How do you get spyware?

Many people accidentally download spyware by visiting websites that secretly install it on their computer using ActiveX controls (see Dictionary). These are known as drive-by downloads (see Dictionary) and usually happen without your permission or knowledge. You may notice targeted advertising or new programs or files listed in your computer’s registry (the list of all the files and settings in your operating system). Some of the most common spyware programs are drive-by downloads.

Spyware is also often bundled with shareware or freeware (see Dictionary) and you can inadvertently agree to install it by agreeing to a program’s End User Licence Agreement (EULA). If you click ‘I agree’ without reading the terms and conditions of the Agreement, you may unknowingly give a company permission to install spyware on your computer. You’re unlikely to find the term ‘spyware’ even if you do read the Agreement, so look for terms such as ‘value-added upgrades and applications’ or ‘advertising’.

Is it legal?

Some spyware programs (such as adware or browser plugins) are fairly innocuous, but others (such as keyloggers, trojans or diallers) can be damaging and may border on illegal behaviour.

There are currently no laws in Australia preventing or limiting the use of spyware, but draft legislation is expected to go before Parliament this month. The proposed draft bill won’t prevent the use of spyware entirely, but seeks to make it illegal to gather and store corporate or personal information via a website or software program for marketing purposes without the consent of the computer user. The bill will target keyloggers, adware, browser plugins and hijackers as well as trojans, viruses and worms. An anti-spyware law has been passed in the US state of Utah and the US government is considering federal legislation.

You’ve got spyware

We asked 20 people to install and run Ad-Aware on their home computer to determine how common spyware is and whether some programs are more widespread than others.

Our survey turned up more than 1200 cases of spyware. None of the computers was free from spyware (the least number found was three objects). The worst-affected machine, owned by Max, contained 251 objects.

Tracking cookies were by far the most common and widespread type of spyware found on the computers, but trojans, diallers and different types of adware were also detected. Max (pictured right) told us prior to the survey that his internet connection was slower than normal, so we weren’t surprised when Ad-Aware identified spyware on his computer.

Spyware transmits information between your computer and an external machine, piggybacking on your internet connection and ‘stealing’ the bandwidth you pay for. It can significantly reduce the speed of your connection. Max hadn’t purposely downloaded any browser add-ons, or used file-sharing software, but he suspects most of the spyware was collected while his wife was using the internet to do research for university essays. Since removing the spyware, he has noticed a marked improvement in the speed of the connection. We recommended he continue to scan his computer on a weekly basis.

Spyware is very different from viruses, he noted, and is much more difficult to eliminate because it establishes itself in a computer's registry. And different anti-spyware programs will not all find the same spyware when they do a scan of a computer hard drive.

infected PCs can become very slow, prompting users to keep making calls to I.T. help desks."
On the consumer side, people don't want anyone stealing their personal data through spyware that carries out keystroke logging, he said.
"But for a business, there may well be legal requirements for privacy Latest News about privacy, particularly in the financial services industry. Organized crime is now taking an interest in spyware, seeing it as a way to steal information."

Spyware	Protect Yourself From Spyware
How do you get spyware	Eliminate Adware and Spyware
symptoms of spyware	How to remove spyware
Computer Security	The Spy Who Robbed Me
Spyware. History and Description	Different types of spyware

Spyware-remove adware from your computer