Spyware is one of the biggest threats to your privacy and the security of your data. Here's a series of helpful questions and answers that can help you remove and minimize future spyware from your computer.

Spyware comes in various forms, but basically it is a program or piece of information on your computer that either sends data about you or your computer habits to someone else on the Internet. This can be a company that is collecting data, or a thief seeking to steal access to your computer or data like bank information on it. Spyware can also be a program that places unwanted ads on your computer. Cookies can be considered spyware. They are little piece of information placed in your web browser to track your web habits. This is useful sometimes as a web site can see you have visited it before and let you on without a registration process. Cookies are also used to keep track of your progress through a web store. They are also used to customize website ads to your likes and dislikes.

Spyware is bad because for one it can hog precious system resources like memory and hard disk space. It can also compromise your privacy, providing outsiders with information about your computer habits. If a spyware program installs a keylogger it can capture your keystrokes and send it to a third party. This can potentially expose your user IDs and passwords to thieves. Some spyware are trojans which allows someone to log into your computer remotely and use it for their own purposes like sending spam or launching malicious attacks on other computers on the Internet, making it look like you are at fault.

There are several techniques how spyware get