What Is Spyware

Have you seen any of these symptoms?

  • Your browser's "Home Page" mysteriously changes
  • You get pop-up advertisements when your browser is not running or when your system is not even connected to the Internet, or you get pop-up ads that address you by name.
  • You enter a search term in Internet Explorer's address bar and press Enter to start the search. Instead of your usual search site, an unfamiliar site handles the search.
  • A new item appears in your Favorites list without your putting it there. No matter how many times you delete it, the item always reappears later.
  • Your system runs noticeably slower than it did before. If you're a Windows 2000/XP user, launching the Task Manager and clicking the Processes tab reveals that an unfamiliar process is using nearly 100 percent of available CPU cycles.
  • At a time when you're not doing anything online, the send or receive lights on your dial-up or broadband modem blink just as wildly as when you're downloading a file or surfing the Web. Or the network/modem icon in your system tray flashes rapidly even when you're not using the connection.

Your computer may be infested- your computer may be tracking you!

For instance, Bonzai Buddy was reported by Consumer Reports's Web Watch as collecting information from users, resetting the user's web browser homepage to Bonzi.com, and tracking information about the user to supply directed advertising. Trend Micro (an antivirus company) classifies Bonzi Buddy as spyware, but not malware. Bonzi Buddy is not designed to damage the computer user's system.

Most "spyware" is relatively benign, in the sense that it's designed to display advertising. It may record your travels through the internet and, like Bonzi Buddy, learn some key demographics about you. Removal of this sort of spyware is a protection of your privacy. Depending on the amount installed, however, or the specific habits of the spyware itself, some spyware can make the computer virtually unusable by the number of popup advertising displayed. Removal of this sort of spyware is self-defense. And anyway, who wants more advertising in their lives?

Spyware is generally installed by the user, or bundled with another package. So it is important to run your spyware removal kits frequently. Alas, many popups are designed to look like normal windows dialog boxes, and display when someone is browsing the web. The ubiquitous "Would you like to optimize your Internet Access" ad is one of these examples. If you're suckered by one of those, prompt removal of this spyware is important.