AdAware
This is excellent at tracking and removing cookies and other forms of Adware placed on your PC/Laptop. You can download it
HERE.
SpyBot Search And Destroy
The main purpose of this one, as the name suggests, is to detect and remove spyware. You can download it
HERE.
Spyware Doctor
This one is much the same as SpyBot but it also has an
extensive database of known "bad sites" and the ability to identify and
remove any infection caused by them. You can download it
HERE.
Key Scrambler
This will scramble all keystrokes made on your PC/Laptop when
entering personal data such as passwords etc. This is protection
against Key Loggers which are pieces of software that, when infected,
will track, record and transmit all data sensitive information from
your PC to a third party, giving them access to your on-line accounts
etc. You can download it
HERE.
Noscript
This is an excellent tool that stops hidden scripts from
running on your PC. At best these will slow your PC/Laptop down and at
worst will stop applications being used to infect your PC via Flash,
Java etc. You can download it
HERE.
After you have installed Noscript, you will need to give each site
permission to interact with your computer when you first visit it, by
doing the following, ONLY ALLOW SITES THAT YOU CAN TRUST, never allow
anything permission, if it is not what you expected to see, and in some
instances you will see more than one script wanting to interact with
your computer. Even with trusted sites there may also be other scripts
being prevented, these are normally advertising scripts run by
companies like Google for example. Click the Noscript logo, Its
displayed at the bottom of your browser and in a blue "S" with a red
circle around it, find the name of the site/program from the pop-up
menu and click allow XXX, (XXX will be substituted by the name of the
site/program). This will then allow this site to run the necessary
scripts, to allow it to interact with your computer and browser.
Adblock Plus
This an excellent tool that allows you to block adverts and
harmful content on your PC/Laptop. I find it particularly useful in
blocking annoying audio adverts that will suddenly blare out your
speakers nearly giving you a heart attack. You can also enter URL's of
sites and images block them, permanently, from loading in your browser.
You can download it
HERE.
Ccleaner
This is an excellent tool that automatically cleans all your PC/Laptop
of data that is no longer needed. This will also delete any threats
hiding in your temporary Internet files, this is a growing occurrence
unfortunately. It also has a feature that will repair registry issues
on your computer as well. I advise using it at the very end of your
work session, just before you shut down your computer, you will be
amazed at the amount of disk space this tool will free up. You can
download it
HERE.
It is very important that you use the products listed above daily,
Computer security and optimization are now your top priority. Get into
the habit of performing regular scans on a regular basis.
