Summary
Spyware, software that resides stealthily on a computer and reports where the user has surfed, his or her personal information, and other private data, has increased dramatically since the last quarter of 2004. Internet service provider EarthLink detected more than 116 million spyware infestations in a recent customer survey, up 76% from the previous quarter.
Original source:
http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2005/01/31/daily39.html?jst=b_ln_hl
Details
A report conducted in part by a local software company shows that spyware was on the rise during the last three months of 2004.
Earthlink, an Internet service provider, and Webroot Software, an anti-spyware company based in Boulder, detected 116.5 million instances of spyware, adware and other potentially unwanted software in the fourth quarter of 2004 -- an increase of 72 percent from the previous quarter.
Spyware attaches to computer hard drives when users visit certain Web sites, click on pop-up ads or view spam e-mail messages.
David Moll, CEO of Webroot, has estimated that 20 percent of support calls that ISPs receive are related to spyware.
"The audited number from the past year clearly show that spyware is rapidly becoming one of the Internet's most dangerous threats," said Matt Cobb, EarthLink's vice president of core applications.
The results from the report are culled from the companies' detection programs that run analyses of Internet users' PCs and provide audited reports of spyware residing on the machines.
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health researcher, author and award-winning journalist with a strong interest in personal health, the environment and the power of nature to help us all heal He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, and he has created several downloadable courses on survival and preparedness, including his widely-downloaded course on personal safety and self-defense. Adams is a trusted, independent journalist who receives no money or promotional fees whatsoever to write about other companies' products. In 2010, Adams created TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural living video sharing site featuring thousands of user videos on foods, fitness, green living and more. He's also a noted technology pioneer and founded a software company in 1993 that developed the HTML email newsletter software currently powering the NaturalNews subscriptions. Adams is currently the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit, and regularly pursues cycling, nature photography, Capoeira and Pilates. He's also author of numerous health books published by Truth Publishing and is the creator of several consumer-oriented grassroots campaigns, including the Spam. Don't Buy It! campaign, and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. He also created the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the ending of corporate control over medicines, genes and seeds.
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Sunday, February 13, 2005
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