| Strictly
defined, spyware is computer software that
gathers and reports information about a
computer user without the user's knowledge
or consent. More broadly, the term spyware
can refer to a wide range of related malware
products which fall outside the strict definition
of spyware. These products perform many
different functions, including the delivery
of unrequested advertising (pop-up ads in
particular), harvesting private information,
re-routing page requests to illegally claim
commercial site referal fees, and installing
stealth phone dialers.
Spyware
as a category overlaps with adware. The
more unethical forms of adware tend to coalesce
with spyware. Malware uses spyware for explicitly
illegal purposes. Data collecting programs
installed with the user's knowledge do not,
properly speaking, constitute spyware, provided
the user fully understands what data they
collect and with whom they share it. This
is not the usual situation, but applies
to some browser toolbars.
The
first recorded use of the term spyware occurred
on October 16, 1995 in a usenet post that
poked fun at Microsoft's business model.
Spyware later came to refer to espionage
equipment such as tiny cameras. However,
in 1999 Zone Labs used the term when they
made a press release for the Zone Alarm
Personal Firewall. Since then, computer
users have used the term in its current
sense. In 2000 Steve Gibson of Gibson Research
released the first ever anti-spyware program,
OptOut, in response to the growth of spyware,
and many more software antidotes have appeared
since then.
A
number of spyware
remover applications are available to
help computer users search for and remove
spyware from their pc.
Additional Definitions:
Adware
Browser
Hijacker
Dialer
Malware
Scumware
Spyware
Trojan Horse
Virus
Worm
This
article is licensed under the GFDL.
It uses material from the Wikipedia
article "spyware"
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