• What Is Spyware?
• How Your Computer Becomes Infected With Spyware
• How To Tell That Your Computer Has Been Infected With Spyware
• How To Protect Your Computer From Becoming Infected With Spyware

Spyware is a huge and growing problem. According to Wikepedia, spyware refers to a broad category of malicious software designed to intercept or take partial control of a computer's operation without the informed consent of that machine's owner or legitimate user. PC Pitstop estimates that twenty percent of PC's are infected with spyware!

How Your Computer Becomes Infected With Spyware

How does this malicious software get onto your computer you ask? Well, it is pretty sneaky. It infects your computer by:

• Hiding inside another programs installer - Hundreds of freeware programs install spyware along with the main application.
• Using confusing legal language
• Keep asking until you say Yes - Some spyware is delivered by an ActiveX control that tries to load each time you visit a web page where the spyware is present. The browser, as a security measure, will ask if you want to install. If you say No it's only good until the next web page you load, where you'll again be asked the question. After a few pages of this question again and again, some people will give up and say Yes.
• Create a false pretense for needing the software - One example is getting an email message from a friend saying: "I've just sent you a greeting card, go to this web site to read it!" You are asked to install a "Greeting Card Viewer" when you get to the website. Lone behold, it turns out to be spyware and it sends a similar card to everyone in your address book. Unfortunately, you gave it permission to do that in the licensing agreement you agreed to but didn't read. Pretty sneaky, eh?
• Look essential, or be invisible - Some spyware will use an official-sounding name like "winstartup" so that you wont be as likely to disable it if you see it running. Others maintain a low profile by using dozens of different file names and locations, or even generating a random file name to escape detection. To further mask its existence and reduce your awareness of it, many spyware packages will even install software updates without your knowledge.
• Doesn't uninstall, even when asked - Whether by design or mistake, a lot of spyware does not remove itself when you uninstall the application that originally installed the spyware. In many cases the only way to completely remove spyware is with a utility like Spybot or Ad-Aware, which are free.