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all know about computer viruses, but what else is there?....
It's easy to think that the web is one-way
traffic, but there can be a surprisingly high volume of
traffic coming the other way. It's a disaster in the making.
You might be innocently trying to get information online
while, unknown to you, organisations from anywhere in the
world might be getting a whole lot of data about you. The
spying game has come to the internet!
Few people would expect total privacy online,
but it is worrying to find out how many people around the
web are actively trying to spy on us. A whole new generation
of 'spyware' has sprung up as less scrupulous internet users
try to tap into our personal online lives.
The excellent WhatIs?
online dictionary of IT-related words defines spyware as
technology, such as tracking software, that aids in the
gathering of information about a person or organisation
without their knowledge. On the net, spyware is computer
code that can be covertly placed on your computer to secretly
gather information and then relay that information while
you are online to other interested parties.
Where
does it come from?
Spyware has it's roots in 'adware' which is
often responsible for all those pop-up ads you keep getting.
While adware is mildly irritating, spyware goes a lot further.
For starters, spyware can be installed without your knowledge
based on a 'drive-by-download' which sets up on your PC
without asking permission. Once installed, spyware can gather
all sorts of information about you. For example, it might
keep a running check on what websites you visit, create
logs of your email and chat usage, take snapshots of your
screen every few seconds or even more worryingly, take note
of what you are typing in on your keyboard, great for getting
passwords, bank details etc.
All this information is then gathered and
sold to whoever wants it, from unscrupulous advertisers
to underground organisations who are particularly good at
identity theft.
With a current lack of laws on spyware, things
are getting worse. In a recent survey, 31,303 computers
on the University of Washington were unknowingly running
spyware programs - All of which we apparently virus protected.
The problem is, spyware is not a conventional virus, so
virus programs do not detect them. At the moment, there
is no way of stopping spyware comming into your computer,
but thanksfully, there is a way of getting it back out again.
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