What is Spy Ware and What Can I Do About It?
Spyware is Internet jargon for Advertising Supported software (Adware). It is a way for shareware authors to make money from a product, other than by selling it to the users. There are several large media companies that offer them to place banner ads in their products in exchange for a portion of the revenue from banner sales. This way, you don't have to pay for the software and the developers are still getting paid. If you find the banners annoying, there is usually an option to remove them, by paying the regular licensing fee.

Why is it called "Spyware"?
While this may be a great concept, the downside is that the advertising companies also install additional tracking software on your system, which is continuously "calling home", using your Internet connection and reports statistical data to the "mothership". While according to the privacy policies of the companies, there will be no sensitive or identifying data collected from your system and you shall remain anonymous, it still remains the fact, that you have a "live" server sitting on your PC that is sending information about you and your surfing habits to a remote location...

Are all Adware products "Spyware"?
No, but the majority are. There are also products that do display advertising but do not install any tracking mechanism on your system. These products are not indexed in our database.

Is Spyware illegal?
Even though the name may indicate so, Spyware is not an illegal type of software in any way. However there are certain issues that a privacy oriented user may object to and therefore prefer not to use the product. This usually involves the tracking and sending of data and statistics via a server installed on the user's PC and the use of your Internet connection in the background.

What's the hype about?
While legitimate adware companies will disclose the nature of data that is collected and transmitted in their privacy statement (linked from our database), there is almost no way for the user to actually control what data is being sent. The fact is that the technology is in theory capable of sending much more than just banner statistics - and this is why many people feel uncomfortable with the idea.

On the other hand...
Millions of people are using advertising supported "spyware" products and could not care less about the privacy hype...in fact some "Spyware" programs are among the most popular downloads on the Internet.

Real spyware...
There are also many PC surveillance tools that allow a user to monitor all kinds of activity on a computer, ranging from keystroke capture, snapshots, email logging, chat logging and just about everything else. These tools are often designed for parents, businesses and similar environments, but can be easily abused if they are installed on your computer without your knowledge. These tools are perfectly legal in most places, but, just like an ordinary tape recorder, if they are abused, they can seriously violate your privacy.

User-Hostile Behaviour
Many adware apps install separate advertising components on your system, that run--downloading ads and wasting system resources--even if you're not using the software that installed them. Often, these components remain installed and continue to perform their unsightly duties even after the associated app has been uninstalled! Some adware companies have even gone so far as to create "Advertising Trojan Horses", virus-like software programs that stealthily install themselves on your computer to perform unwanted advertising functions and violate your privacy whether you've installed the advertising-supported software or not. Advertising trojans make clandestine connections to adservers behind your back, consume precious network bandwidth and may compromise the security of your data. The latest versions of these "ad-viruses" operate in full stealth and are nearly impossible to detect without advanced knowledge of the system environment. These include the TimeSink/Conducent TSADBOT and the Aureate advertising trojans. One spyware module has been known to spoof a Windows system process so that it cannot be terminated and does not appear on Windows' End Task (Ctrl-Alt-Del) dialogue.

Spyware modules have been implicated in computer problems including system slowdown, Illegal Operation errors, browser crashes, and even the "Blue Screen Of Death". While normal system stability has usually returned when the interfering spyware modules were deleted, one spyware product in particular will disable your Internet access if you try to delete it!

For more software to delete and avoid spy ware, check out these great resources:

Do you still "own" your PC or Network? How do you know that there is no backdoor somewhere that a hacker has access to? How many of these pests and spyware cookies really are lurking undetected on your (many) hard disk drives? Want to get a little taste of what might be there? Click on the SCAN button below and you'll see a small screen with what was found. We recommend dowloading and using all three of these softwares listed below! Do you need ALL THREE?? YES!! They look for different things and do different things to keep your computer clear and safe.

Ad-Aware
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/

Spybot - Search & Destroy
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

Spyware Blaster
http://javacoolsoftware.com

Caveats: Do NOT use Internet Explorer as your browser anymore…here is why: http://browsehappy.com/why/ AND do NOT think that just one of the above programs will keep your computer safe…they all perform different functions and protect your from different things.

All information contained on this page was compiled by and is displayed by 2 Computer Chicks and is copyrighted by them, reserving all rights.

AdAware, Spybot and Spyeare Blaster software are represented on this page for informational purposes only and are intended for our customers use only. Products and companies referred to herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies or mark holders.