The Internet is revolutionary and it has, and will continue to, change our lives in ways that we have not and could not have imagined. Although the Internet brings great opportunities and conveniences into our lives, there are some negatives that have developed alongside the positives. I am sure you have heard of viruses. I doubt that there are many Internet users that have not been attacked by a computer virus at some point or another. Viruses are the plague of computer and Internet users and so are Spyware and Trojan horses.

You may have heard less, though, about Spyware and Trojan horses. Spyware is software (a computer program) that is created to spy on computer users through the things that they do while they are on their computers. Some Spyware programs are designed to record every letter/word that is typed, some silently watch the web sites that are visited. Other Spyware programs have the ability to take control of your computer, change your settings, redirect your browser and basically wreak havoc on the user experience.

Trojan horses are programs that can potentially access all of the files on your computer. They do not stop there. They are usually programmed to send your files to another computer (usually a computer specified by the programmer of the Trojan horse). Without software to detect Trojan horses, there is no way for you to know when you have one and when one is operating on your computer.

Spyware and Trojan horses get onto your computer in the same way that computer viruses do. This can be through infected files that have been downloaded to your computer, infected flash drives and sometimes through visiting web sites that are infected with them. Often the writers of this malicious software will break into a web site and install the program there to catch web site visitors unaware.

To detect and remove Spyware and Trojans, you not only need a good antivirus program, you need a software that specifically sniffs out Spyware and Trojans, as well as viruses. The makers of strong antivirus software spend their time investigating new viruses, Spyware and Trojan horses and then writing programs that will counter what the writers of malicious software (malware) intended.

For continued protection against malware you must have a strong antivirus installed on your computer. You must keep your subscriptions up to date and run updates regularly. Updates link to your antivirus maker’s web site and provide you with protection against any new malware they have discovered. A good firewall is equally important. Firewalls guard against unauthorized access to your computer and prevent your personal files from being sent to writers of malware.