Downloading Spyware Removers: Think Before, not After

Just imagine: you are walking, say, towards your car, and all of a sudden somebody comes up to you and begins? polishing your shoes. Or even better example--a guy you've never met before opens the hood of your car, says the engine is broken and tries to persuade you to add some gadget your car desperately needs--and now! What you'd do if such a crazy thing happened? Wouldn't you readily accept the help, paid for it and thank this unknown altruist for his generosity? Why not? Lots of people are doing exactly the same on their PCs.

A pop-up ad offering you a pop-up blocker--funny, isn't it? With those numerous spyware removers it isn't even funny. Obtrusive advertising in itself is not necessarily suspicious (it might be just a sign that the company's marketing director is stupid), but some dishonest software vendors are applying deceitful tactics in marketing their anti-spy solutions (often of low or zero quality), trying to make money quick.

Almost any product can be faked, but with software it is especially easy. It is also very tempting to take advantage of huge demand for security solutions without much effort. The recent story with a placebo product Spyware Assassin proves it.

What a simple but efficient (and disgusting) scheme--to offer users a free system scan, which is bound to find spyware (even if there isn't any--because no scan actually takes place), then sell them a "solution" to this problem for only $30. This product (Spyware Assassin) seems to be about as fake as spyware found on a "clean" PC. As a result, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently took action against MaxTheater--the company which distributed Spyware Assassin. The site used for selling this bogus anti-spyware software has been taken down.

Users who were literally forced to buy Spy Wiper or Spy Deleter, or those who remember the notorious litigation in fall 2004, can say a lot of things about authors and sellers of such programs--if written down, their remarks can make paper blush. In short, Seismic Entertainment Productions, Inc., another vendor prosecuted by FTC, applied even more impudent tactics than MaxTheater. Computers were infected with real spyware and adware to be later "cured" with Spy Wiper or Spy Deleter. The spyware changed the consumers' home pages, changed their search engines, and generated constant flow of pop-up ads.

We all have been told not to be too credulous; still lots of us fall for the advertising bait. You must have already heard or read tips like these, but maybe they are worth reading once more:

Tip 1

If a company is unscrupulous in choosing means of advertising: tone of its ads is aggressive, they are scaring a potential customer and demanding immediate action (scan and system, install/buy/download some program NOW or something nasty will happen), if a company is using pop-ups and especially spam to distribute its "message"-- you'd better stay clear

Tip 2

If a company is very young and yet claims to offer something really wide-range and universal, or better to say, panacea-like, solution, with 100% guarantee--it's most likely a lie. No product is capable of protecting your PC against all the malware. Only irresponsible vendors give such false promises, and only naive users believe them.

Tip 3

However name the product bear, the name is not the product itself. Cool names don't describe functions, quality, or reliability of the program, though imply them (usually it's not true). Words "perfect" or "advanced" in the product's name may sound good, but don't at all mean this product works well or is better compared with others.

The conclusions are rather simple. Don't believe everything ads say. Do spend time on background checks before downloading, and you won't have to waste plenty of time, money and nerves afterwards.

Alexandra Gamanenko currently works at Raytown Corporation, LLC -- an independent software developing company. Raytown Corporation, LLC provides various solutions for information security. This company has never used and is never going to use any deceptive advertising tactics. Raytown Corporation, LLC always keeps its promises and its anti-keylogging software is of high quality, though you will never see its ad in a pop-up window.

Learn more about it -- visit the company's website http://www.anti-keyloggers.com

---

Microsoft CRM Customization: Integration with Third Party SQL Application/Database

Microsoft CRM ? Client Relationship Management package from Microsoft Business... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains GL: General Ledger ? Overview For Consultant

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains is marketed for mid-size companies... Read More

Rapid Application Development - Is it Really a Need of Today?

Rapid Application Development (RAD) is a software development methodology. In... Read More

3 Reasons Why Medical Billing Software is Leading the Way

Since technology changes so quickly, it is hard to begin... Read More

Dont Choose Adobe When Working With PDF

While Adobe is the most known maker of PDF tools,... Read More

Free Microsoft Word Online Training Tutorial Resources

Microsoft Word is one of the most popular office applications... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Beverage Production & Distribution ? Implementation & Customization Highlight

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has many years of successful... Read More

Spyware - The Internet Devil Of Our Times!

Spyware and Adware infest over 90 percent of computers in... Read More

Removing Incoming Email in MS Exchange, C# Example

The purpose of one of our projects was MS Exchange... Read More

Microsoft CRM or Siebel

Siebel is traditional CRM market leader, however and mostly due... Read More

Mapping Software: Putting Data Visualization on the Map

Mapping Software Improves Data VisualizationFrom the outset, it is important... Read More

Corporate ERP: Microsoft Great Plains For The Plant In Brazil ? Overview For CIO

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains as new ERP for multinational... Read More

The Hidden Power of Online Manual

Writing software manuals is boring, isn't it? We often think:... Read More

Guide to Software Marketing

Intro This concise article will tell you in plain English... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Payroll Module Customization Scenarios

It is now common thing when large corporation selects mid-market... Read More

10 Things You Can Do With Photoshop CS2 That You Couldnt Do Before Now

Is Photoshop CS2 worth the upgrade? You bet it is!... Read More

Business Planning Software

Once a business idea is selected, it is highly recommended... Read More

SQL scripts for Project Accounting: Microsoft Great Plains series ? overview for developer

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains has Project Accounting module where... Read More

ERP for Large Corporation ? New Selling Strategy

Our opinion is based on our Microsoft Business Solutions Great... Read More

Importance of Coding Standards

Programming Help for BeginnersWe write programs to instruct computers. When... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains eCommerce: overview for developer

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains was designed back in the... Read More

Managing Stress in the Computer Industry - Five Steps to a Stress-free Life

It would be easy to think, like most people apparently... Read More

Software Upgrades Arent Always the Best Move

When my daughter was getting into AOL instant messaging (AIM)... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Customization and Development ? Overview for Programmer

When Great Plains Software was designing and developing Great Plains... Read More

Are You Waiting for Microsoft Longhorn Operating System

I love new technology. I am still ready to wait... Read More

How To Avoid Getting Hooked By Pfishing

"Pfishing", sometimes spelled "Phishing", is a word that's used to... Read More

Microsoft Business Solutions Products Selection: ERP, CRM, Retail Management

Let's first look at your ERP system selection (without Retail... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Dynamics on Pervasive SQL.2000 Data Repair ? Overview For DBAs

Some introduction into Great Plains Software products, now Microsoft Business... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Customization: Project Organization ? International Business Example

Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains fits to majority of horizontal... Read More

Freight Forwarding ERP: Microsoft Business Solutions Great Plains customization & setup ? overview

Microsoft Great Plains may be recommended for international freight forwarding... Read More

Microsoft CRM Custom Design & Development: SDK, C#, SQL, Exchange, Integration, Crystal Reports

Microsoft CRM is new player on the CRM software... Read More

Reduce Pop-ups and Annoying Ads

There is many things more frustrating than surfing a website... Read More

Snort for Network IDS

What is Snort?Snort is an open source network intrusion detection... Read More