Change is inevitable and change in the world of computers is both unavoidable and fast-paced. The recent rapid developments in computers and digital equipment have brought us many good things like hard drives that can hold gigabytes of information, speedy processors, and ways to work with digital photos, videos, and music. Yet, unfortunately, the dark side of the Internet has also undergone a swift transition. The bad guys have become more tech-savvy, more aggressive, and more damaging.

When computer viruses first appeared they were usually propagated by geeks who wanted to show their computer smarts and who enjoyed having power over other computer owners. The viruses, worms, and Trojan horses from the "good old days" often performed pranks like putting happy faces all over the computer screen. Although some destroyed data and performed other more vicious tasks; they were usually fairly easy to remove. If you had your data backed up, they were merely an inconvenience.

Today viruses, worms, and Trojan horses are different. They have been joined by a wide variety of spyware. The intent of the creators of these malware products has changed considerably. Virus creators have been joined by spammers, hackers, and identify thieves. Developing malware, perpetrating online schemes, and selling spam, has become a multi-million dollar business. So it is not surprising that even organized crime has entered the picture.

These evildoers even perpetrate schemes to take remote control of computers without the owner's knowledge. These computers, which are often referred to as zombies, can then be used to send out spam or to perform actions as commanded by their unseen masters. The bad guys are aimed at making money by selling things from spam, and stealing identities and personal information. In some cases they can even by sell the rights to control the zombie computers that they have gathered.

Virus creators from years ago didn't care too much whether their viruses stayed on your computer or not. So those old-fashioned viruses were fairly easy to remove.  When you got a virus, you simply went to the website of an antivirus manufacturer and followed the instructions to remove the virus. Then if you were smart, you installed antivirus software so you wouldn't get re-infected and that took care of the whole thing.

The newer viruses and malware are very different. The longer they can stay on your computer, the more information they can steal, and the more spam they can send from your infected computer. So creators of today's spyware and viruses have a financial interest in staying on your computer and they have found many devious ways to do that. Today's spyware and viruses can attach themselves to system files or use special software called root kits to embed themselves in the bowels of the computer. Once your computer is infected with sophisticated, insidious software like this, it is highly compromised.

Often the only solution for complete removal is to backup all of your files, reformat the hard drive, reinstall the operating system, and painstakingly reinstall all of your programs, your network connections, your Internet access, and your customized settings. For an expert this can take hours. If you are a neophyte trying to follow Internet instructions, you can expect this to eat up an entire weekend or more. Reformatting your computer every now and then is good; it really cleans off and speeds up your computer. Reformatting sets the computer back to the pristine condition it was in when it was new. However, being forced to do this when you didn't really want to, can cause much aggravation and frustration. So you really need to keep malware away from your computer. Check out my  10 Steps to Safe Computing article to learn how.