Spyware Programs

If there was a Spyware Hall of Shame, the inductees would, unfortunately, include some fairly well known companies. Spyware programs are equal parts legal and ethical issues. The law has moved more in favor of the Internet user in recent years as society has demanded that their privacy online be protected. Spyware is a serious threat to computer security. Though some of the companies that have used it to enhance advertising programs in the past may have not been outright malicious in their intentions, they created security holes in user's computers that were most certainly not knowingly authorized by the users. Some of the best-known examples of spyware programs follow.

Bonzi Buddy was a cute little monkey that hopped around a user's screen while they surfed the Internet. Adorable as he was, Bonzi Buddy was a spyware program that stored browser information and tracked surfing habits. This software was targeted at children who found it hard to resist the "cute" factor.

Kazaa and Morpheus were peer-to-peer clients that allowed the downloading of files from other user's hard drives. This was the most common form of file sharing, legal and illicit, before bit torrent protocols came to the forefront. They were also loaded with spyware programs that could seriously compromise a computer's security. A good example of the most common results of Internet piracy.

Network administrators generally have traumatic memories of a program called Gator, offered by several well-known sites, that was the bane of office networks in the early 2000s. This software served up pop-up advertisements that drove users out of their minds. The software offered a portable shopping cart in return. There are numerous programs available that offer such capabilities without the burden of spyware programs. Never trust personal information to downloaded convenience programs, no matter what the source may be.

One of the most insidious methods of installing spyware is by bundling it with programs that claim to remove spyware software. Antivirus software generally includes the ability to remove spyware along with its other capabilities. It's best to only use known brand names to provide security. There are many "free" anti-spyware suites out there that are, in and of themselves, vectors for spyware. One should always check the validity of any program before installing it and make certain they're not installing exactly the type of software, which they're most trying to avoid. Spyware programs and trickery go hand in hand.