Stopping Spyware:

Protecting Your Computer, Your Data, And Your Privacy E-Book

reviewed by Robert Pritchett

Stopping Spyware: Protecting Your Computer, Your Data, And Your Privacy by Laura E. Hunter is an E-Book that can be downloaded as a PDF.  If you deal with the non-Mc environment either using Virtual PC or working at a PC-based workstation and if you have not been paying attention to the malware industry, here is another eye-opener.

Thankfully this kind of self-help endeavor has not been necessary with Mac OS X-enabled Macs, but it is good to see what kind of issues occur as we continue to state that Macs using Mac OS X are still zero after 5 years as far as malware is concerned – compared to the alternative with all it’s Achilles heels showing prominently in this E-Book.

Intended for individuals or small businesses, the assumption is that larger businesses are already protected. However, even though I have all the protective software, listed in this book, firewalls, and anti-Spam filters, my system apparently missed detecting a large number of malware items that were discovered on my XP Pro machine over the Thanksgiving weekend. With the non-Mac environment, I spend way too much time doing computer maintenance instead of doing my job.

Like a typical Microsoft-trained individual, Laura’s final solution is to shut down and reinstall the operating system when all else fails. The real fix is to stop using the platform and use something else that hasn’t been successfully targeted by those who wish to do irreparable harm to our electronic industry.

If your non-Mac system has been suffering from a nasty “case of the slows”, more than likely your system has been compromised. Laura does a pretty good job explaining the who what and why and how to overcome it.

This short book has 6 chapters discussing the menace that Spyware has become, either as Adware, a hijacker or as a keystroke logger. But we aren’t left out in the cold. Laura also shows how to secure the PC and web browser and using both software and hardware firewalls, She also presents the usual “solutions” of Ad-Aware, Spybot Search & Destroy, Microsoft’s own anti-spyware tool and how to choose. (She suggests using all three). And she also writes about what to do if the system is already infected. (Of course you are. All computers that are non-Macs that connect to the Internet are compromised within 20 minutes.) She also dedicates a whole chapter to what to do if the worst-case scenario has occurred. (Meaning replace the Operating System.) And the last chapter talks about data protection from floppies to zip-drives and beyond and finishes with Windows Configuration. The book finishes with a very short summary and a few trusted resources for more information.

I’d rather avoid the malware scenario altogether by using the platform that doesn’t suffer from these issues to begin with. And you should know by now which one that is, right?