Spyware is known to be software, or sometimes hardware, that is
installed in a computer outside of the user’s knowledge so the spyware
can gather information about the users and send it back to the spyware
controller. Spyware is generally broken into two
categories-surveillance spyware and advertising spyware.
The surveillance form of spyware includes keyloggers, screen capture
devices and Trojans all used by companies, private detectives, law
enforcement, intelligence agencies and suspicious spouses, among
others. Advertising spyware are programs installed along with other
software downloads due to activex controls. Many users are aware that
adware is being installed when the download certain programs. This
advertising spyware records information on the user’s internet
activities, passwords, email addresses, browsing history, buying habits
and the computer’s hardware and software configuration. They then use
the information to target users with product specific advertisements.
Advertising spyware uses up a computer’s resources making the computer administrator front the costs for running the
applications. It also utilizes the computer’s bandwidth to connect to
the internet and upload information gather by the spyware program and
then to send the advertisements to the user. Without making users aware
of its presence, advertising spyware can be classified as theft
