Hi, I’ve written this new article about what is Spyware, I’ll be adding another article soon about how to remove and prevent spyware/adware but for now I thought I’d start with a definition of what Spyware actually is…
What is Spyware
By Jason Roddick
So, you’ve bought a new computer and you’re all excited about the entire thing. Just thinking about the free games and music that you can download starts giving you goosebumps, in a nice way of course. Well, we’ve all been there and it feels pretty good. But as soon you start downloading some games or even music for that matter, you see an annoying advertisements popping out of nowhere on your screen and the moment you try to close it, it directs you to a different website that you never intended to visit in the first place. You may put forward a debate by stressing on the fact that this problem is due to the presence of adwares. Well, agreed, but spywares are greatly responsible for installing adwares on your computer without you having the slightest clue about it. Even an adware can be responsible for installing a spyware for that matter.
What exactly is a spyware and how does it work or “destroy your computer” would be a better phrase to use in this respect. Just as the name suggests, a spyware is nothing but a software that spies on the user’s activities on his computer in a very careful and systematic way. The reason why we call it dangerous is because, the user is not aware that the “software” that he is about to install is nothing but a spyware in disguise. It is adept at threatening the user’s computer by taking partial control over the computer which may then result to lost of important user data, etc.
The spyware danger can also take a undesired turn since the spyware can be programmed to dig in deep to the user’s personal information such as his address, contact number, passwords to his email account and perhaps the most threatening aspect of them all, password to the user’s online bank accounts. This was exactly what spywares were made to do and they do it quite effectively and in a very sneaky way, as you might have already guessed it. Some of the spywares are known to automatically change the computer settings thereby even affecting the computer speed and in some cases, affecting the computer’s Internet connection.
One of most alarming facts about spywares is that the user does not even sense the spyware presence until it is too late, for the computer that is. Therefore, you can easily make out that spywares are installed with obtaining the user’s consent. Besides, which computer user would even allow any spyware to be installed in his computer, unless he has a death wish for a computer.
However, one thing that you have to remember is that not all softwares that monitor the user’s activity are all that dangerous. There are many companies that keep track of their employee’s browsing activities but that definitely doesn’t mean that the company is using spywares. Spywares are designed and programmed in such a way that it actually becomes difficult to get rid of the programs that the spyware might have installed in your computer without the user’s consent. The way the spyware works, is really systematic and that is the scary part. Many spywares engage in key logging, i.e., recording the key strokes of the user which then allows the spyware creator to gain access to the user’s password, engage himself into spamming in the user’s email accounts, etc.
A spyware does not only come in the form of softwares and other programs, they also come as hardware devices that can be attached to the user’s computer. These devices help the spyware creator to gain access to the user’s computer and use the system just as the user would do in any case. Thankfully, there are many companies out there that cater to the computer users by offering anti spywares which helps the user to get rid of any spywares off of his computer. Some of these anti spywares would include names like CounterSpy, Spy Doctor, etc.