Press Room

Press Release: August 30, 2005

PC Pest Control: Exterminate PC Pests!

Sebastopol, CA--As most PC users already know, Internet invaders are attacking home computers at alarming rates. "The danger starts the minute you boot your PC," warns Internet and computing expert and author Preston Gralla, "and it only gets worse as you surf the Web, check your email, or shop online." Pests can invade a PC in all sorts of ways--via email, a pop-up ad on a web site, an instant messaging session, or a web link. An intruder can also make a direct connection to a PC when a user is at home or using a wireless hotspot.

But there are things PC users can do to fight back and stay safe. For everyone who is sick of feeling victimized by hackers, viruses, worms, spam, pop ups, spyware, and other pesky intruders, Gralla's new PC Pest Control (O'Reilly, US $24.95) arms users with all the right tools and knowledge to outwit PC pests and their creators.

"You really don't have a choice about whether to take control of your PC and wrest it back from pests," Gralla insists. "Either you do it, or your computer will become unusable."

Many PC users are already running firewall and anti-spam software. But there's so much more that can be done to control PC intruders and stay pest free. PC Pest Control shows readers simple, necessary methods for killing spyware, fighting spam, knocking out pop ups, blocking intruders, protecting a wireless and wired home network, stopping scammers in their tracks, and more.

PC users will learn:

  • Where their computer is most vulnerable
  • How and why pests make their way onto a system
  • Which are the most common kinds of PC pests
  • How to detect, identify, and kill a wide variety of pests
  • Ways to protect their identity online
  • Ways to keep their kids safe online
  • How to minimize wireless and home networking dangers
  • Not only will PC users learn about prevention, monitoring, and recovery--even more importantly, they will learn how to compute safely; they'll learn the simple, everyday practices and precautions they can put into place immediately to protect their computers from malicious Internet invaders.

    Additional Resources:

    PC Pest Control
    Preston Gralla
    ISBN: 0-596-00926-7, 288 pages, $24.95 US, $34.95 CAN
    [email protected]
    1-800-998-9938; 1-707-827-7000

    About O’Reilly

    O’Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O’Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying “faint signals” from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.

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