Downloads and Spyware

Eminem's latest album, naughty pictures of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee, free software...downloads are the Internet's second killer app! They're also the Internet's primary source of spyware, viruses, and Trojan horses. If you're broke and you can't afford the price tag of clean shareware, find an ad-free, non-spyware equivalent of the program you need. Avoid spyware at all costs! Before you download and install shareware, surf over to http://www.spychecker.com or http://www.spywareinfo.com and check whether the program is listed in their spyware database. Also, do a virus check on all files that you download from the Internet prior to installation.

Figure 13.9: The Spywareinfo Web site