Spyware and what you should know about it
Spyware is one of
the most common types of malware in circulation. As its name suggests, this type
of program is designed to snoop on users’ activity, especially when they are
connected to the Internet. As any kind of spyware essentially compromises the
confidentiality of data stored on a computer, it is considered a potential
threat that needs to be dealt with.
These applications collect and send out information about the websites most
frequently visited by users, the connection time, etc. Similarly, they can
capture data about the computer on which they are installed: operating system,
processor, memory, etc. There are even spy programs that detect and report if
software installed on a PC is original or not.
These programs have become so widespread, largely due to a set of common
characteristics, including:
-
Near perfect
camouflage techniques. Spyware is usually installed along with other
applications: P2P application clients, hard disk utilities, etc.
-
Inconspicuous
file names, allowing them to go unnoticed along with the rest of the files
belonging to an application.
-
As they are not
viruses and don’t use any routines that can connect them to viruses, antivirus
programs don’t detect spyware, unless they have been specially programmed to
do so.
-
They don’t show
any visible symptoms in the computer, neither when they are installed nor when
they are running. For this reason, users don’t usually worry about whether
these types of applications are installed on their computers or not and as a
result, spyware can hide in systems for a long time.
Source:
http://www.pandasoftware.com
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