The WRONG Spyware
Although you may have come to love it, there is
no RIGHT Spyware. When you visit a web site or download software, many companies
deviously install tracking software on your computer, which continuously "phones home", using your Internet connection to report statistical data. Stated in their privacy policies - no sensitive or identifying data is collected from your system and you remain anonymous. Yet, if they were up-front about this, is it something that you want to
let them use your computer for?
Recently a client started using a cable-modem for Internet connectivity. It's great! There is no dialing up. No waiting for a connection. No long distance connection fees. You don’t tie up your phone line. But with that constant Internet connection, it is wise to have a personal firewall. After the firewall was installed, every few minutes it warned of an application sending data across the Internet. Initially, she ignored the warnings. Then her browser started launching a home page,
xupiter.com. (According to
Xupiter's privacy
policy, the company records Web log information, including IP addresses, browser type and versions, screen resolution, time zone, and version numbers of some software installed on your computer.)
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Not only is Spyware legal, typically you've willingly agreed to let them use your pc (bet
you've never read a license agreement!?!) when downloading an application. Spyware programs are among the most popular downloads on the Internet. In exchange for using their application, your PC has become their marketing information tool, sending data about you and your surfing habits to a remote location.
Most file-sharing services (Napster-like tools for trading MP3s and other files across the Internet) are bundled with spyware. That's how file-sharing vendors make money while not charging for their products. In a sense, you are paying, but the coin is privacy, not money. The fact is, there is almost no way for the user to actually control what data is being sent. The technology is capable of sending much more than just banner statistics.
The Grokster service, for example, includes Gator eWallet. This program seems innocuous, learning user names, passwords, credit card numbers, addresses, and so on, to help fill in online forms. But it sends information about you, your computer, and your online behavior to Gator's Web site.
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That best way to protect against spyware is to run an application that identifies and sweeps away everything from cookies to adware to Trojans. Operating much like
an anti-virus program, it locates spyware files, folders, and Registry keys, offering to remove them when they turn up.
A word of caution - if you choose to let it, it may remove
one of those deceptive programs you've come to love. Here's the one
Spyware revealer utility that I recommend - SpyBot
Search & Destroy. It's free (donation requested) and if nothing else, will reveal what information your "favorite programs" are revealing about you!
