Signs
of a spyware
- Unauthorized pop-up advertisements,
even when not browsing the Web
- A change to the browser home page or
default search engine without user consent, which often resists
attempts to change it back
- A new and unwanted toolbar on the
browser, which often resists attempts to remove it
- A sudden and dramatic slowdown in PC
performance
- Increased crashing of operating
systems, Web browsers, and other common applications
spyware covers a broad category of
malicious
softwaredesigned to intercept or take partial control of a computers operation without the
informed consent of that machines owner.
While the term taken literally suggests software that surreptitiously monitors the user, it has come to refer more broadly to a software that subverts the computers operation for the benefit of a third party. Spyware programs perform actions such as displaying advertising,tracking Web sites visited, or changing the configuration of a PC.Though these are the most common forms of spyware, attention is often focused on less common but more potentially harmful forms, such as programs that record keystrokes,collect personal information and send it to a third party, or remotely
control a PCs resources
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.
History and Development
The first recorded use of
the term spyware occurred on October 16, 1995 in a
Usenet
post that poked fun at
Microsofts business model. Spyware later came
to refer to
espionage equipment such as tiny cameras.
However,in early 2000 the founder of
Zone
Labs, Gregor Freund, used the term in a
press
release for the ZoneAlarm Personal Firewall.
[2]
Since then, computer-users have used the term
in its current sense. 1999 also saw the introduction of the first
popular
freeware program to include built-in spyware: a
humorous and popular game called
Elf Bowlingspread across the
Internet
in November 1999, and many users learned with
surprise that the program actually transmitted user information back to
the
games creator, Nsoft
In early 2000,
Steve Gibson of
Gibson Research realized that advertising
software
had been installed on his system, and he suspected that the software
was
stealing his personal information. After analyzing the software he
determined
that they were adware components from the companies Aureate (later
Radiate) and
Conducent. He eventually rescinded his claim that the ad software
collected
information without the users knowledge, but still chastised the ad
companies
for covertly installing the spyware and making it difficult to remove
As a result of his analysis in 2000, Gibson released the first anti-spyware program, OptOut, and
many more software antidotes have appeared since then.
[3] International
Charter now offers software developers a Spyware-Free Certification program.
[4]
According to an October 2004 study by
America Online and the National
Cyber-Security Alliance, 80% of surveyed users computers had some form of spyware, with an
average of 93 spyware components per computer. 89% of surveyed users
with spyware reported that they did not know of its presence, and 95%
reported that they had not given permission for it to be installed
[5]
As of 2005, pundits have
often characterized spyware as the pre-eminent security threat for
computers running Microsoft Windows operating systems. Some malware on the
Linux and
Mac OS X
platforms has behavior similar to Windows spyware, but to date has not become anywhere near as widespread.