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Spyware, adware and other malicious software

What is spyware and adware?

Spyware and Adware intrude on your computer, just as viruses and Trojans do. They don't do as much direct damage to your computer as viruses and Trojans but more computers are infected with them. Spyware and Adware are tiny programs that are unknowingly installed on your computer by hackers and advertising companies through software and music downloads, e-mail, instant messages, web browsing, and other routine activities people participate in online. Although Spyware and Adware are typically linked, they do have different characteristics.

Spyware
Spyware is software that installs itself without a user's permission and doesn't clearly or honestly tell users what personal information it is gathering and how it is using it.

Once installed, many of the tasks you perform on your computer can be tracked even if you are not online! Spyware can monitor and collect:

• The Web Sites You Visit
• Credit Card Numbers
• Online Purchases
• Incoming and Outgoing Email Messages
• Bank Account Numbers
• Your Instant Message Conversations
• Social Security Number
• Usernames and Passwords
• Other Important and Personal Information

Even worse, once this information is collected it can then be sold to other parties which can lead to even more pop-ups, spam and Spyware!

Now it turns out that some software that gathers personal information does alert the user to what it is doing and the user may have to agree to using it. Some desirable utilities operate in this way. If the user wants to download the utility free of charge, they have to agree to this condition. Typically, if you attempt to unload the spyware, the utility will become disabled or be remove from your computer. So the question remains, is this spyware if you know you are using it?

Adware
Adware performs many -- if not all -- of the same functions as spyware, but alerts users to its presence and intentions. The objective of adware is for you to see an ad. Duh! One method is the obnoxious pop-up windows which always contain an ad for something you don't care about. There are two versions, the pop-over and the pop-under. The pop-over pops up over your current window so you see it immediately. The insidious pop-under opens under your current windows so that you aren't aware of it until you have closed all of your other windows.

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