Today so many industries use spy ware programs as a way to advertise. These programs are designed to be click on or automatically re-rout you to the advertisers website. Other types of programs are the annoying pop ups you get on your computer screen. Some of these programs are capable of tracking which keys you type thus for computing exactly what you are saying or typing. This is how hackers are able to obtain your private and personal information. With programs such as these you may not know who has your personal information or even worse what its being used for. It is annoying, but being educated on the signs of spyware and how to protect yourself from it is a great way to keep yourself safe from the hassles and fears of these malicious programs. There are several ways to know if you have spyware on your computer: You continue to get tons of pop ups even when your pop up blocker is activated. When you put in a specific website you are redirected to a different site. Also new and unexpected icons on your tool bar can be a sign of malicious software. You may experience lagging due to these programs and the computer trying to process all of the information. This lagging can be stopped by practicing good protection against viruses. There are many anti spyware programs but some viruses may bypass these programs. So to keep you and your computer safe from the hassles of spy-ware here are a few easy tips. Don't click links in a pop up box because in most cases these are malicious and may automatically download to your computer with or without your knowing. When closing a pop up box refrain from pushing anything inside the pop up box itself this could again download a program without you knowing it. Try to push the red X and if you want to refrain from touching the pop up box then right click the pop up box and click Close. If an error message comes up that you are not familiar with click the X or NO. Only if you know what the pop up box is can you click yes. But sometimes familiar looking error messages are just concealed spy-ware. By using these tips you can keep your computer and yourself safe from all of these malicious programs. Now you can defend yourself from the Internet at least a little bit and go back to enjoying the comforts of the Internet.