Several email users have found their browsers hijacked after receiving a piece of spamware that dropped hundreds of porn site shortcuts to their desktop and installed a "toolbar" pointing to dozens more. The email, though not viral, is malicious, exploiting a vulnerability in Internet Explorer that allows executable files to be downloaded as easily (and silently) as if they were a background graphic on a web page. Surfrbar a.k.a. Junkbar also changes the Internet Explorer start page to http://www.surferbar.com.

Remember the city of Troy and that cool wooden horse they got for free? Sometimes unwanted and unknown strings can be attached to supposed free services and software. You can fight back with a little knowledge and some free tools.

Following these tips can go a long way toward helping you steer clear of the nuisances and dangers of adware and spyware:

Such idle phrases are not lost on privacy advocates who fear they may one day become chillingly true. Technology dubbed Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is being fitted to a chip the size of a rice grain that can be embedded in clothing and other devices and allow tracking via the Internet.

Let's just get it all out in the open. My favorite movies are "Pay It Forward", "Michael", and "Fellowship of the Rings". You might not find this of much interest, but some think that Microsoft might. According to Richard M. Smith, noted privacy watchdog and former CTO of The Privacy Foundation, Microsoft is "watching us watch DVD movies" on our computers. Specifically, Windows Media Player version 8, preinstalled on all Windows XP systems, has an unadvertised component that "phones home" to Microsoft and builds a database of watched movie titles coupled with cookies that can be used to uniquely identify the system. With no readily apparent means to disable this hidden "feature" and a lack of documentation describing it, Windows Media Player version 8 could be construed by some as being a Trojan or spyware.

Like many evenings, I was drinking coffee and shooting email back and forth with friends. Suddenly an email from Breaking News slid into my inbox with the subject line "Osama bin Laden Captured". For just a moment it felt as if my heart stopped. Could it be? A second look indicated this was not a legitimate news story but rather someone's idea of a joke intended to market what the security industry often refers to as "spyware". The gist of the offering was a free tool to supposedly bring "fun" to my desktop for free - provided I agreed to the Terms and Conditions of their privacy policy. Though smart enough to know adware when I see it to take a close read.

Several complaints to newsgroups indicate an adware Trojan created by Twistedhumor.com is being distribued in their popular Yo Mama Osama shooting game. This online game promises a free cell phone booster to players successfull in "taking out" Osama bid Ladin. What they don't realize is they may be "taking in" an adware Trojan that allegedly monitors Internet useage and feeds pop-up advertising to the user long after the game is over. According to complaints, uninstalling Yo Mama Osama removes the game and leaves the offensive adware.

Most computer users are aware of the dark side of the Internet. Our online world brings issues of credit card and identity theft, junk mail and seedy content right into our homes and offices. But how many computer users are unwitting accomplices to such activities?

The so-called Storm worm is actually not a worm, but rather a family of Trojans that typically have the following components:

The so-called "U.Z.A. O/S Eliminator" worm appears to have originated in Maldives sometime in late July or early August 2007. The worm exploits the autorun feature, enabling it to spread from removable USB/thumb drives to other computers.