What Spyware Is and What It Does

What is spyware?

What is spyware?

Spyware is software which is installed covertly on your computer without your knowledge or consent whose intended purpose is to monitor your computer activity, often for marketing purposes. However, spyware can do much more than this, as you will see.

How is spyware different from viruses and other malware?

Computer scientists distinguish between viruses and spyware based on their mode of transfer: viruses are programmed to copy themselves, while spyware programs generally are not. An informal, but practical distinction can be made between the purposes of spyware and viruses; the most destructive viruses are meant to cause extreme damage to your system, but spyware wants to leave your system intact, rather intending to take control of it and steal information,

What form does spyware take?

The most common, but often least dangerous form of spyware takes the form of malicious website cookies downloaded by websites. More dangerous forms of spyware may be bundled with other programs, often free trial versions of a program, or may be hidden within another file downloaded from the internet.

What can Spyware do to your computer?

The most basic effect of spyware is to slow down the operation of your computer, and more dangerous forms of what is commonly referred to as spyware control your computer behind the scenes in various ways and even install other malicious programs. In its most dangerous form, however, spyware attacks the person behind the computer by stealing personal information and sending this information back to the creator of the program. Spyware attacks users large and small in this manner for financial gain, and has become a criminal enterprise worth billions of dollars annually.

What can I do to protect myself from spyware?

Many varieties of anti-spyware software, as web-based utilities, free and paid software; in addition, many antivirus programs now include anti-spyware functions. While the most basic spyware removers will only scan your computer for existing infections, advanced versions can scan your computer in real time. Beware, though, that a number of unscrupulous individuals have released bogus anti-spyware programs that are not what they appear to be!

Conclusions

While the earliest computer viruses could only spread by physical interaction with the machine, such as loading an infected floppy disc, the connection of computers worldwide through the internet creates access to your computer by malicious software just as easily as it allows you access to the seemingly endless wonders of the internet. Thus, constant vigilance is every bit as vital in the electronic world as it is in the real world.

What Spyware Is and What It Does

By: Cecilia Montrose

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