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(n.) Any
software that covertly gathers user information
through the user's
Internet connection without his or her knowledge,
usually for advertising purposes. Spyware
applications are typically
bundled as a hidden component of
freeware or
shareware programs that can be
downloaded from the Internet; however, it should be
noted that the majority of shareware and freeware
applications do not come with spyware. Once installed,
the spyware monitors user activity on the Internet and
transmits that information in the background to someone
else. Spyware can also gather information about
e-mail addresses and even passwords and credit card
numbers.
Spyware is similar to
a
Trojan horse in that users unwittingly install the
product when they install something else. A common way
to become a victim of spyware is to download certain
peer-to-peer file swapping products that are
available today.
Aside from the
questions of ethics and privacy, spyware steals from the
user by using the computer's memory resources and also
by eating
bandwidth as it sends information back to the
spyware's home base via the user's Internet connection.
Because spyware is using memory and system resources,
the applications running in the background can lead to
system
crashes or general system instability.
Because spyware
exists as independent
executable programs, they have the ability to
monitor
keystrokes, scan files on the
hard drive, snoop other applications, such as
chat programs or word processors, install other
spyware programs, read
cookies, change the
default
home page on the
Web browser, consistently relaying this information
back to the spyware author who will either use it for
advertising/marketing purposes or sell the information
to another party.
Licensing agreements
that accompany software downloads sometimes warn the
user that a spyware program will be installed along with
the requested software, but the licensing agreements may
not always be read completely because the notice of a
spyware installation is often couched in obtuse,
hard-to-read legal disclaimers. |