The information obtained can even be more invasive to your privacy by collecting the MAC address of the network card in your PC and matching it to your IP address that you are assigned when connected to the internet. Combining this information with your surfing habits can give advertisers a very clear picture of your likes and dislikes.

I don’t know about you but while I have been conditioned to accept the fact that I am going to be advertised to at just about every activity I engage in, and I also believe in the pursuit of the all-mighty dollar, I don’t want to volunteer to give up all aspects of my online privacy to help someone make a quick buck.

Adware:
Adware programs are usually just plain annoying and can range from a banner ad within the freeware program, a pop up ad, an installed toolbar to a hijacked home page or search page. Adware can often cause incompatibilities in your system slowing it to a crawl and possibly crashing your operating system.

Adware programs are often bundled with freeware programs and are installed on your system alongside the freeware program. By serving ads to you the freeware author can streamline an income for their efforts without having to charge you a fee for use of the program. In this instance you agree to allow the advertisers to market directly to you in exchange for a free program by accepting the EULA (End-User License Agreement) during installation.

Malware:
Malware typically includes Trojans, which we discuss in greater detail later, viruses, and worms. The intention of malware is perform a variety of destructive acts on your computer system and is normally installed without your knowledge.

Viruses:
Viruses have been so dubbed with the name because of their ability to proliferate and spread from computer to computer. Viruses were initially written by budding programmers wishing to show off their skills by writing ‘prankster’ viruses.

Originally written for fun, there is always someone who comes along to try and exploit things and viruses turned to committing destructive acts on the PC rather than performing just a ‘funny’ prank.

Currently the intent of ‘most’ viruses are to delete files on your computer, including system files, which will render your computer unusable until you reinstall your operating system.

Reinstalling your operating system may not be a walk in the park, but when compared to losing your work files…I would much rather reinstall the OS anytime over losing all my work. (hint: backup, backup, backup)

Worms:
Worms are another variant of viruses that usually replicate themselves by making copies of itself within the computer’s memory with the intent of causing some form of destruction similar to a virus.

Dialers:
Dialers are software programs that have the ability to make phone calls from your computer using your modem without your knowledge. These programs are usually intent on connecting to the internet at an expensive rate or dialing 900 numbers and leaving you with the expensive charges. Even with the high use of broadband connections, users are still vulnerable if they have modems in their PCs.

Trojans:
Trojans are quite nasty little creatures that can open a backdoor into your computer system and allow someone to obtain complete access to your files to do as they wish, such as view password files stored on your system.

Many Trojans are installed with the sole purpose of obscurely using your PC as a zombie to attack internet sites or deliver email spam. If an internet site is attacked and the police investigate, where do you think the trail will lead them…why, to your front door of course, all the while, the hacker skips away scott-free.