Spyware should not be confused with a virus. Spyware does not spread like a virus and it’s purpose is not to intentionally disarm your computer. It’s main purpose is usually to gather information and present to you targeted advertisements. Some spyware will simply run in the background with no visible user interaction so you don’t even know that you have it.
Spyware is a software application that monitors your activities when you are using the computer to better target advertisements to you. If you get a lot of prize notification popups then you most likely have spyware on your machine.
You will usually receive spyware when you are installing other software (usually free software). Some of the more notorious spyware companies include Gator, Bonzi Buddy, 180 Solutions, DirectRevenue, Cydoor, CoolWebSearch, Xupiter, XXXDial, and Euniverse.
Spyware can be very cpu intensive and bring your machine to it’s knees hogging all available resources. If you notice your machine being sluggish then it would be a good idea to run a anti-spyware scan.
Watch the video below for an easy tip on how to quickly detect if your cpu is overloaded and if you have spyware running in the background.
