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Risk of Adware
What is the Risk of Adware on PC Computers?
Adware is a form of advertising supported software, which installs itself on the user computer along with a freeware or shareware application. Adware displays advertisements in the form of pop-ups and banners on the user's computer. These advertisements may collect revenue for the software developer who has written the adware code. Adware will continue running advertisements on the system even when the user is not running the original program. Mostly, adware is installed with the user's permission. It may come disguised in the form of End User's License Agreement (EULA).
How does adware install on your system?
Adware comes bundled with a freeware; it is attached to a legitimate program. Freeware installers unknowingly sign up for a bundle of pop-ups. Here are a few examples of freeware that may contain adware:
- Computer games
- Weather updates
- Advanced search engines
- Emoticons used in email
- File sharing resources for photos and music
- Programs that promise to improve your system's performance
Risks to your system
Though adware is not malicious, it can harm your system in the following ways:
- Most often, adware takes the form of spyware. It tracks information about user activity, records it, and re-sells this information. This is done without user's consent or permission. Spyware tracks the user's web surfing habits and sends this information to advertising companies. These companies target ads at the user based on their interests.
- Adware also takes the form of malware; it may interfere with the function of other software applications and force the user to visit a particular website.
- Adware bombards your system with blinking ads and pop-up windows. This is truly annoying as you need to close all ads to use your system.
- Adware degrades your system's performance; a fast operating system may slow down. Adware affects your system's RAM and CPU cycles. It may also slow down your Internet connection by utilizing bandwidth for displaying ads.
- Adware may hijack your browser start or search pages. You may land up on sites you have never visited. Additionally, re-configuring a hijacked start page or toolbar may prove to be difficult.
- Adware may watch your surfing habits and record this information. Adware creates a user profile and stores your information under your profile. It sends this information to its data collecting site. These sites store such information to evaluate your surfing habits and target you for more ads.
Harmful vs. Harmless Adware
Most adware may prove to be harmless, while those taking the form of spyware or malware are dangerous for your system. Many useful programs are distributed for free because the ads they display generate revenue for their development. Examples of such programs include Opera web browser and Kazaa.
Harmless adware asks for the user permission before installing itself, whereas harmful adware installs without permission. Harmless adware can be easily removed from the system. Harmful adware is almost impossible to remove easily. Harmless adware shows ads inside the application with which it is packaged, whereas harmful adware installs itself in other applications and hijacks the user's web settings to target more ads.
Remember to pay close attention to any kind of license agreement for free downloads. Check the security settings of your browser. These are some ways in which you can stop adware attack.
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