The Russians are coming! The Russians are coming!
We’re seeing a lot of very tough to remove spyware programs recently. I’m told that many of them come from Russia. I wouldn’t doubt it as they are very, very capable coders.
To date, nothing has been destructive, meaning that it destroys data, but it can wreak havoc on your computer usage, especially browsing and other online activities.
A year ago most of the spyware only was trying to grab your search process so the author could get credit for linking you to certain sites or search engines. The latest paradigm is creating a bogus spyware scanner and trying to sell you $30 or $40 worth of removal tools which don’t work.
It’s getting more popular in many repair shops to suggest that the best fix is a "nuke and pave". In other words reformat and reinstall the operating system. This is especially true at many of the big box stores.
In all fairness, that is the only way anyone can be totally sure that the computer is clean. If you’re in position to do this, it is the best method. Few of us, however, use our computers in that manner and reconstructing our data and programs is far more than trivial. This is why we make every effort to eradicate every virus and spyware program we find when we do a tuneup.
Just be careful about where you go and what you do. You’ll probably get some crap and maybe need a professional to remove it. It’s really no different than the oil getting dirty in your car.
Both require periodic maintenance.
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