Spyware, Adware and Identity Theft

How big a problem is spyware? According to Aladdin software "15% of spyware threats send private information gathered from the end user currently logged on to the infected system: logging the user's keystrokes, logged-on user name, hash of administrator passwords, email addresses, contacts, instant messengers login and usage, and more."

Spyware is the general term for a type of software that monitors the user's computer activity and user information and gathers this information via the internet without the user's knowledge. The information is most often used for advertising purposes but can be used for more sinister purposes such as stealing passwords, user names, pin numbers and other sensitive data stored on your PC. Some spyware applications actually have legitimate uses, such as monitoring software installed on computers in a workplace to monitor computer usage - however for all intents and purposes when people mention spyware they are generally referring to unwanted programs running on their personal computer in the background.

Making the distinction between adware and spyware is somewhat difficult, as the actual software itself is almost identical, however the main distinction between the two is that normally adware is installed with permission when downloading a freeware or spyware application. To further blur the distinction however, many would argue that due to the fact permission for downloading the adware is generally buried amongst pages of terms and conditions for the free software, that most users simply agree to them without reading small print. Increasingly often they are bundled into free applications most often used by children such as ringtones, winks etc ( in fact a recent study by the NCSA found that 69% of computers in homes with children under age 18 had spyware/adware installed) - that most adware is often downloaded without user knowledge just like spyware! For the purposes of this articles lets refer to both spyware and adware as "malware".