If you haven't yet had an encounter with spyware, well, you will. The demons of evil marketing are worse than viruses in many ways and can bring your computer crashing to a halt, use your internet connection to send spam, or invade your privacy and waste your time.

Spyware programs work underneath your browser, collecting and sending information about the websites you visit, delivering unwanted ad content, and making your computer run slower. They can add toolbars and utilities that you don't want and didn't install. They can run software and even alter your computer settings. Isn't that special?

Spyware is smart enough to hide on your hard drive if you try to remove it.

How Spyware Infects Your Machine

Spyware is often included with other software downloads so most people don't know they're getting these programs installed. Users unwittingly invite them onto their computers, believing they're getting something else.

In the words of one person:

"Unlike a virus, with spyware you may not even know you've been hit. I only found out when my ISP shut down my email account. Their technicians told me spyware on my machine had been flooding their servers for several days, all happening in the background while my PC was busy working for me in the foreground."

Fending off Spyware

Usually by downloading an anti-spyware software, you can repair your computer right away and get back to work.

Spyware is insidious - it can come looking like an officail email message from Microsoft, only to install a new toolbar you didn't want and hundreds of new spyware files and web browser pop-ups.