In addition to spam email and unwanted cookies, the other slime to look out for are intruders. For example, if you download a lot of freeware or shareware, it is possible that a programmer could place inside the download a piece of "spyware", whose only purpose is to collect information about where you go on the web.

Using the programs below will empower you to take control over what you will and will not allow onto your own machine, and, will make it considerably more difficult for your surfing habits to be in any way recorded or compromised.

[NOTE: The programs on this page are for Windows only]

"Zone Alarm" provides essential protection against cyber thieves and vandals by combining the safety of a dynamic firewall with total control over applications for Internet use. Because you tell ZoneAlarm how you use your computer, the firewall only allows traffic that you understand and initiate. Freeware version available.

"Swat It" is a completely free program that scans your files for known trojans, worms, bots and other hacker programs. Swat It can detect and remove over 3000 different Trojan programs plus variants.

"Spider" Most people do not realize it, but apparently Windows IE keeps a "hidden" record of all the sites that you visit - "Spider" is freeware that will totally cleanout this index.dat file (requires system re-boot for total clearance to take effect).

"SpyBot Search and Destroy" is a freeware program that will search your system for so-called spyware, adware & similar threats to privacy and security, and then remove it if you want. Please Note!! This is a very powerful tool that should only be used if you know what you are doing - be certain to read the online faq and the documentation in the help menu prior to any deletions.

"Ad-aware" is another free multi spyware removal utility that scans your memory, registry and hard drives for known spyware and scumware components and lets you remove them safely. It is updated frequently.

While unrequested popup windows are not necessarily an intrusion to your machine, they are aggravating, so if you can control them, you should - here are some programs to help....