Spyware

Have you noticed that your computer runs slower than when you first purchased it? The most likely culprit is SpyWare. It's a software program that snoops on your browsing activity. It collects information from your computer and sends the data to anyone willing to pay for it, without your permission and knowledge.

Typically, marketing companies use your personal details to inundate you with advertisements of their products by using AdWare. AdWare is a software program that causes advertising banners and pop-ups to be displayed on your computer.

SpyWare and AdWare slow down the computer, cause crashes, interfere with the web browser and also slow down the internet connection. If you are paying for dial-up internet access, SpyWare is literally costing you money.

Spyware has eclipsed viruses as the fastest growing online threat. Simply surfing the Internet, reading emails and downloading files can infect your personal computer (PC) without you even knowing it. SpyWare's ability to track keystrokes, scan hard drives, and change system and registry settings is a tremendous personal and enterprise security threat. It can lead to identity theft, data corruption and even theft of company secrets. While SpyWare is typically not hazardous to your PC, it is annoying. It is the next generation of spam.

Industry experts say that SpyWare will be the number one threat to network security.

Rising SpyWare threats and increasing demand for protection have forced established security vendors to build, buy, or partner with standalone anti-SpyWare vendors.

While a number of anti-SpyWare solutions are available as free downloads, there are other paid solutions from market leaders like Symantec, Trend Micro and McAffee.

In the last six months of 2004, AdWare programs made up 5% of the top 50 Symantec customer reports while Webhancer was the most frequently reported SpyWare program, representing 38% of the top ten SpyWare reported.