Beware ....& Be AdAware
an article by R Lipsky

Popup ads can be annoying when you visit websites. They can also take up processing power, and slow down internet speed. There are good utilities out there to stop these ads from displaying on your system, and stop their ill effects on your web surfing.

There are ways that sly hackers can track your every move on the internet. You should know about the use and misuse of internet tool called cookies. They are small snippets of text that websites can put on your machine to allow you to surf the web more effectively. Malicious or shrewd web authors can use these tools to track your use of the web, or to do unscrupulous things like gather your passwords or get your credit card numbers. For this reason you should consider a utility that blocks sites' access to these cookies. These utilities must be configurable to allow certain sites access to cookies. Some reputable sites such as Microsoft will not allow you into their website without your cookies being enabled. Other well known sites use cookies for useful reasons, such as guiding you towards products that might interest you based upon your past browsing habits.

This author recommends an all in one tool for internet security, called Norton Internet Security 2002. The package includes Norton Antivirus, and Norton Firewall with utilities for stopping cookies, ad pop-ups, java script, active-X scripts and others, all of which can cause problems to your system. The package also includes a parent control feature that can be used to filter certain offensive sites from youngsters in your household.

There is a utility available called AdAware that searches out other rouge code on your computer. This code is in a hybrid category called spyware that can track your internet activity, or send back information to their authors. Spyware also includes utilities used to track your keystrokes, stroke for stroke. Emailed back to the spy, the keystrokes that you type into your computer contain all the websites that you frequent, your user names, passwords, credit card information and a host of other information that should be kept private. AdAware can be used to detect spyware and delete it permanently. Until you run an application such as this you cannot be truly sure that your system is free from tracking or spying programs.

AdAware is a freeware utility that is available as a free download on line. You can just click on the above link to download it. Then install it and run it on your system. After that you should run it every so often to be sure that nothing was slipped onto your system without your knowledge. Pass it on to your friends. They will thank you. Or at least they should.

...continued next month.

*Rich Lipsky is the owner and operator of ComputerHelp911.com, a local company that specializes in solving computer problems for local residents and businesses since 1995.
Rich is available for questions, or for
consultation. You can reach him at:

⁽³¹⁵⁾ 382 - HELP.