers can record virtually everything you do on your computer

including usernames

passwords

and credit card numbers. Everything you type or click on is continually stored in a log file and then regularly uploaded to the spyware website.