{"id":9328,"date":"2018-12-01T12:00:48","date_gmt":"2018-12-01T20:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.privateinternetaccess.com\/blog\/?p=9328"},"modified":"2024-01-25T10:36:35","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T18:36:35","slug":"what-is-spyware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.privateinternetaccess.com\/blog\/what-is-spyware\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Spyware?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Spyware or spying software is something that keeps a track of your activities and informs someone about what you\u2019ve been doing.<\/p>\n<p>While it may sound very James Bond like, it\u2019s not all that glamorous. This spyware can be used to steal your bank or credit card information. And if you have a disgruntled ex, it might be used to know what you\u2019ve been doing and whom you\u2019ve been going out with.<\/p>\n<p>And then there are some spyware that can install other malware on your system and change the settings to make things easier for them.<br>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2>How do people get spyware?<\/h2>\n<p> Here are the main ways most people get affected by spyware.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Downloading software tool or apps from unreliable sources<\/li>\n<li>Clicking on suspicious links<\/li>\n<li>Downloading attachments in emails without verifying the sender<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>Do you have spyware right now?<\/h3>\n<p> Since spyware is sneaky by nature, it\u2019s not easy to discover. However, there are some symptoms that you might experience if you\u2019re infected by it. Some of them are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You get regular popups \u2013 online and offline<\/li>\n<li>Your device has become sluggish<\/li>\n<li>Your computer crashes very often<\/li>\n<li>You\u2019re running out of hard disk space although you don\u2019t store a lot of files<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While the other symptoms are vague, the popup one is a definite sign of something going wrong somewhere.<br>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3>How to prevent spyware<\/h3>\n<p> Use anti-spyware: You\u2019ll find several anti-spyware tools in the market that will scan your device to find out if something is tracking your activities. Also, these tools will keep an eye on the future programs that are installed on your device to ensure that none of them contains spyware.<\/p>\n<p>Be careful when you go online: Spyware is installed from malicious websites. As a rule of thumb, you can restrict your usage to only HTTPS websites. There are some browser plugins that will stop you from opening unsecured websites. Also, don\u2019t open emails attachments if you don\u2019t know the sender.<br>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4>Stay updated:<\/h4>\n<p> Keep your device software updated. With new updates, old bugs are fixed and security patches are applied, so any old spyware that worked earlier would be rendered useless with the new updates.<br>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4>Install a firewall:<\/h4>\n<p> A firewall will block all unwanted traffic coming your way. It can block spyware and other malware from entering your system.<br>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<h4>Be wary of popups:<\/h4>\n<p> A malicious website can throw a popup your way that will prompt you to download spyware on your system. The general tendency of most people is just to click on I Agree to close the popup. Don\u2019t fall into the trap. Don\u2019t agree to anything if you don\u2019t know about the software it\u2019s going to install on your device.<\/p>\n<p>With just a little care and a few precautions, you can avoid most online threats.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Spyware or spying software is something that keeps a track of your activities and informs someone about what you\u2019ve been doing. While it may sound very James Bond like, it\u2019s not all that glamorous. This spyware can be used to steal your bank or credit card information. And if you have a disgruntled ex, it &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.privateinternetaccess.com\/blog\/what-is-spyware\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;What is Spyware?&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":9423,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_stopmodifiedupdate":false,"_modified_date":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,845,1941],"tags":[1045,1048,1046,400],"class_list":["post-9328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-guides","category-surveillance","tag-adware","tag-anti-spyware","tag-popups","tag-spyware"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.9 (Yoast SEO v26.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What is Spyware?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Spyware or spying software is something that keeps a track of your activities and informs someone about what you\u2019ve been doing. While it may sound very\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.privateinternetaccess.com\/blog\/what-is-spyware\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is Spyware?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Spyware or spying software is something that keeps a track of your activities and informs someone about what you\u2019ve been doing. 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