Be Careful! Spyware Can Be Bundled With Screensavers
Given that they often come wrapped in harmful ad ware and spy ware, free screensavers are one of the riskiest propositions found on internet today. Admittedly, most of the screensavers on the net are free, and the word “free” is capable of attracting most of us like moths to a flame; therein lies the catch.
Safety first! Internet users should be aware of the risk they run of being affected by harmful programs, games, popups and toolbars when they download risky screensavers onto their computers. Unwanted programs, spyware and adware are often bundled with innocent-looking free screensavers.
As per a survey carried out by McAfee, prevalence of adware and spyware seems to be increasing at an exponential rate, with a 1000 percent increase in the past 3 ½ years. However, a large number of internet users remain unaware of the dangers of adware and spyware and an alarming majority of users are just one click away from downloading adware, spyware or some other unwanted software.
McAfee reports that there are several popular screensaver download sites that could very well turn out to be a disaster for your computer’s health. For example, it was found that the ever popular Power Rangers screen saver came with the much dreaded ad ware and spy ware, much to the dismay of Power Ranger fans all over the world. However, the Power Rangers were innocent of any wrong-doing. It was unscrupulous websites that were guilty of choosing these popular characters to inflict their bad practices on to unsuspecting victims.
Your best defense against spyware and adware? Avoid downloading screensavers and installing them on your computer in the first place. Use safe surfing practices. To protect yourself online, make sure you update yourself on the latest threats doing the rounds.
If you must download screensavers or any other material from the internet, only download from those sites that you know and trust. If that beautiful screensaver that catches your eye is available for free, then the chances are higher that it may include unwanted software. Before downloading any free screensaver, ask around and see if you can find out any extra information. Do a search and check out if any previous users have reviewed the free screensaver. If you read any negative comments you may want to avoid downloading any screensavers from that site.
Spyware and adware developers take advantage of security holes in operating systems and browsers, the essential software. Update your software at regular periods and adjust privacy and security settings in your internet browsers so as to control what and how much information you want to accept from any web site.
If you have got unwanted screensavers and extra programs then remove them from your computer. If your machine is already affected with adware or spyware, then use available tools to detect and delete them. AdAware and Spybot are two excellent spyware/adware removal program. Always check for latest available update of such antispyware software and run it regularly. Running such software is useful even if you are not installing or downloading anything new. Protecting yourself from free but risky downloads of screensavers is important to the well-being of your computer.
Posted in Screensavers
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