Day Trading Computers - #1 - Spyware and Adware
Posted by on Saturday, March 24th, 2007 at 11:59 amAdware and spyware programs seem to always be a hot topic in the media. The prevalence of these often deceptive programs on the Internet is increasing and the potential harm that they can cause day trading computers is severe.
What is spyware and adware?
Adware and spyware programs are applications that get installed on an Internet user’s computer that in their most benign form will display unwanted pop-up advertisements and in the most extreme form, can degrade computer performance, change browser settings and record keystrokes with the intent of capturing and recording sensitive data. These programs are usually, and unintentionally, installed by Internet users who are installing a separate desired software program that has the deceptive program bundled with it. A common example of this is free file sharing software that users install so they can swap music or other types of media that has adware or spyware included with it. Examples of these programs are Kazaa, Morpheus and Kazaa Lite. These programs can open a day trader’s computer to all kinds of problems including the risk of outside sources hacking into personal information like tax records, trading records and other information stored on your computer hard drive.
To end on a good note: spyware and adware are controllable and removable. In the upcoming article series, I’ll show you how to determine if you have some sort of infection, how to handle the infection and gain back control of your trading computer!
The author, Jordan Peterson, of Custom Trading Computers, Inc. is a well-known expert in custom built high performance computers, which must be specifically designed for currency traders. Such computer systems can handle heavy volume trading periods with complete success and without any danger of locking up.

August 10th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
[...] previous article in this series outlined what spyware and adware is. In this article I will discuss symptoms of [...]
October 2nd, 2009 at 11:48 am
you can do nothing about so called “spyware” if the loop back is part of the platform. Since you allow permissions thru your firewall, there is no way to stripe out and signaling the platform may invoke.
3rd party spyware isn’t your problem - it’s sarah (strategic account response app) that manages your stops and limits) - your IB broker has access to this, SR has access to this and your clearing broker has access to this… and they all are allowed to trade (against you) it’s like shooting a perverbial fish in a barrel.