What is Spyware?
Spyware is software that is installed on your computer, either with or without your knowledge, which collects personal information, changes configurations on your computer and inputs advertising. Most often computers are unknowingly infected with Spyware. It has been noted by Microsoft that nine out of 10 computers connected to the Internet are infected with spyware software and most of those users have no idea they are infected.Most often, the information is what Spyware is after – this can be a variety of information from personal information about you, information about your computer or your surfing habits on the Internet. Even more alarming, some of the Spyware out there has a key logger installed – a software that tracks each of your keystrokes on your computer, in an effort to capture your financial information such as PIN numbers, credit card numbers and such, with the intention of stealing one’s identity or finances.
Spyware reigns in the computer world as a malicious virus-like program – however, not all spyware is malicious. Some spyware that tracks your online activities is something you’ve actually agreed to. For example, if you sign up for a free music service and you agree to receive targeted ads in order to access the service, this is a form of spyware that is not malicious. Similarly, you may have agreed to allow the company you signed up with to track your online activities so they could more effectively target ads towards you.
Some spyware changes the configurations of your computer as well, from changing your home page to seriously affecting the way your computer operates. This software can be very difficult to detect in some cases because hackers and programmers are always modifying their spyware programs to elude anti-spyware programs. This makes it increasingly difficult to maintain security against spyware on one’s computer, but there are a few steps you can take to prevent infection as well as deal with it if you are.
How to Protect your Computer from Spyware:
In order to protect yourself from Spyware, the best thing to do is download an anti-spyware program, keep it updated with the latest updates available and scan your computer at least once a week. Similarly, if you download anything from the Internet, it’s best to scan your computer immediately. Much of the freeware software from the Internet is infected with spyware of some kind – this is why it is important to only download software from trusted websites and to continually scan your computer as you use it and download new software.History of Spyware:
Spyware reared itself in 1995 when the term was first used in a Usenet post that trashed Microsoft’s business strategies. In this sense, the term ‘spyware’ meant hardware that was used as espionage, taking people’s privacy and making it available to the creators of the product. In 2000, Zone Labs used the term for their Zone Alarm personal firewall. Since that time, spyware has evolved to mean any software that takes personal information, creates advertisements on your computer or changes its configurations. Today, spyware is a large threat to computer users, particularly those who use a Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as those who use Internet Explorer as their primary web browser.