Spyware in IT Glossary

Any software that covertly gathers user information through the user's
Internet connection without his or her knowledge, usually for
advertising purposes. Spyware applications are typically bundled
as a hidden component of freeware or shareware programs that can
be downloaded from the Internet; however, it should be noted that
the majority of shareware and freeware applications do not come
with spyware. 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 e-mail
addresses and even passwords and credit card numbers.

Spyware is similar to a Trojan horse in that users unwittingly
install the product when they install something else. A common
way to become a victim of spyware is to download certain peer-to-peer
file swapping products that are available today.

Aside from the questions of ethics and privacy, 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 crashes or general system instability.

Because spyware exists as independent executable programs,
they have the ability to monitor keystrokes, scan files
on the hard drive, snoop other applications, such as chat
programs or word processors, install other spyware programs,
read cookies, change the default home page on the Web browser,
consistently relaying this information back to the spyware
author who will either use it for advertising/marketing purposes
or sell the information to another party.

Licensing agreements that accompany software downloads sometimes
warn the user that a spyware program will be installed along with
the requested software, but the licensing agreements may not
always be read completely because the notice of a spyware
installation is often couched in obtuse, hard-to-read legal
disclaimers.