What is spyware?
The Steve Gibson answer: Spyware is ANY SOFTWARE which employs a user’s Internet connection in the background (the so-called “backchannel”) without their knowledge or explicit permission. Silent background use of an Internet “backchannel” connection MUST BE PRECEDED by a complete and truthful disclosure of proposed backchannel usage, followed by the receipt of explicit, informed, consent for such use. ANY SOFTWARE communicating across the Internet absent of these elements is guilty of information theft and is properly and rightfully termed: Spyware. Another potential problem is that many are poorly written, “contain bugs or errors”, and can cause problems with the normal operation of your computer. If your web-browser experiences “General Protection Faults”, hangs, or freezes it may be due to one or more of these types of programme interfering with its proper function. How does that work? 1: Happy Netizen ‘A’ downloads what is apparently a free and useful software utility. “Hooray and
A. Spyware is usually advertising software that gets installed on your computer without your knowledge. Companies use it to pop up internet ads, track your Internet usage, and gather other personal information about you. These programs are usually not written very well and tend to cause a lot of problems. Besides invading your privacy, these programs often cause problems with Internet Explorer and other web browsers. If you have a lot of spyware on your computer, chances are that one of these programs has affected your Internet browsing capabilities.
Spyware is often a component of a software application that you intentionally install. This is especially true of free software downloaded from the Internet. Spyware can also be part of a computer virus unleashed by an unsuspecting user. And, even though you may remove the virus or fix the problems it caused, the spyware remains on the computer, collecting data and reporting back to parties interested in stealing information. Call 08456 446711 and speak to a Geek. They’ll help you find out what’s causing the problem and come up with an answer.
Spyware refers to any software that covertly gathers user information through the user’s Internet connection without their knowledge, usually for advertising purposes. Spyware applications are typically bundled as a hidden component of freeware/shareware programs that can be downloaded from the Internet. Once installed, the spyware monitors user activity on the Internet and transmits that information in the background to someone else. Spyware can also gather information about email addresses and even passwords and credit card numbers. A common way to become a victim of spyware is to download certain peer to peer (i.e., p2p) file swapping/sharing products that are available today. Spyware steals from the user by using the computer’s memory resources and also by eating bandwidth as it sends information back to the spyware’s home base via the user’s Internet connection. Because spyware is using memory and system resources, the applications running in the background can lead to system cras
Spyware is quite a general term that usually refers to a piece of software that watches what you do on your computer (not necessarily everything, but some things) and then reports that information back to someone. The most common use for Spyware is in the advertisements you often see in free software programs, such as the Original Kazaa. For this reason, Spyware is sometimes called Adware. These advertisement systems keep track of what advertisements you click on and send back statistics to their marketers. This allows them to send you more advertisements that (supposedly) interest you. Some Spyware has the ability to gather information that is more specific on you. Not necessarily personally identifiable info (like your name and address) but demographic information such as age range, you gender and perhaps what country you live in. This kind of information, when coupled with data on what advertisement you are interested in (and even, potentially, what you search for using the Original
