Malware
Malware is a term commonly used to describe malicious software applications such as viruses, adware, spyware and worms. Both viruses and worms are are described in detail on the Virus Protection page.
Spyware and Adware
Often designed with less malicious intent than viruses and worms, spyware and adware are nonetheless annoying and can severely hamper routine applications and Internet connection speed.
Computer users often download spyware and adware without realizing the agreement they've accepted. For example, if a particular web page pops up a warning box that the computer user needs "Brand X" software to fully experience the site, agreeing to download the software usually contains an additional agreement: that Brand X reserves the right to install required programs (spyware) and modify the installation as necessary in the future. This means that other spyware programs can piggyback on top of the original insertion. Multiple spyware installations can easily cripple routine operations because of the amount of resources and memory each spyware installation consumes.
How does it get in a computer? Web games and flash games are the most likely culprits, but other seemingly innocent popup windows also harbor spyware. Who can resist the invitation to "increase the power of your search engine" or other enticing ads? By downloading the advertised "solution," computer users may be offering a carte blanche invitation to spyware installations. Family-use computers are frequently infected when computer users of all ages surf and play web games on their favorite on-line sites.
Getting rid of spyware requires an application that identifies and eliminates it; but before you remove spyware from your personal computer, remember that some of your free software programs may break when you remove spyware, particularly the on-line games or programs that originally delivered the spyware. In addition, there are known incidents of spyware damaging operating systems upon its removal; the spyware had attached itself to one or more critical files which were removed with the spyware. For this reason, data and application back up is highly recommended before spyware is removed.
Getting Rid of Spyware on Rice-owned Computers
If you suspect your Rice computer has been infected by spyware, ask for assistance in identifying and removing the software by contacting the Help Desk at 713-348-HELP (4357).
Getting Rid of Spyware on Personally-owned Computers
For personally-owned computers, two widely-used tools include Spybot and Ad-aware. Spybot can be downloaded for free from http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html and Ad-aware is available for a small fee at http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/. Remember the potential for damage to the operating system when spyware is removed. Rice does not endorse a particular program or vendor for spyware identification and and removal. Because spyware removal has the potential to damage operating systems, backing up data and applications before running the spyware identification and removal software is highly recommended.
Prevention
Macintosh and Unix computers rarely suffer from spyware infections. Spyware targets the largest population of computer users (Windows operating systems) and it also targets Internet Explorer (IE). Windows computer users who surf the web with other browsers—such as Firefox, Mozilla, or Opera—are less likely to pick up spyware. In addition, the Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) greatly improves the Windows environment by suppressing popups and warning computer users about spyware/adware installations.
For personally-owned computers, SP2 can be downloaded from the Windows update page at: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/. Before installing SP2, run a spyware identification and removal application as described above. Then install SP2 to help prevent future infections.
Rice computer users who do not administrate their own computers may not yet have SP2 and should contact the Help Desk for assistance at 713-348-HELP (4357).
Don't Open Popups
Regardless of your operating system, just say no to popups. For computer users who choose to allow popups, Macintosh computers and Windows SP2 computers provide numerous warnings to the computer user, asking "are you SURE you want to" install this potentially malicious software, go to this non-secure site, etc. Think before you click.
