What is Spyware?

Spyware is a computer technology that assists in gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge. On the Internet, "spyware is programming that is put in someone's computer to secretly gather information about the user and relay it to advertisers or other interested parties." As such, spyware is cause for public concern about privacy on the Internet. Spyware in general term means a software program that surreptitiously monitors your actions.

• Spyware is usually installed without the user's knowledge through seemingly harmless downloaded programs, free programs, popup ads, instant messages, and email attachments. Some companies are also known to pass on good working programs mixed with spyware.
• The sole purpose of Spyware is to secretly gather information from the machine where it has been installed about the users themselves, users activity, buying habits, surfing habits, some times Spyware have also know to steal credit card information.
• Spyware hijacks the user's Internet connection to transmit this personal or private information without the user's explicit consent or knowledge. This information is used to hijack your identity.

Symptoms of a Sypware infected computer include any one or all of the following -

1. Your computer is flooded with popup ads.
2. Your computer runs slower than when originally purchased.
3. Your internet connection is too slow, even though you had no problem previously.
4. You experience abnormal network activity on your modem or broadband connection device even though you are not using the internet.
5. Your inbox is constantly flooded with spam emails.
6. Your computer freezes or locks up.
7. Frequent system crashes.
8. Your browsers home page changes automatically.

Types of Spyware

Adware
Adware is software that displays advertisements. Some adware can generate a stream of unsolicited advertisements that clutter the desktop and affect your productivity. The advertisements can contain pornographic images or material you could find inappropriate. The extra processing required to track your viewing habits or to display advertisements can tax your computer and hurt system performance. There are also other types of Adware know as Low Risk Adware programs that is designed to do something like show advertisements via pop-ups. The difference between Low Risk Adware and adware is that these programs are installed with your knowledge. It conforms to program standards, which are usually presented to you prior to downloading and installation but display a lot of ads. These programs are not known to transmit personal or identifiable information.

Browser Plug-ins or Browser Help Object (BHO)
Browser Plug-ins or Browser Help Object (BHO) are applications that get installed into a Web browser as toolbars. Although some plug-ins are designed to perform useful functions, many plug-ins are harmful to your computer. They often have complete access to your Web browser, and can modify, spy or even redirect tasks as you perform them.

Browser Hijackers
Browser Hijackers are malicious programs that change your Web browser settings, usually altering the default start (home) and search pages. A browser hijacker can modify nearly every part of a Web browser, including adding bookmarks and redirecting your searches to alternate sites.

Trojans
Trojans provide someone else - usually the attacker- with the ability to remotely control your computer. The attacker usually has full access, while your computer listens on the Internet for instructions. Please note these Trojans are not to be confused with Remote Administration Tool (RAT) which are legal if installed by the user himself.

Key Loggers
Key Loggers are hidden programs that run in the background without your knowledge, recording all the keyboard entries (keystrokes) that are made on your computer. All the keys pressed by you are logged stored in some secret place and then the logs are later sent to the attacker usually by a mail.

Remote Installers
Remote Installers are programs that are installed on your computer without your knowledge. Once installed, they connect to a remote server and download more programs and files. These new files are then installed on the computer, again without your knowledge.

Dialers
Dialers use your computer's modem to dial a phone number. Most dialer programs connect to toll numbers without your awareness or permission, running up phone charges on your phone bill.

Free File Sharing Programs
File Sharing Programs, also known as P2P (peer to peer), are popular applications. They are used to share files, such as movies and music, across the Internet.

*It must be noted that all types of Spyware are harmful even if they appear to be showing harmless ads as their code can be easily changed at a later stage to cause unforeseen harm to you or your computer.

Microsoft Buys Anti-Spyware Company

Paul Roberts, IDG News Service

Thursday, December 16, 2004

Microsoft Buys Anti-Spyware Company

Windows users will have another tool for protecting their PCs. Microsoft has purchased Giant Company Software of New York, which makes software to detect a common form of malicious software programs known as "spyware," the software giant says.

The Redmond, Washington, software company would not say how much it paid for the 10-person company, but says it plans to use Giant's technology to give Windows customers a new tool to detect spyware running on Windows systems, according to Gordon Mangione, corporate vice president of security products.

Microsoft plans to release a free evaluation version of the software within a month that will run on Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 systems, Mangione says. The company will use that beta software release to collect and evaluate customer feedback on the product, and make decisions about how it wants to distribute Giant AntiSpyware in the future, he says.

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