Spyware really is the most dangerous software on the planet. Never before have thieves been able to steal personal information like bank accounts, credit card information and passwords all from the comfort of there own home. Not only that but they also wreck havoc on your computer. I hate it and it has personally cost me three computers already. So hopefully this article will give you the steps you need to protect your computer and your personal info.

So what is spyware?

Well to put it simply it is basically a software program that has been specifically designed to gather and collect all sorts of information from anyone that has been unlucky enough to have it installed on their PC. Some times you may not even realize you have it on your computer until the owner of the program activates it. Once they have done this then you should start to see the tell tale signs of an infected computer. Things like ads popping up when you're not online, your computer freezing for no apparent reason, not being able to get to your home page and your computer just being plain slow. If any of this is happening to you, well there's a pretty good chance you are infected.

What do I do?

Well the very first thing you should do is get yourself some spyware removal software to detect any spyware present on your computer. Now if you don't have the cash to spend at presant then there are a number of free programs available. Two that come to mind are Ad aware and Spy bot search and destroy. Just remember these are free programs and tend to leave some spyware behind. So please get yourself a paid software tool once you have some money as I have found they do a far better scan. But just use the two mentioned above for now and clean out you system.

Ok you now have a spyware free computer lets look at additional software to protect you even further.

Pop Up Blockers

Pop up blockers are a vital piece of software in preventing spware from entering your computer. Why is that? Let me explain. I'm sure you have come across pop ups while surfing the net, but one of the things i think people don't understand is they can be used as another tool to gain entry to your computer and plant spyware. You see once it appears on the web page your are surfing generally people think that pushing the X button closes the pop up and that's the end of it. But trust me that is not all ways the case. The X button can be changed to OK or Download with out you even knowing about it. While it stills looks like the close button you are actually giving the program permission to download. It will then proceed to plant spyware on your PC. In the event of this happening the best course of action to take is to log of the net immediately before the download completes. So you can see why blocking the pop up in the first place will prevent spyware from entering you computer. There are free pop up blockers available so get one installed immediately.

Anti-virus software

This type of software is a must and if you don't have some type of anti-virus on your computer then you really are a sitting duck just waiting to be picked off. Anti-virus software will detect any Trojans, worms and key loggers trying to get into your system when you download a certain program or product. You can also scan any e-mails you receive from an unknown sender. But the best thing to do is just delete any mail from your inbox that your not expecting or don't know who its from.

Register Cleaner

This really is one of the best tools for cleaning out unused files. If you have removed any spyware or software programs lately this will detect and delete any unused files that have been left behind. You are also able to clean your cache, temporary Internet files and your browser's history. Doing all this will result in your computer running considerably faster.

Last of all make sure you have a Firewall Installed

Firewalls are your best protection against hackers. If you leave an opening on your computer hackers can gain access to your computer and practerlly do as the wish? Hackers are extremely good at what they do and if you store personal info on your PC they will find it. Now if you don't store that type of info on your computer, well they will simply install and hide some spyware designed to activate when you visit certain websites of their choice. So the next time you are doing your banking or making an online purchase the spyware will activate itself and gather all your personal information and send it back to the hacker. This will result in Identity theft!!

Ok if you install all these types of software programs on your computer your personal info and Pc should be pretty safe. There are new types of spyware hitting the Internet every day so just make sure to update the software at least once a week.