Beware of Free Software
Posted in Computing by Sane on August 23rd, 2006 Most people love free stuff, and free software is no exception. There are plenty of free software offers on the net and by far most of them are safe and of great value. Unfortunately a few entities have taken advantage of people interested in free software and have loaded the software with adware, spyware and in some cases Trojan horses. Here are some tips on downloading free software.
When downloading free software, try to download it from reputable sites such as Download.com, Microsoft.com and Apple.com. Most of the reputable sites will specifically state what you intend to download. The problem lies in that many companies give away freeware or software with the intent to gather information from your computer about your internet surfing habits in order to send you pop up ads or other focused advertising.
Most reputable sites will clearly state if there is any spyware or adware being downloaded with the program. On less reputable sites you will have to read the EULA which stands for the end user licensing agreement. Even some of these agreements may be fraudulent. The best advice is if you don’t need the software, don’t download it. You can save lots of time, money and headaches purchasing the software for a small price rather than being bombarded with advertisements or worse spyware
