I recently had a run in with some spyware called EZUrl. Before this happened I’d only heard the term spyware and knew it was something bad, but really didn’t have a clue what spyware was or what it could do to your computer. Spyware is a program that secretly records your behavior while on the computer and passes it on to an outside source. This information can range from Internet surfing habits to personal information, which can lead to identity theft. It can also change settings on your computer, slow down your computer, and change your browser settings.

I don’t know where I picked up EZUrl. I found out that it came bundled with something I installed. It has to have another program install it. I didn’t give permission to EZUrl to install and I certainly didn’t know it was installing. It claims to be “a free service that makes posting long URLs EZ.” I found out what it really does is record the addresses of all the web sites you visit and send that information off to remote servers. It runs at start up and stays hiding in the background so you don’t know that it is active. It can connect itself to the Internet to send on the information it has gathered on your activities without your knowledge. Permission is not needed for it to do so.

Removing EZUrl through add/remove programs does not work. It comes back when you restart your computer. You have to get an anti-spyware program to fully remove it. Until recently anti-spyware would only remove 80-90% of an infection either leaving you still infected or leaving enough of the infection for it to reinstall itself. These days we have ZookaWare PC Cleaner which gives you a 100% removal guarantee. Not only does ZookaWare PC Cleaner guarantee 100% removal, they have awards the computer industry trusts to prove it is a superior product. Another plus to having ZookaWare PC Cleaner is with it running on your computer, you will be protected from future spyware infections.