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What is spyware?
Spyware are a set of small apps that gather information about your
movements on the internet without you being aware of it. This
information is then sent to different companies who use it for
statistical analysis, for selling products or services etc.
Do also keep in mind that there are clients that do similar things
(for example the ToolBar in Google) but that are not considered spyware
because before the installation they warn you, specifying that they will
gather data about your habits and tell you what they do with the data.
How can spyware get into my computer?
In general through free software, in particular software for file
sharing (many p2p clients are bundled with spyware) . Another example of free software
that have spyware are Go!zilla and Codec Divx 5Pro (the latter does warn
you, so technically it is not spyware, because you have to accept it before
installing).
But isn't something like this forbidden?
No, it is not. Whether or not using spyware can be considered a 'moral'
thing to do, the fact remains that spyware does not alter your pc in any
way, and therefore no spyware can be considered as a virus (which is why
the antivirus software does not detect it). Of course gathering
information about what you access when you go online and storing (and
sharing) such information without you being aware of it, is really
pushing the boundaries of legality. However, it is legal -at least it is
in the USA- and given that the largest part of this software is from the
USA or is accessible through American sites, it is really up to you
whether or not to download it.
But why do these guys put such rubbish in many free apps?
For money. As you can appreciate, creating a client of filesharing
such as Kazaa and putting it on a central server accessed daily by
millions of individuals who wish to perform searches and download things
as quickly as possible for free, is very expensive indeed!!!!!
Substaining such a system as well as developing new software requires
money...and lots of it...
Same thing for those individuals who work very hard to create a
software, such a divx player, and who would like to make some money out
of it: spyware gives them the chance to give their software for free. If
most people bought every piece of software, this would not happen. But
as most prefer to have things for free, then this is the price that
they have to pay.
The exception to the rule is software called Open Source, which is
100% free and without spyware or advertising. As you can appreciate,
this can only be the exception to the rule, and not the rule. How many
people can afford the time and have the ability and knowledge to create
something as complex for free? And what's more, how many people can
sustain doing something like this and keep doing it?
Spyware brings back some sort of balance, although morally disputable,
but nevertheless a balance.
How can I remove spyware from my pc?
With the appropriate software such as SpyBot Search & Destroy. It is
free (as long as it is for personal use only). Otherwise you can use
Ad-Aware, which is available both commercially and for free (although
since it has become commercial it is no longer in my list of
'favourites'). Please note that these applications can only remove known
spyware. There are other nice tools for removing spyware, but most of
them are not free.
IMPORTANT: Always make a back-up of the spyware that you remove thorugh
Ad-Aware and Spybot because occasionally -although rarely- you may have
some spyware that has messed up your computer and if you remove it you
run into lots of problems.
How dangerous is spyware?
Nobody knows. All the big firms that deal with spyware (obviously they
refer to it in a different way!!!) make a point about privacy and how
they deal with the data etc, and that their software simply gathers
information for statistical purposes and nothing more. Nevertheless, do
you trust them? It would be extremely easy for these extra-european
firms to create a very detailed profile of the pc of millions of users,
full of personal details, ready to be used whenever. I am afraid we are
in an area of 'suspicion' and everyone can make up their own mind.
How can I avoid spyware with 100% certainty?
By installing on your pc only commercial or Open Source software.
So-called freeware and shareware are only fine if they display VERY CLEARLY that
they do not contain spyware, adware and the like (and even in this way,
you don't actually have 100% certainty to avoid them as some call their
spyware with the strangest names and declare :'we haven't got spyware').
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