Every week, we get reader mail about spyware. According to many experts, the term spyware first came into use with its current meaning - software that transmits information back "home" to its creator or perpetrator without the user's permission, and often without the user's knowledge - sometime around 1999. In only six years, it has grown into one of the four biggest "malware" (malicious software) threats to computers worldwide, along with viruses, trojans and worms.

Many legitimate programs transmit information for purposes that are useful to the user. For example, Windows sends information about errors back to Microsoft to help the company troubleshoot and fix the problems that cause the errors. Key characteristics of malicious spyware is that its makers go out of the way to disguise its nature (for example, installing it along with other, legitimate programs) and usually don't provide users with a way to turn it off or easily uninstall it.

So what are the dangers of spyware? First, it can bring system performance to a slow crawl. Most spyware installs itself configured to start whenever you boot the computer and run all the time. It not only steals your system resources but also your Internet bandwidth, thus not only slowing down the computer on which it's installed but also potentially slowing network performance for other computers on the same network. It can also cause your system to become unstable and crash.

However, the danger that worries most people more is invasion of privacy. Spyware programs can collect all sorts of data off your computer to send back to its maker. Usually it's information that can be used for advertising/marketing analysis, such as what Web sites you visit frequently. However, there is the potential for spyware programs to gather almost any information stored on your computer, including financial/credit card information and personal ID information (for the purpose of identity theft), e-mail addresses of your contacts (for spamming purposes) and so forth.

And it's getting worse. The latest way to infest computers with spyware is through a bot net. That's a group of computers that have been infected with "agent" or "bot" (short for "robot") software and work together to launch attacks on other computers. These bot nets have recently started focusing more and more on installing spyware programs on the targeted victim computers.

Users whose computers are infected with spyware often suspect hardware problems or a virus. Spyware differs from viruses in that it doesn't replicate and spread to other computers in the same way, even though the symptoms (slow performance, unexplained crashes) can be similar. Instead, it usually comes bundled with some other, useful program or is installed automatically when you visit a Web site. Another important difference is that your anti-virus program will not necessarily protect you from spyware.

Is spyware illegal? The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 1986 and amended several times since, contains language that could be broadly interpreted to prohibit spyware, as does the Electronic Communications Privacy Act. A number of more specific anti-spyware bills have been introduced at the federal level, but many states aren't waiting around; they're drafting laws of their own to address the problem. For example, Utah passed the Spyware Control Act and California enacted the Consumer Protection Against Computer Spyware California Act that prohibits unauthorized users from installing software on computers in California if the software takes control or modifies the computer's functionality or uses fraudulent methods to collect "personally identifiable information." Anti-spyware laws have been the subject of constitutionality lawsuits filed by adware companies.

Reprinted from WXPNews.

To get spyware protection, call 616.738.1000 ext 102 or email us.