In the 1990's we began to hear the word "spyware" being used when technicians were working on computers.  the term came from rogue programs that secretly observed and logged your web surfing habits.  The spyware problem, however, has now grown into dozens of other malicious formats, including sneakware, adware, keyloggers, browser hijackers, porn servers, trojans and worms.

"Adware and spyware are malicious software created by irresponsible people and almost 850,000 U.S computer users have replaced their computer in the first half of 2007. This statistic shows that spyware has become one of the major threats online and majority of computer owners don't know how to remove it from their system."¹

Spyware performs a variety of non-essential to dangerous activities, including

1. Stealing your personal information and address book information.
2. Floods your browser with pop-up advertising
3. Generates spam to your inbox with advertising email.
4. Redirects your home page to an advertising or phising website
5. Slows down or crashes your computer.

Spyware programs are authored by programmers, and then delivered to your computer through Internet installs. Usually, malware will piggyback on innocent-looking web page components and otherwise-benign software such as game demos, MP3 players, search toolbars, software, free subscriptions, and other things you download from the web. Subscribing to online services is especially bad for getting malware. In particular, whenever you sign up for a so-called "free" service or install new software, you must accept an "end user license agreement" (EULA). The fine print of the EULA will often include the phrase "the vendor is allowed to install third-party software on your computer". Since most users don't bother to read this EULA fine print, they naively click "accept", and install malware out of sheer ignorance.²

There are a number of free and commercially available programs available online that will assist in the removal of these programs, but be very cautious.  There are also many programs out there that "claim" to remove spyware from your system, but many of these are spyware programs within themselves.

For a partial list of spyware programs on the Internet today, please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fake_anti-spyware_programs#Partial_list_of_rogue_software.

There are some very common sources that we see in our shop that have the potential to infect your system with spyware.  Primarily free music and gaming websites, but we have also seen many instances for a few pages for www.myspace.com and www.youtube.com. The common thread is that if a website is going to offer you something free of charge...there is a price to be paid. 

For professional removal of spyware infections, the staff at Geeks of Nevada, Inc. is available to help you at 775-841-7118.

¹Ezine Articles - http://ezinearticles.com/?Delete-Spyware---Free-Spyware-Removal-Tips&id=814844

²About.com -http://netforbeginners.about.com/od/antivirusantispyware/a/malware101.htm