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

---

Crystal Reports For Microsoft RMS ? Overview For Developer/Report Designer

If you are software developer or database administrator - we... Read More

Does Microsoft have any real competition?

Does Microsoft Have any Real Competition? Copyright (c) 2003 Gregory... Read More

What You Should Know About Installing Screensavers

Do you remember that frustrating feeling when you find an... Read More

Software Process Improvement -A Successful Journey

Background: For many organizations like ours, the interim target of... Read More

Free Preventive Maintenance Software

While several preventive maintenance software manufacturers offer free trials for... Read More

Spyware Protection: A Must for Any Home Computer

Now that spyware is the single most dangerous threat to... Read More

Fundraising Software ? How Can That Help Me?

Fundraising software lets you connect with donors in a way... Read More

C++ Function Templates

C++ Function templates are those functions which can handle different... Read More

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

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

What is Shareware?

Shareware is software that you can try before you buy;... Read More

The Religion And Philosophy Of Small Internet Business

I have always had a tendency to focus on the... Read More

ERP System of the Future: Database, Business Logic and Interface

We will base our prognosis on our Microsoft Business Solutions... Read More

Microsoft Blues

With the advent of 'Service Pack 2' for Windows XP... Read More

QuarkXpress Tips: How to Move Content Between Print and Web Layouts

Since its release in 1987, QuarkXpress had made an immediate... Read More

Ukraine: a Prospective Player on the World Software Outsourcing Market

The destruction of the Soviet Union about 15 years ago,... Read More

Create ASP in Minutes

DBxtra goes ASPGetting to the information hidden within corporate databases... Read More

Great Plains Customization Upgrade? Overview For CIO/IT Director

Around the same time Microsoft made its move with .Net... Read More

What Stands Behind The Software Description?

With thousands of web pages added to the Net every... Read More

Microsoft CRM and No-Frills Cadillacs

In today's business world it's all but impossible to escape... Read More

Business Plan Software Review: Ultimate Business Planner?

One of the main reasons business owners and entrepreneurs use... Read More

Behave, Word, Behave!

If you copy something from a Web site or elsewhere...... Read More

Linux ? Keyboard Or Mouse

Just stress testing one of the latest Linux distributions. Been... Read More

10 Things You Could be Using Photoshop For, But Probably Arent

Most people don't use Photoshop to its fullest capabilities. Here... Read More

Antivirus Software ? Get The Bugs Before They Get You!

You turn on your computer, and it doesn't look quite... Read More

Artificial Intelligence And Intuition

The intuitive algorithm.Roger Penrose considered it impossible. Thinking could never... Read More

Software Tools To Help Your Business Sell More

Sales are all about leverage, because there is only so... Read More

Microsoft Great Plains Customization: Project Organization ? International Business Example

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

The Death of Windows

I have always regretted how Microsoft price gouges and rips... Read More

15 Questions to Ask Your Software Vendor

When making a decision to buy any piece of software... 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

Microsoft CRM: Implementation, Customization, Support ? Consultant Overview

Microsoft Business Solutions CRM is present several years on the... Read More

The Tools and Features of Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is one of the world's leading graphics editing... Read More

Huddle Up; Groupware on Three

It could just be me, but my experiences with document... Read More