Trojan Pop-Ups and Tracking Cookies Help

When a trojan infects a computer, it can change settings, cause pop-ups to display, redirect search engine results or decrease a computer's performance. Users can cure current infections and prevent new ones with anti-virus software.

Identification

Trojans take their name from the historical Trojan horse because this type of file frequently poses as legitimate file, such as anti-virus software. Anti-virus programs can detect trojans even when the infection hides in a legitimate location. Anti-virus programs will also delete tracking cookies, or small text files that website servers exchange with the browser to provide information such as the user's location.
Solution

Users should install a full anti-virus program and run a scan to detect and remove trojans. Avast! and AVG both provide free anti-virus programs with frequent virus definition updates. In addition to this, anti-malware programs such as Spybot or Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware can scan for computer infections that may cause pop-ups and tracking cookies.

Considerations

Tracking cookies do not contain personally identifiable information such as names or addresses. They can be beneficial by providing custom content such as a local news feed. Some users, however, prefer to delete these cookies using an anti-virus program or browser utilities, and doing so does not impede Internet usage.

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