Time to talk about spyware.
Spyware was developed by advertising companies (bad companies)
It was used to gather information about people through your computer.
Like what your searching for, what sites you visit and what you use your computer for.
But then it extended its control and now spyware will do things like. Redirect your web browser so a site selling something.
Or highlighting words that appear on webpages and turning them into links to buy stuff.
Its more annoying than anything. The first question is probaly, Whats the difference between spyware, adware, viruses and worms? And the answer is generally spyware dosnt self-replicate. It dosnt copy itself or try to infect others. It tricks you into installing it or it uses software exploits to take controll of your computer.
Also I should point out at this point, somtimes you get spyware bundled in with other programs and it is installed legaly onto your computer because if you actually read the licence agreement it mentions that spyware will be installed onto your computer. Since nobody normally bothers to read the licence of anything they install they just agree and click next, it means your agreeing to be spyied on.
Adware is software that displays an advert in it. You could even call MSN or ICQ adware because of this.
Quote:
"The installation of spyware frequently involves Internet Explorer. Its popularity and history of security issues have made it the most frequent target. Its deep integration with the Windows environment and scriptability make it an obvious point of attack into Windows. Internet Explorer also serves as a point of attachment for spyware in the form of Browser Helper Objects, which modify the browser's behaviour to add toolbars or to redirect traffic.
In a few cases, a worm or virus has delivered a spyware payload. Some attackers used the Spybot worm to install spyware that put pornographic pop-ups on the infected system's screen.[8] By directing traffic to ads set up to channel funds to the spyware authors, they profit personally."
|
I cant remember where that was written I just saved it as part of a quote from one of my assignments.
But them point is why everyone should consider "not" using Internet Explorer. Their are good alternatives out their.
I will just suggest Firefox. But you should also check out Opera (what I use), Netscape and Safari recently released a beta version of their browser for windows. Their is also Camio (mac only) and text browsers like Lynx. But most if not all of you probaly wouldnt use a text browser.
Finally a quick explanation of how your anti-spyware program works.
Your anti-spyware works in a similar way to your anti-virus program.
Some methods of detecting spyware fingerprints include:
Hard disk scans.
The anti-spyware software checks all the files on the PC's hard disk against a database of known spyware packages. The best solutions use a mathematical process called a checksum or hash algorithm to ensure that the files on the hard disk are exactly the same as those noted in the database. The worst anti-spyware uses file and directory names as a detection method, which is a very good way to get false positives and miss spyware that changes names.
Registry scans.
The software looks for modifications made by spyware to Windows configuration files.
Memory scans.
The anti-spyware checks currently running processes for any that match known spyware.
URL monitoring.
The software keeps track of visited Web sites and monitors cookies and executed ActiveX controls, and compares the sites and controls to its internal database of known spyware networks.
Heuristic scans
This is a technique that involves AI (artificial intelligence) to detect new and unknown threats for which signatures are yet to be released.
The only reason big companies have started offering anti-spyware programs is because as I already said most of the spyware on your computer comes bundled with other software and your tricked into installing it 'legally' because you agree to it in the licence agreement, so this prevents them from legally removing it.