The increasingly common computer and internet threat known as spyware is designed to gather information about personal and business computer users. The private information spyware is capable of obtaining about you can include your click stream, usage habits, passwords, credit card number and social security information. It is almost guaranteed that all PC computers have been infected with spyware.

A spyware infection is not primarily intended to alter a computer’s function but as a “side effect” your computer will begin malfunctioning in obvious ways when some types of spyware invade. Possible signs include continuous pop ups, browser crashes and unauthorized start page changes. Users who have downloaded music and game programs are likely to have been infected as well as those who use shareware and/or freeware.

To clear your computer of malicious spyware computer users must download or purchase one of the many spyware scan tools. Proven and effective spyware tools can scan your computer and catch spyware, adware, keyloggers, dialers, Trojans, malware and more. Once the infected files are identified the spyware scan tools can safely remove them while keeping a back up of the file in case restoration is needed later. Spybot Search and Destory has become one of the most advanced and used free spyware scanning tools. Spy Doctor can be purchased and begin actively protecting against future spyware infections.

You computer should be scanned for spyware infections on a regular basis so as to avoid serious problems that could arise from deep infection. Nearly any of the many anti-spyware programs include free updates that will bring the program’s database of spyware definitions to the latest known for ultimate computer protection. Finding and using a good anti-spyware tool will help protect your private information from being snatched and used against you. Spyware removal tools will also stop annoying and intrusive advertisements from interrupting your internet activity.

Mitch Johnson is a successful freelance author that writes regularly for http://www.spyware-removal-made-easy.com/, a site that focuses exclusively on spyware removal software, as well as tips on how to prevent spyware from popping up on your computer. This site articles on has spyware guard, http://www.spyware-removal-made-easy.com/spyware_guard.htm as well as spyware scanner, http://www.spyware-removal-made-easy.com/spyware_scanner.htm

Email and document security is no longer just an option for companies, it is a necessity. Couple that with the costly user licensing of most enterprise software solutions and many small business operators can be locked out of taking advantage of Best Practice strategies that ensure the privacy of intellectual property and communication. Setting rights permissions to documents and encrypting email will be essential to future security practices for all businesses.

Common knowledge has been that the less sophisticated small business operates on a pricing sensitivity and is more apt to take advantage of promotions, whereas the more sophisticated make security decisions based on perceived business necessities. Overall, small businesses tend towards waiting to implement internet security measures until after suffering an email breach or informational leak. By this time privacy and accompanying monetary loss may have already done irreparable harm to a company’s intellectual property and reputation. Large enterprise solutions make it necessary to adopt complex IT infrastructures and processes that are usually dependent on an IT staff – a solution that does not fit well into the budgets of most small businesses.

According to published reports in PCWorld.com, there are nearly 70 million small businesses worldwide and over 20 million in the U.S. alone. Small business is a major part of the global economy - that means it’s time to replace a general passivity towards the possible threats from email and document theft with a look towards initiating security measures as a business standard. The increasing level of security risk due to email and intellectual property theft make it imperative for small businesses to raise their level of security knowledge and investment.

Recent studies show that although information security is a high concern for small business owners, lack of actual knowledge and awareness of the economic impact of security incidents is equally high. Imparting an awareness to the small business community of the real threats in regards to security vulnerability should be top priority. Through education in this arena, small businesses can better enable them to not only determine their own level of risk but also choose the necessary email and document security solutions.

The responsibility of raising awareness of security provisions needs to come not only from governing agency reports, but also from security solution vendors. Providers of business tool solutions are better equipped than any other entity to position themselves as leaders in educating businesses on not only the dangers but the appropriate basic security measures to complement a small company infrastructure. Especially here, being informed on which internet security products best suit a company need is important as the needs of small businesses are vastly different than that of enterprise businesses.

Look to numerous market survey and analysis reports that specialize in studies on information security and small business. A little research will show they repeatedly state the same warning to small businesses - they need to change their attitude towards security and begin adopting a security plan.

Taking the time to gather information on creating good internet security practices will lead to a decrease in the future cost of lost productivity, and by educating your workforce you create an even wider prevention of productivity loss.

Nan Schwarz, Director of Corporate Marketing http://www.essentialsecurity.com

Schwarz is the director of corporate marketing for Essential Security Software and is responsible for worldwide creative marketing strategy and execution, corporate branding, and public relations.

Essential Security Software (ESS) is a provider of document and email security solutions. ESS has developed a premier, easy-to-use, peer-to-peer content protection and user rights management solution that enables small business owners and individuals to securely distribute sensitive email messages and documents while protecting the privacy, integrity and authenticity of their intellectual property. ESS believes that people have the right to affordable security software technology that is powerful, flexible, and easy-to-use.

While clicking from site to site on the internet you are likely to land yourself on a website that downloads spyware onto your computer system. Even while using familiar or unlikely and secure web site you run the risk of being infected with unwanted spyware. Most commonly, spyware detects and records your internet and computer usage information so advertisers can bombard you with pop ups and email ads they feel are appropriate to your interests. More malicious spyware applications can identify, record and send to intruders your credit card, bank account and social security information to intruders who use it for identity theft.

Computers users often leave themselves vulnerable to spyware infection because they assume their anti-virus software will protect against spyware. Spyware is a computer parasite separate from computer viruses. A virus seeks out computers to destroy their functions while spyware is designed to work along side the computer, all the while recording your private information and sending it out to intruding individuals or sold to companies. Spyware can and does build up on your computer, causing crashes among other malfunctions.

Spyware is capable of overtaking your web browser and forcing your to access unwanted sites. The best way to avoid this situation is by using one or more of the many spyware scan and removal tools. Spybot Search and Destroy has become one of the most used free spyware programs. It works first by scanning your computer for current spyware infections and then safely removing them. Their latest version can protect against spyware while you surf the internet by blocking the sites from downloading unauthorized spyware onto your computer.

For additional information and advice on finding and using an anti-spyware program it may be helpful to visit one of the many message boards or online forums where you can get input from people dealing with similar spyware problems.

Alicia Johnson is a successful freelance author that writes regularly for http://www.spyware-removal-made-easy.com/, a site that focuses exclusively on spyware removal software, as well as tips on how to prevent spyware from popping up on your computer. This site articles on has spyware guard, http://www.spyware-removal-made-easy.com/spyware_guard.htm as well as spyware doctor, http://www.spyware-removal-made-easy.com/spyware_list365.htm

The simple answer is no. Most of the computers today are vulnerable to some kind of hacker or virus attack. If you don’t believe me, just pickup any newspaper or listen to any news show, computer attacks happen everyday. Should you stop using the Internet? ABSOLUTELY NOT! With the proper precautions you can adequately secure your information. In fact, I read a statistic the other day that said more data is lost from computers being stolen than from data being accessed from the Internet.

Then why should you use a computer connected to the Internet? - To stay profitable. Many of your competitors already manage their businesses using a computer. Today, most of the motorclubs encourage service providers to use the Internet to receive calls. Tomorrow this may become a requirement. In fact, the Internet will soon be used by car dealers, trucking companies (http://www.wrecker.com), car rental agencies, and insurance companies to send the majority of towing requests. Therefore, it is imperative that you protect your information from malicious Hackers.

Just like we use locks on our doors and windows to prevent intruders, we can lock down the information on our computer. However, just as it is difficult to absolutely prevent someone from entering your house, it is difficult to absolutely prevent someone (a hacker) from gaining access to your computer. That is why backups (your insurance) are so important. So, if you are attacked you can restore your information.

The same way banks protect your money and valuables in high security vaults, professional system administrators protect your data by preventing nearly all attacks from hackers, losses from fire, storms or theft with the proper hardware and software, but it is expensive. The average computer owner is not willing or not able to go to this expense. So my article is aimed at affordable solutions that will give you adequate protection against viruses and hackers.

Let’s start with a few definitions:

Hacker (or more correctly a Cracker): Is a programmer who breaks into a computer system for the mere challenge of doing it. This may or may not be a malicious attack.

Viruses and Trojan Horses: Viruses are computer programs that run against your wishes and without your knowledge. Some cause damage to your system, while other are just annoying. A Trojan Horse, a special kind of computer virus, is a malicious program that is disguised as a useful or fun program. It can be installed on your computer by email or other means. Someone can send you an email with an attachment claiming that it is a super duper screen saver or another appealing document. When you launch the attachment it appears as if nothing has happened, but in reality the Trojan has been installed and initialized on your system. It can be a remote control type of program, which will allow someone to control your computer, access your data or delete things. Usually the anti-virus vendors are on top of threats like this and issue a new virus definition that detects the Trojan before it can do any harm. That is why it is very important to keep your anti-virus software up-to-date.

Firewall: A software program or hardware device that monitors Internet activity to detect and prevent unauthorized access to a computer system.

Are you at risk? There are several FREE resources that will test the vulnerability of your computer system to outside attacks:

• http://mcafeeasap.com/content/cybercop_asap

• http://www.symantec.com/securitycheck

• http://www.grc.com

• http://scan.sygatetech.com/

These programs will also identify other areas of concern and rate your exposure. They will also give instructions on minimizing your risks, like:

Disabling File and Printer sharing for Microsoft Networks This is a Windows networking setting that should be disabled (off) unless you are behind a firewall. If you have this enabled (on) anyone can access the data on your computer hard drive. Look in the Microsoft Windows help file under “File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks” for instructions on disabling it.

Using better passwords

Do not use proper names, since many of the password cracking programs assume that most people use the names of their spouse, kids, pets, etc. You should also mix upper and lower case letters with numbers. The more random you make the sequence the better. For example “rfghZyU23Iu” is hard to crack, but it is also hard to remember. Think of it as remembering a combination to a lock or a phone number. You can remember it with a little practice.

Consider purchasing a personal firewall (Free - $40) A personal firewall program will limit your exposure to unwanted guests by monitoring all Internet activity. The next version of Microsoft Windows (Windows XP) will have a personal firewall integrated into the operating system.

Service providers are being told that the motorclub Digital Dispatch will not work behind a firewall. While this may be true for the web solutions from the motorclubs, it is not true for the solutions being provided by the towing software vendors. Furthermore, I believe with a little investigation and testing the motorclub browser solution should work behind a firewall too.

But is it safe to use Digital Dispatch? Although Digital Dispatch uses the Internet, it poses a relatively low security risk if properly implemented. This is because data is expected in a certain format, if does not receive data in that format it rejects the packet. However, your towing software vendor should also verify that the data packet came from one of the motorclubs and the connection should not remain open for more than a few seconds. These precautions will keep your risk exposure to a minimum.

Purchase an anti-virus program and keep it up-to-date Most anti-virus programs have a “live update” feature that will check the company’s web site for virus updates and update the software when needed. You need to do this about every 2 weeks to make sure you are protected against the latest viruses. You can order an anti-virus program online from http://www.mcafee.com or http://www.symantec.com.

Give Credit Card information on a secure site only

You can tell you are on a secure site by looking for “locked padlock”. Netscape places the padlock in the lower left corner and Internet Explorer places the padlock in lower right corner of the program screen. Giving your credit card information over the Internet on a secure site is more secure than giving your card over the phone or even using you card in a store. This is because your credit card information is usually sent directly to the credit card company, bank, or processing company without human intervention.

Use online applications (ASPs)

The next generation of applications for towing management, accounting (Quickbooks for the Web), anti-virus, etc. will be online. This will give tremendous security advantages. First of all, Internet professionals that know how to thwart the efforts of hackers will maintain the sites. Your data will be safer on the web than in your own office. Secondly, if you were to get a virus or your computer is lost or stolen, all of your data would be safe on the server of your application service provider. Therefore, since nothing is stored on your local computer, you can simply go to another computer, input your password and you are back in business without experiencing any downtime or lost information.

Use secure databases to store your information

If you are using a towing management or accounting software, your data is stored in databases. Think of a database like a file cabinet. Some people lock their file cabinets and others do not. Databases are locked using user IDs and passwords. Just because your program requires you to login with a password, this does not mean the database is protected. Certain older less expensive database systems allow access to your information from outside the software that created it (using something like Microsoft Excel). However, expensive enterprise (professional client/server) database systems, such as SQL Server and Oracle maintain a very high level of security. That is to say, without the proper user ID and password, it is nearly impossible to view your information. This is not the case with older (distributed) databases, such as FoxPro and dBase. These packages merely store information and do not require authorization to view the information. They rely on your local network to provide the security.

The Internet generation of towing software (ASPs) will likely use professional client/server databases for information storage. This will bring a level of security to your information that has been needed for a long time.

To review, you should do the following to reduce your Internet risk:

1. Disable file and printer sharing.

2. Purchase personal firewall and anti-virus software.

3. Only use secure “pad locked” sites for credit card transactions.

4. Look to new online applications (ASPs) for towing management, accounting, etc. to provide the most secure, cost effective business environment.

Using computers, the Internet, and proper safeguards, your business information will be more secure and accessible. Your competitors will have a tough time catching up!

Todd Althouse is a Managing Partner of Beacon Software, LLC - an Internet Application development company specializing in towing software and fleet management software.

http://www.beaconsoftco.com

You may have heard the term firewall before but have you ever wondered how does a firewall work and why do I need one? A computer firewall protects your computer by putting up a barrier to keep anyone from accessing your files when you are surfing the Internet.

Once a hacker get access to your files malicious codes spread through your computer retrieving your personal information that the hacker can use to steal your identity or charge items with your credit card numbers. So how does a firewall work?

A firewall not only stops this from happening but keeps the malicious file out of your computer so it can’t spread to your other files. That’s why it’s called a firewall because its job is similar to a firewall that keeps a fire from spreading from one area to the next.

If a hacker tries to invade your computer files to get your passwords and credit card numbers you’ve used for online purchases he simply can’t get access. Computer firewall software will allow good data in but blocks all bad data from entering your computer.

Good data is when you are surfing the Internet, visiting web sites, downloading photos or data files. But bad data, like hacker programs, or anything that spies on your Internet habits without your knowledge is not allowed.

When computer firewall protection is enabled, everything that goes in and out of your computer is monitored. With the amount of malicious programs on the Internet today it’s also a way to prevent spyware and adware from getting into your computer.

Many people think that the anti-virus software that came with their computer protects them from hackers. While it’s important to keep anti-virus software updated for viruses it does nothing to secure your computer against direct hacker attacks.

Whether you have a dial-up, cable, broadband or DSL connection, every minute that your computer is connected to the Internet, it is at risk. Hackers are looking to do you harm and even steal your identity. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes today.

One of the most effective ways to guard your personal information and keep these criminals away from your sensitive passwords and credit card numbers is the use of computer firewall protection.

You’ll hear the term firewall used a lot in the near future because these problems are growing at an alarming rate on the Internet. You’ll probably also hear other people ask, how does a firewall work and why do I need one? But now you’ll know the answer.

Copyright © 2005 Spyware Information.com All Rights Reserved.

This article is provided by http://www.spyware-information.com where you will find free spyware cleaners, downloads, removal software, computer firewalls and valuable tips. For regularly updated articles about adware, spyware and protection from identity theft go to http://spyware-information.com/articles_1.html

Recently a client of mine was very excited to try downloading music after getting high-speed internet. After several searches for unlimited music download services, she came across a site that was ranked #1 among several user review sites. For $14.99 a year, she could get unlimited free downloads to songs, movies, and more! Sound to good to be true?

More and more complaints have been issued against these types of music download service companies. My client was just another statistic in the practice of fraudulent music download services. When she signed in to her account for the first time, she was directed to several articles on how to burn CD’s and websites such as Yahoo and Google where she could "search" for her own "free" music. She was also charged an additional $17.00 for spyware software that she didn’t order.

We contacted the customer service department on behalf of the client. After being on hold a long while, we were forwarded to the manufacturer of the spyware program that she never agreed to ordering. Further investigation provided us with long lists of reports on this and similar websites offering unlimited "free" downloads. They were selling information that anyone could get for free, and the FTC was on to them.

While several cases are pending, there will never be a way to fully rid the cyber-world of these types of fraudulent service providers. What can you do to protect yourself? Here are some basic rules:

1. Do a little research. Check with online review forums that are reputable and well-known. Don’t respond to a pop-up ad or spam. (The user reviews that ranked this particular service provider as #1 were listed on a site owned by the spyware software company, and the reviews were never real.)

2. Remember that songwriters and performers want to get paid for their songs. If a service is offering unlimited downloads to your PC to burn CD’s, these artist are usually not getting paid. Bigger name services allow unlimited download to MP3 players to be used by one listener only. If you see that newest top 40 hit available for free download to your PC, beware. You may be participating in piracy, a crime punishable with jail time or hefty fines.

3. Read the fine print. All reputable service providers should offer a "try it and see" period to test the waters. If a company states that they don’t offer refunds under any circumstances or charge a fee to reimburse you for unused membership fees, get away fast!

Linsey Knerl is a writer and homeschooling mother of three who enjoys parenting and all of life’s blessings with her husband in rural Nebraska. Her work can be see at http://www.LinseyBKnerl.com.

A lot of classified ads promote quick and easy weight-loss products and programs. They cannot deliver what they promise. Another hot area in the classifieds Ads are "business opportunities." Work at home schemes, such as making arts and crafts or stuffing envelopes, have been replaced by offers to "use your home PC to make fast money in your spare time." Other ads encourage customers to invest in communications technologies, such as telephone 900" numbers and telephone services, with promises of low-risk and high returns and The attraction of "900" number pay per call services is that high profit can be made of 25% or more from the fees of $3 to$5 per minute charged to callers by the 900 service providers. The company’s promises on these investments are likely not to be true.

Disguised advertising:

"Disguised advertising," may be hard to recognize. Bulletin boards and chat forums may include areas where comments about the quality or performance of products or services may be disguised ads.

The Internet and online services provide bulletin boards where interested parties can exchange information in general topic areas. Individuals contributing to the bulletin board may have financial ties to companies or businesses that sell those products or services related to the bulletin board subject area. This may not be clear to the online user. What may seem to be an open discussion could be disguised sales pitches. Since the identities or affiliations of online bulletin board operators and participants may not be known, it could be hard to detect disguised advertising.

Some commercial online services also provide chat rooms or chat forums. Service subscribers can enter the rooms or forums for an online conversation by typing what they want to say. These forums provide discussions on a variety of subjects, including products and services. Some companies have used these chat forums to promote their products without claiming their interests.

Tip-offs to fraud:

Read online ads and conversations with a healthy dose of skepticism. The same things that tip you off to some scams and frauds in print and on television also appear in cyberspace.

Here are some signs of questionable online advertising:

Hyped up claims of product effectiveness. Use of the word "hot" to describe an investment opportunity can indicate a scam.

Claims of potential high earnings or profit.

Claims of "Inside" information.

Company makes promises of cheap stocks making high returns

Exotic investments promotions such as ostrich farming, gold mining, or wireless cable TV.

When you make any decisions about products or investments, be careful. Check references and a variety of sources and before you buy.

For more Profitable Advertising Results Visit: http://www.RichLackey.com

My name is Lance Groom and I am formally from the Hit TV Show "Making Money", also past board member for "Susan Powter" health fitness, and Infomercial guru. In 2001 I led one of the largest advertising campaigns in over 6,000 newspapers. This campaign resulted in over 25,000 sales all over the world creating "Classified Millions".

The spread of spyware and adware for advertising purposes has gone beyond the privacy limits because distributors of the invasive software see no harm in installing the surveillance programs without your knowledge. One way to check for spyware intrusion is by going to the tools menu in Internet Explorer. Go to the security tab and click on the custom level button.

Next to the Download ActiveX control if your computer does not have the disable or prompt button then you most likely have been infected with spyware.

A spyware infection means your internet surfing is being tracked and your personal information is being transferred to a third party. Those that gather the information sell it to companies who utilize the private information for advertising purposes.

This in turn results in a continuous stream of pop up ads and email advertisements. Lavasoft software has a free spyware and adware scan and removal tool that uses a database of known spyware programs to determine if your computer is infected. Lavasoft’s AdAware program will detect and remove any spyware infected files located on your system. You can download AdAware and it will install on your computer with a desktop icon that you then click on to run the scan. The program recognizes spyware objects, files and registry key alterations and it then repairs them upon your command.

AdAware will give you a comprehensive list of found spyware along with a detailed description of each infected application. AdAware’s initial version is free for all personal computer users and their plus version costs $27 and it adds real-time protection against spyware and adware.

Mitch Johnson is a successful freelance author that writes regularly for http://www.1st-in-spyware.com/ , a site that focuses exclusively on spyware removal software, as well as tips on how to prevent spyware from popping up on your computer. This site articles on has spyware guard, http://www.easy-spyware-killer.info/ as well as spyware scanner, http://www.easy-remove-spyware.info/

How do copyright thieves justify their dirty deeds to steal other author’s work? One accomplished copywriter recently damned them on a major online article Blog for authors. She blasted these thieves who steal other people’s works and then put them on their websites or put their name on the articles, stories or ebooks and use them for their own online content. Indeed, I agree and have had the same thoughts. In a way I suppose these copyright infringement thieves might argue that they are giving out information free online (even though they are often stealing it). These copyright thieves steal other author’s articles and replay it on their websites, without giving them credit. In a way this helps get information out to the world and in some ways it junks up the Internet as people searching key words keep getting the same article over and over again, under different author names or no name, in fact no one knows who wrote it or why? The person who stole it may not even remember where they lifted it from.

I believe Google is doing some good for the world and care about making sure the search results are relevant yet, these copyright thieves often do so to the detriment of the Internet user. Google now has an informational TV program and their own channel on DirectTV broken into quick 7-minute segments, about the maximum allowable for the modern human brain to maintain attention to? (forget I said that!). But isn’t that actually part of the issue? These folks who steal other author’s articles are lazy and will not do their own work, yet isn’t that becoming the norm? Kids cheat on term papers, business people cheat on resumes and the problems of meteocrity are so ramped that no one knows where to start to keep humans from cheating?

Google owns the search engine and is in business to make money. They benefit for pay per click ads. Unfortunately everyone has jumped onto the bandwagon setting up sites, which pay per click, which are search engine optimized. Because of this two things happen, eventually people ignore them and secondly they leave a site when they see the AdSense type side bars or become skeptical of the information immediately and give it a once over but in their mind start their elimination process of the site as relevant and prepare to dust the site and click out. Many of the people putting up these sites are doing so simply to make a quick buck, but in doing so they steal articles and infringe on author’s copyright, without giving credit to the author or allowing them the benefits of their own work. Think on this, it is a real problem.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

While doing some work, I came across an article about privacy issues and how Google and all the other big names like Yahoo, MSN have huge amounts of data to profile their users.

In an earlier article I was encouraging people to use Google like a "Swiss army knife" while surfing. Any questions that comes to your mind, just enter some keywords into Google’s searchbox, browse around the returning results, go back to whatever you are doing. And don’t forget to include word like "sucks" to get a feel of what others may be saying about the topic.

It is true to say that the more we use the tools and services provided by online companies like Google, Yahoo or MSN, the more easily we can be profiled by them… and there’s nothing wrong with this. Even your corner grocery store will try to profile your needs as his customer after you come to his store a few times.

With technology however, much more data can be collected and collated, and the speed at which it can be disseminated across continents, is astonishing. And like any good thing (didn’t we all one time or another, used to have at least one free Yahoo account, Hotmail, Gmail, etc..) such data collected can be abused notwithstanding the privacy standards adopted by the companies per se. Disgruntled ex-staff may leak out information, security may also be breached by crackers or people may be paid to offer such information. These may be events outside the companies’ control and if it is true such things happen, good companies take swift measures to rectify these.

How comfortable each of us feel about these companies collecting information about us while we’re online depends on our feeling of trust towards the company and this is not something that can be easily discussed over a cup of coffee. Quoting from someone "Trust must be earned, easy to lose it and nearly impossible to regain it".

There are ways to reduce some degree of our nakedness online by clearing our cache and cookies and surf behind a firewall. Just do a google of these words and add the word "delete" or "removing".

The point to accept is this - there’s a tradeoff in all this. We cannot want to enjoy all of the online services and conveniences without some disclosure of our identity, habits and preferences every now and then. Online email can always be traced, your online id (ip address) is recorded, browsing habits while shopping online are tracked. Some like tracing of email may be a necessary evil for lack of a better word. Police work may be required to track people with very malicious intentions.

Think about this - sometimes just a simple postage stamp is enough to diminish the enthusiasm of an email fan. Say you want to pen a love poetry which you do not want anyone else in the whole world to see, except your loved one in Denmark - then in all likelihood a simple postage stamp may do the trick. It’s a question of balance again.

Enjoying online services and yet maintaining some privacy is not unlike enjoying VIP treatment in a royal suite with butler (not one but a team) at your disposal. In the beginning you enjoy the royalty treatment, those little touches of services here and there - get your coffee and breakfast, your slippers, make your bed. But you may begin to feel uncomfortable if the butler follows you to the toilet, hands you your soap, answers your handphone, insist you change your lunch which is lobster because you have cholestrol problems, or seemed to predict what you want before you even asked for it!

Responsible online companies provide services transparently and always gives the option for you to opt-out anytime. It’s a question of trade-off while surfing. If we think it’s obtrusive, then say "Enough is enough stop reading my mind. Click, click and double click and opt out. Uninstall the services".

By the way, if you want to have an indication of how many ‘butlers’ are at your beck and call when you’re on Windows, right-click bottom bar anyhere, click ‘Task Manager’ and see the services there.

James NK Khoo is the owner of Qwenkay Information http://www.qwenkay.com a company providing support for content management systems software and accounting software. Contact james@qwenkay.com