Secret Agent Man

The World of Spyware

By Lisa Fiedler

ID

Advertising supported software Spyware: any technology that aids in

gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge

Adware: display advertising but do not install and tracking mechanism on the computer.

Growing problem

Nine out of 10 PCs connected to the Internet are infected with spyware.

92% of corporate IT managers at companies with more than 100 employees claim they have a "major" spyware problem.

June 2004

40,846,089 spyware programs found 2,298,200 Adware programs found 8, 873,555 advertising cookie installations

found Average of 26.5 bugs per computer Results reported by EarthLink

Contraction in Action

Visit any media-supported website and you're bound to get a tracking cookie

Share music, files or photos with other users Install software applications without fully

reading license agreements Install gimmick software which is loaded with

bugs

Symptoms

sluggish PC performance increased pop-up ads unexplained homepage change mysterious search results.

Obliterate the bug

Spybot Ad-aware www.download.com

A before S

Ad-aware first Install Check for updates Run Delete all Delete quarantined selection Sometimes it will need to run from start-up

Second is the best

Spybot second It’s okay to run both Immunize system Check for updates Run Delete programs found Sometimes it will need to run from start-up

More info

http://www.webroot.com/spywareinformation?rc=266&ac=594

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=16618 http://searchcrm.techtarget.com/sDefinition/

0,,sid11_gci214518,00.html http://www.spychecker.com/spyware.html