Originally published December 7 2005
New survey highlights the need for spyware education
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A survey from California security company Trend Micro reports that 87 percent of corporate users are now familiar with spyware threats, but more than 50 percent believe they do not know enough to protect themselves.
We at Wired News run our IT over tin cans and used dental floss.
Nevertheless, we offer these frequently asked questions as our contribution to the spyware education effort.
They are primarily software programs that can hijack your browser to send you to an advertiser's page or track where you surf on the internet so marketers can learn your interests and feed you pop-up ads.
Traditionally, viruses and Trojan horses have been considered a different type of malware, but the Anti-Spyware Coalition is attempting to lump all malware together to make it easier for lawmakers to legislate against it.
The coalition does not include viruses in this category, but it does include Trojan horses, which are usually installed on your machine without your consent and sit in the background quietly recording your keystrokes or sending copies of your files to a remote intruder over the internet.
Spyware that delivers pop-up ads often comes hidden in free software downloads, such as games or browser plug-ins or toolbars.
The makers of the software generally contract with advertisers to include a program in the download to feed you ads or give the advertiser information about you, such as which sites you visit.
The programs can also download automatically to your computer through websites you visit.
Generally, you have to do something to install the program on your machine, but that something can be as simple as clicking a button that says "Close" to shut a pop-up window.
This can activate an ActiveX control that installs the spyware on your machine.
See below for tips on how to prevent spyware from infecting your computer.
You can use a number of free software tools to search your computer for spyware, in the same way that antivirus software scans your hard disk for malicious code.
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