Wendy thought her computer had been possessed by a demon! Or maybe an imp, or a homunculus, or something else of the wicked variety. Not because it churned and crunched in some rather unsatisfying ways, but because it sometimes chuckled at her mirthlessly when she tried to visit her favorite websites.

That, and it would sometimes throw popups onto her screen offering to sell her fashionably relevant knockoffs of those shoes she looked at a few minutes ago. Who in their right mind wears elephant hide boots anyway? And who is this manufacturer Prãda?

What Wendy did not know, and could certainly hurt her is that this was no demon—her computer was infected with MALWARE.

What she needed was the cure.

Without proper vaccination of her PC against the vicious spyware, her computer slowly became the seat of infestation, boiling over with spying, key sniffing, URL stealing, infection! First it chewed through her financials with gleeful abandon flinging her credit card number off to some e-mail address in Singapore. Her Outlook revolted as it became a spam spewing pimple on the teenaged face of the Internet. And, much to her chagrin, her browser would crash at the most unfortunate moments. Like when she tried to do online banking.

Months later, penniless from identity theft, harassed by creditors (most of whom she didn’t even know), and chased from place to place by her abysmal credit score. Wendy got herself a low paying job at a 7-11 and now sells beer and condoms to people who know better than to leave themselves unprotected.

Don’t let this be you!

If you’re not interested in protecting your PC against spyware and malware…why I have some money in a Nigerian bank you might be interested in.

Spyware and Malware Can Harm Your Computer

If you’re on the internet, you need protection against spyware and malware. Spyware programs invade your computer and watch everything you do. They can steal your passwords, credit card info, and even change the web pages you’re browsing to throw annoying ads and popups at you. Malware is even worse. Not only can it do anything spyware does, but malware programs take over your computer and turn it against you. Often, this means using your computer as part of a zombie network to send spam mail or to help hack other computers. You could be stuck with a huge bandwidth bill or have to answer for any criminal activities the malware uses your computer to perform. No one wants that sort of hassle.

The best way to defend against spyware and malware is to use a powerful spyware scanner and remover. These protective programs scan your hard drive for the signs of spyware programs. If any nasty programs are found, the scanner can help remove them from your computer. This is vital, because many spyware and malware programs hide themselves so there’s no way you can clean them up by hand. And who would want to try? The best bet is to use a spyware scanner to keep yourself safe on the internet.