Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | T | The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR)

BEWARE SPYWARE - INFECTIONS ON RISE.

Publication: The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR)
Publication Date: 29-NOV-04 		Format: Online - approximately 1671 words
Delivery: Immediate Online Access
Full Article Title: BEWARE SPYWARE - INFECTIONS ON RISE.(Higher Education)(The latest plague on PCs comes as sneaky files that work behind the digital scenes to hijack computers)

Article Excerpt
Byline: Greg Bolt The Register-Guard

About a week ago, Cameron Nichols' laptop started to slow down. Then it would freeze up when he tried to get onto certain Web sites. Finally, it replaced his regular desktop image with an ad.

When Nichols, a University of Oregon sophomore, took the balky Dell into the UO's computer shop, he found that he had become one of the thousands of campus victims of the latest PC plague: spyware.

"Within a matter of a few days it really went downhill," Nichols said, while a technician worked to clean the malignant files off his hard drive. "Multiple times I'd try to get on a Web site and it would freeze up."

What happened was that sneaky little files that most likely slipped onto his hard drive while he was visiting Web sites were working behind the digital scenes to hijack his computer. Individual spyware files can be relatively benign - if you don't mind being spied on - but collect enough of them or get infected by particularly insidious ones and you can kiss your data goodbye.

The problem has caused headaches on college campuses across the country, as well as in homes and businesses. People connected to large, fast networks such as those at universities are especially vulnerable because the files easily can be loaded in the background without any telltale slowdown in computer performance.

"This fall, probably about 75 percent of our business has been dealing with either viruses or spyware," said...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!



More articles from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR)
Irish dunk Lebanon.(Sports), December 01, 2004
Skyhawks fly past Sheldon in opener.(Sports)(The Irish pull to within ..., December 01, 2004
Fourth-quarter run sinks Irish.(Sports)(Sheldon stays with No. 1 South..., December 01, 2004
Duo create molecular trap for arsenic.(Higher Education)(Scientists so..., December 01, 2004
HOLIDAY WISH LIST.(Holidays), December 01, 2004

Looking for additional articles?
Search our database of over 3 million articles.

Looking for more in-depth information on this industry?
Search our complete database of Industry & Market reports by text, subject, publication name or publication date.

About Goliath
Whether you're looking for sales prospects, competitive information, company analysis or best practices in managing your organization, Goliath can help you meet your business needs.

Our extensive business information databases empower business professionals with both the breadth and depth of credible, authoritative information they need to support their business goals. Whether it be strategic planning, sales prospecting, company research or defining management best practices - Goliath is your leading source for accurate information.