Has your computer been turned into a zombie?

The term "zombie" refers to a computer that has been compromised by a virus or other malware, so that it will perform tasks like sending spam or participate in denial of service attacks under the direction of an Evil Hacker.

Viruses, trojan horses and spyware are so prevalent now that affected zombie computers (ordinary PCs in homes and businesses) are thought to account for the delivery of up to 80% of all spam worldwide. Hackers can also create networks of zombie computers and wreak havoc with coordinated denial of service attacks that cripple targeted websites for hours or days with a flood of data.

A virus or trojan running on your PC has access to the same commands and files as you, so it can do anything you can, including installing other software, sending emails, deleting files, or snooping around for passwords and personal information.

In most cases, the owners of zombie computers are not aware that their systems have been compromised. If your computer seems to be running a lot slower than usual, or you cannot access anti-virus websites, you should run a thorough virus and spyware scan immediately.

Stop Badware From Taking Over Your Computer

Spyware, addware, viruses and worms? What does all this mean and how can you stop it from getting to your computer? Stopbadware.org provides warnings of deceptive or harmful software that users might install on their PCs.

"Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society and Oxford University's Oxford Internet Institute are leading this initiative with the support of several prominent tech companies, including Google, Lenovo, and Sun Microsystems. Consumer Reports WebWatch is serving as an unpaid special advisor." Click this link to learn how to keep your computer clean from badware: http://www.stopbadware.org.