Spyware is a type of program that watches after
what users do with their computer and then send this
information to a hacker over the internet. Spyware
can collect many different types of information
about a user. More benign programs can attempt to
track what types of websites a user visits and send
this information to an advertisement agency. More
malicious version can try to record what a user
types to try to intercept passwords or credit card
numbers. Yet other versions simply launch popups
with advertisements.
Spyware differs from viruses and worms in that it
does not usually self-replicate. Like many recent
viruses, however, spyware – by design – exploits
infected computers for commercial gain. Typical
tactics furthering this goal include delivery of
unsolicited pop-up advertisements; theft of personal
information (including financial information such as
credit card numbers); monitoring of Web-browsing
activity for marketing purposes; or routing of HTTP
requests to advertising sites.
In order to fight spyware, we recommend making
sure your computer has the latest windows updates.
As well as using
Spybot Search and Destroy,
Ad aware SE,
or Spysweeper
on a regular basis to keep your computer free from
any Spyware threats. There are also some
versions of Norton and Mcafee that help protect
against spyware as we..
