Spyware versus Antivirus

Privacy is a major concern of individuals that are using the internet and right now, due to many forms of malware; it presents a great threat to any user. People, who access the internet, are not sure if their personal computer is not corrupted by viruses. Passwords and important personal information are at high risk of being accessed by unknown individuals because of these different inventions that disrupt the privacy among users. It is true that indeed, there are many benefits we get from the internet but together with its increasing popularity is the birth of malicious programs and viruses, which are considered threats to user privacy.

Spyware is something that is directly installed in most computers. It is installed in these computers without the awareness of the user. Therefore, it secretly invades the user’s computer. From the name itself, spyware, it is like a spy that secretly observes what the user is doing in the internet. It can detect the activities that the user has performed in the internet and what web pages the user has accessed. It is like a disease that slowly degrades the functions of our computers. It makes unnecessary changes in many settings in the computer which in turn makes the user feel that his computer is malfunctioning. It affects many programs in the computer and slows down the connection speed of the internet or worst, disables the ability to connect. It adds hassles to the user, since they cannot maximize their time well in using the internet because of many disruptions. Opening files would take longer periods of time the same as closing them. Other bulks that the spyware produces are unauthorized advertisements, which contain malicious content that contains many viruses and destroys the operation of most programs in the long run. It causes the user to spend more on the repair and restoration of the functions of many programs. Others decide to buy a new one without even knowing the cause of the malfunction. These programs that harm the computer are very numerous, and they can invade everything that they can in computers. These malicious programs are usually created by a group of individuals who want to gain money and popularity. They use spyware programs to steal from bank accounts by enabling them to access important codes and information of the user. Others just want to create a certain virus, and they would sell the antivirus for that certain program to earn money.

Since spyware programs became a worldwide  concern, most especially those who access the internet, there were many remedies that were developed to counter act these malicious programs. Hence, the discovery of the antivirus software became one of the known techniques to suppress the effects of spyware. The antivirus software prevents malicious and degrading malware from infecting the user’s computer. Aside from this, it detects whether there is a malicious activity going on that would signal a possible harm to the computer. This can also remove unnecessary advertisements that are usually infected with viruses that could possibly slow down the functions of the computer. Of course, the creator of these antivirus programs should have the sufficient knowledge regarding computers and its kind so that it can counteract efficiently. Though this is an effective method to suppress some forms of malware, there are also negative effects produced in these programs. The most common is that the speed of the computer is decreased. It sometimes places the user in a dilemma if he should disable the antivirus or not. Today, there are more forms of malware that are difficult to detect and the ability of this antivirus software in detecting viruses had significantly slipped in the past few years. Aside from antivirus software, users can also opt to use other remedies like a virus removal tool which removes the virus from computers that are affected.

It is really very useful to have programs that can somehow protect our computers from being invaded by destructive spyware but even though we find it useful to have one, it is still not enough to fully eradicate malicious actions in the internet. Therefore, our privacy and safety on the World Wide Web are still threatened.