Spyware Is More Than A Nuisance

Currently, identity theft costs nearly $57 billion each year. While this doesn’t normally come out of the pockets of the victims of identity theft, the cost of this fraud is passed along to all consumers through higher interest rates on credit purchases and higher transaction fees.

Common Routes To Identity Theft

Eliminating the most common routes to identity theft (phishing and spyware) could reduce the cost of consumer fraud by nearly 100 percent. Other than being vigilant and savvy, there’s not much that can be done to stop phishing. Phishing is an attack that relies on “social engineering.” These attacks usually attempt to gain the trust of an individual, either through legitimate-looking email or other schemes that involve receiving email from a trusted source.

Spyware, on the other hand, is absolutely treatable. Like phishing, spyware attacks require the user to download the offending software. Unlike phishing, however, more sophisticated spyware can download itself if the user visits an infected Web site or clicks on a link that redirects the user to a malicious site. Free software can be infected with spyware as well, and altered copies of legitimate software programs can also deliver a spyware payload.

Anti-Spyware Protection Is Key

With spyware, you never know where the next attack will come from. Where one attack fails, another might succeed. The battle against spyware is continuous and exhausting. To protect your computer and your personal information, you need to load anti-spyware software on your computer. Like anti-virus software, anti-spyware/anti-malware software is updated regularly. As new infections are discovered, the malware definitions are updated to help keep your computer safe from the latest threats.

With up-to-date spyware protection loaded on your computer, you reduce the chance that you or someone in your household will become a victim of a spyware infection. You can protect your personal data, your account information, access codes and passwords. You can also be sure that as new threats arise, your anti-spyware software will be able to identify and disable them before they can do any real damage to your computer.

Still don’t think that anti-spyware software is necessary? Maybe this will change your mind. While consumers aren’t often held responsible for unauthorized charges on their credit cards, experts estimates that it costs the average consumer about $1,200 and 40 hours of time to clean up a credit report that has been damaged as the result of identity theft. How much is 40 hours of your time worth?

Photo Credit: Steve Woods