What is 'spyware' really up to?

Despite all the publicity about spyware being a new threat -- stuff that seeps into your computer like sludge when you visit the wrong website or download the wrong free software -- it's remarkably like the computer virus threats that preceded it, experts say.

"Spyware does not do anything new," said Bob Hansmann, senior product marketing manager for Trend Micro, a Japanese computer security firm with U.S. headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. "It is simply taking existing and proven threat techniques and packaging them for different purposes -- to generate money for the authors" by stealing credit card numbers, Social Security numbers or other salable information and transmitting it over the Internet to the perpetrator.

"A lot of things that would have been called computer viruses before are now called spyware," Hansmann said. "In fact, about 80 to 90 percent of programs that used to be called viruses or "Trojans" [programs that sneak into a computer disguised as something legitimate, a reference to the Trojan horse of Greek mythology] would be called spyware now because they expose information or steal information."

There's so much spyware out there that it has overshadowed computer viruses and worms, the big threats of last year that have been partially tamed by improved computer security, experts say.

"I tell corporate information technology managers that if they think their job is to prevent their companies from ever being infected with spyware, they misunderstand their purpose," Hansmann said. "They shouldn't expect any defense to work perfectly."

FREE PC PROTECTION:
(Not an exhaustive list. Your results may vary. Void where prohibited. For entertainment purposes only. No wagering, please. Whattayawantfernuthin'.)
(Thanks, but "Buy a Mac" doesn't qualify as "FREE PC protection")

Free Alternative browsers:
- Mozilla FireFox
- Opera
Free AntiSpam utilities:
- Mailwasher (last free version)
- XTerminator
Free Antiviral/Trojan protection:
- AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition
- Avast! (requires periodic re-registration)
- Ewido
Free Firewalls:
- ZoneAlarm
- Sygate Personal Firewall (thanx KoRn)
- Kerio Personal Firewall
- Test your firewall from without with:
  - ShieldsUP!
  - DSL Reports Port Scan
- Test your firewall from within with LeakTest
Free General Anti-Malware tools:
- Prevx Intrusion Detection (thanx TomGuy)
- WinPatrol (thanx TomGuy)
Free Popup ad killers:
- Bayden Systems Popup Popper: Blocks popup ads well in MSIE
- Shoot the Messenger: Close that friggin' Messenger in Windows XP
Free Spyware removers:
Free System Diagnostics: Everest Home Edition (thanx TomGuy)
Free Windows Update: Windows Update
LAST BUT NOT LEAST: Explore Linux as an alternative OS:
- Try Linux without installing it on your hard drive, via a free bootable CD-ROM! Download Knoppix (or one of these other Linux distributions), burn the ISO file onto a CD-ROM, and reboot with the CD-ROM in its drive. If you later want to install Knoppix on your hard drive, here are some tips.
- Ubuntu Linux (free, user-friendly download)

The difference is that lawmakers shield the corporations that release spyware from prosecution that applies to the authors and distributors of viruses.

And be wary of the company connections of your spyware scanner. Didn't microsoft "reassess" the status of Gator (a particularly difficult piece of spyware to remove) when MS bought out the parent company?

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