IT managers are reaching a consensus - rogue applications that fall into the spyware (or adware) category cause more problems than viruses. This position has evolved considerably from a year ago, when an onslaught of worms and viruses bedeviled IT departments nationwide.

According to Ron Davis, Account Executive at CompStar Technologies in Mishawaka, IN, the firm's clients are seeing ever more spyware problems. "In 2005, we're seeing about twice the number of service calls related to spyware vs. viruses."

Spyware falls into two main categories - true spyware, which tracks user behavior (even including keystrokes) and send that information to a third party, and adware, which displays advertisements on the PC. These ads may be as obvious as multiple popup windows or as subtle as false links on an unrelated website.

Viruses seem to be somewhat less of a problem these days due to efforts by software and operating system makers to harden their products as well as the widespread adoption of virus protection software at the server and desktop level.

                                               Spyware, on the other hand is growing...

Part of the reason for this is that there is no accepted definition of what spyware is. Benign applications like the Google Toolbar, for example, DO report user behavior to a central location and are considered spyware by some; others are happy to receive the benefits of the toolbar and aren't concerned about privacy issues.

Equally complicated are annoying programs that are installed when the user approves their installation after reviewing an agreement. These programs, often adware, ride along with software that the user wants to install, like music sharing, games, etc. While their existence may be disclosed in a lengthy user license agreement, in reality virtually no users read pages of legal boilerplate when installing software. Nevertheless, these adware firms strongly assert that no wrong has been done, since the user agreed to the installation of their product.

Spyware/adware companies have taken issue with characterizing their product in that manner, and have sued third parties who maligned their product by using names like "scumware"; firms that create spyware detection tools must be careful in the way they present their findings to avoid similar suits.

From a business standpoint, these spyware and adware products pose major problems. Keystroke loggers and other malware that record user behavior have the potential to reveal company secrets, such as network passwords, financial data, etc. More commonly, though, the problem is performance related - the spyware/adware causes deteriorated PC performance, corrupts the Windows registry, etc. Removing the infestation can be time-consuming, and may even require rebuilding the PC's operating system.

Help, though slow in coming, is on the way. Microsoft recently entered the spyware detection and removal software market with a free product. Before that, spyware tools were mostly offered by smaller companies. Major virus software makers are adding spyware removal software to their suites of security products.

Click here for some  tools to assist with spyware removal

Once installed on a computer, malware can change system settings. Malware is also capable of performing a variety of undesirable tasks on your computer system, such as destroy files or programs. In addition, malware can be used to install spyware onto your computer, which can then extrude and send out personal information to the creator of the malware.

Spyware can than take the form of a hijacker, which will redirect your browser to specific websites that you do not want to view. Spyware can also come in the form of a dialer, which dials services, often pornography sites, and runs up a tab for which you are responsible to pay.

Spyware can also take the form of a Trojan horse, which is attached to programs you download to your computer. Once on your computer, the Trojan horse can wreak havoc on you computer system and can gather personal information from your computer.

Collectware is another form of spyware. It collects information about you, as well as information about websites you like to visit. Spyware can also install executable files onto your computer and send a continuous stream of data to the “parent” software. This leaves the door wide open on you computer from hackers to get inside and can personal information, including credit card and bank account numbers.

In addition, hackers can install programs on your computer without your knowledge. They can also send and receive cookies from other spyware programs, even if you have cookies disabled on your computer.

With all of the types of spyware floating around, and the ease at which spyware technology can be installed – intentionally or unintentionally – on your computer, it is important to be careful about the type of software you download and install. Even more so, it is important to have a strong firewall that will keep spyware at a distance.

Great Spyware Scanners

To eliminate spyware, try one of these great spyware scanners.

Microsoft AntiSpyware (Beta): Microsoft AntiSpyware is available free. It also have above average spyware detection rates. It is beta software, however, and tech support is not available. This software shouldn’t be installed at the same time as Sunbelt CounterSpy, however, because they each have common components.

Webroot Spy Sweeper: Webroot Spy Sweeper has excellent results. It is not, however, a complete internet protection package – it is solely for use of removing spyware. Therefore, an antivirus package and a firewall should be used with this spyware scanner.

Hijack This: Hijack This is also free. It is not, however, a traditional type of spyware scanner. Instead, it provides a report of what is taking place on the computer system. For someone with experience, the report can be read and the spyware can be disabled manaually. For those who are less computer savvy, this spyware scanner might be a little difficult to use effectively.

Spybot Search & Destroy: Spybot Search & Destroy is also free for personal use, but it performs at a below average level. TeaTimer and SDHelper, however, do help prevent spyware and adware from getting in the computer in the first place. Both of these come along with Spybot. Therefore, this spyware scanner might not be the best tool for removing spyware, but it is helpful for providing protection.

Spyware Programs to Be Concerned About

Spyware programs can be devastating to a computer, yet every day people intentionally install spyware software onto their computers. Of course, this is often done with the misguided belief that they are downloading a useful internet tool or game. For this reason, it is important to be aware of some of the most popular spyware programs on the net.

CoolWebSearch: CoolWebSearch is adware that makes more than $300 million a year. The spyware program comes in many forms, but once on the computer it hijacks the web search errors and takes over the browser’s home page. It can even modify settings to Internet Explorer. Recent computer audits showed that CoolWebSearch is currently installed on about 50% of computers.

Gator/Gain: Gator/Gain is adware that displays banner ads based on a person’s web surfing habits. This adware gets often gets onto computer systems because it is included in free software packages. One popular software program it is included on is Kazaa. By most recent audits, Gator/Gain is on about 15% of computers.

180search Assistant: 180search assistant is an adware program. It creates pop-up advertisements on the user’s computer based upon the user’s web search activity. Every time a user searches a keyword, 180search assistant opens its own browser window. It then shows an ad from a company that relates somehow to the key word that was searched. 180 search assistant is usually installed on a computer by another spyware program. Therefore, a person infected with 180searc assistant is most likely infected with other spyware programs, as well.

ISTbar/Aupdate: ISTbar is a tool that is used to search porn websites. It is often installed by an ActiveX drive-by download on affiliate sites, which are typically porn sites themselves. Once installed, ISTbare will display pornographic pop-ups and it will hijack the users homepage as well as internet searches.

Others on Webroot’s list include (in descending order), 180search Assistant, ISTbar/Aupdate, Transponder, Internet Optimizer, BlazeFind, Hot as Hell, Advance Keylogger, and TIBS Dialer. Most are adware in composition — not that that means they’re benign; they typically hijack search errors and re-direct them to another site, and/or blitz the PC with endless popups — but some are true spyware.

“We’re finding keyloggers on about 15 percent of the machines audited,” said Stiennon, “and Advanced Keylogger is the most prevalent right now. It’s on relatively few machines — about 9,000 that we’ve found — but a keylogger on that many PCs is a scary concept in and of itself.

Spam: What it is and Why You Don’t Want it

Spam is the name given to junk emails. It is often in the form of commercial advertisements or other forms of solicitation. Generally, spam is sent to large groups of people at a time.

The main reason spam is a problem is that it is just plain annoying. Spam wastes a computer user’s time as he sifts through all of the junk mail – which can be hundreds of mailings per day – to find the important mail.

Spam also bogs down the computer’s speed at accessing the internet. This makes surfing the web, and accessing real email, more difficult as the entire process is slowed down. For those who pay for a certain number of hours per month to be on the internet, or for those who have to pay telephone fees for a long distance dial-up, this can equal money lost.

In additional, spam drives up the cost of internet subscriptions. This is because service providers have increased costs associated with handling the extra load of the spam. These increased costs are then passed on to the consumer – all for email the consumer didn’t want to begin with.

The first known large scaled incident of spam occurred in 1994. In this occurrence, two Arizona lawyers named Martha Siegel and Laurence Canter advertised their services by sending out advertisements to 6,000 Usenet news groups. They accomplished this in less than 90 minutes. To make matters worse, there advertisements were a scam – they offered to help immigrates gain US citizenship by “processing” lottery entries – a process that only involved mailing in a postcard.

This leads to the other concern about spam. Many spam emails are sent out con artists. Responding to these spams leaves the computer user vulnerable in many ways. This includes loss of privacy and even identity theft.

Fortunately, many internet service providers have spam filters included as a part of their service. If not, it is worthwhile to invest in a spam filter. It will save you time, money, and perhaps a lot of heartache, too.

Computer Protection Must Haves

Your computer most likely contains information that is important to you. Perhaps you have saved family photos or important information for your job. In addition, your computer likely has personal information stored within it, such as bank account numbers or credit card numbers. For these reasons, it is important to keep your computer safe and protected with a few back components.

Anti-Virus Protection:  Most everyone has heard about computer viruses. Computer viruses, once in your computer, are capable of reproducing and spreading to other computers. Some viruses are relatively harmless, but other viruses can completely destroy a computer. To keep your computers safe from viruses and other bugs, you should invest in anti-virus software. Many programs are available for download, and some of them are even free, so there is no excuse to leave your computer unprotected,

Firewall Protection:  A personal firewall helps control everything that comes into and leaves your computer. A firewall can be set up to allow access to only specific websites, or it can be set up to block out certain types of websites. The level of security offered by a firewall can be altered according to the user’s preferences and is often the main source of privacy protection on a computer.

Spyware Scanners:  Spyware is software that is used to gather information from your computer. Some are mostly harmless, being simply put in your computer to send information back to marketers looking for information about their target consumers. Of course, even this is an invasion of privacy and may be a concern for you.

Yet other spyware programs, however, can seek out and gather more personal information, such as what sites you visit or even bank and credit card numbers. Spyware can also open a backdoor to your computer, making it easier for hackers to gain information. For this reason, it is important to have a spyware scanner on your computer. A spyware scanner will help prevent spyware from being installed on your computer in the first place and if any does make it through, the scanner will help you remove it.

Protection Offered By Firewalls

Firewalls protect computer users in many ways. One way they protect the computer user is by preventing remote login. Remote login is when a person connects to a users computer and controls it in some fashion. This can be as simple as viewing information, or more serious, such as running programs on the computer.

Firewalls also protect the user from email bombs. This is when a person sends hundreds or thousands of the same email to a computer user. This can cause the system to be unable to accept more messages. Email bombs are usually sent as a personal attack.

Remote access to a computer is sometimes established by programs with special features. Yet other programs contain bugs that provide hidden access to a computer. This hidden access is referred to as a backdoor. Firewalls help prevent programs and bugs from opening these backdoors.

Spam, or junk email, s usually harmless, but very annoying. It some cases, however, spam can be dangerous. For example, if a spam contains a link to websites, and the computer user clicks the link, it can enable cookies. This will then open a backdoor to the user’s computer, opening it up to be accessed by hackers. Firewalls help filter out spam and help prevent the backdoor from being opened in the first place.

Without a firewall, a denial of service attack can easily be set up by hackers. This is done by using ICMP to change, or redirect, the path that information takes. Instead, the information is sent to a different router. This is referred to as redirect bombs and can be devastating to the computer user.

Operating system bugs also have backdoors. Yet others can provide hackers with remote access to a user’s computer if the computer is not sufficiently protected by a firewall.

Firewalls keep computers safe from viruses but, most importantly, they keep the personal information of the user safe and secure.

Top Five Reasons to Have a Firewall on Your Personal Computer

1. A firewall can prevent hackers from getting into your computer system. A hacker is a person who breaks into computer systems for the purpose of stealing, changing, or destroying information.

When a hacker gets into your computer system, he can gain access to all of your information. This can be as simple as seeing what type of websites you enjoy visit. Or, it can be more personal, such as reading your private emails. Worse still, a hacker can gain information about your personal checking and savings account, as well as credit card numbers and your *************** number. If your computer is not protected by a firewall, you are more vulnerable to identity theft. Without a firewall, you are also leaving yourself open to having funds stolen from your accounts.

2.  A firewall can prevent spyware from gathering your personal data. Spyware is software placed in advertisements and in emails that gathers data from a persons computer.

Ok, maybe spyware isn’t as threatening as a hacker, but it is possible that spyware might be collecting information about you that you don’t want to share. With a firewall set to high security, spyware will only be able to gather very little information. You might be able to block it out completely.

3.  A firewall can help prevent viruses from attacking your computer. Viruses are software programs that are designed to cause damage to files and other programs on a computer. Once inside a computer they reproduce themselves.

With a personal firewall on your computer, viruses are less likely to get through to your computer in the first place. With a complete firewall package, your firewall will also be able to find and remove viruses.

4.  A firewall can also help you have more control over your email. Without a firewall, many types of troublesome emails will make it into your inbox. This can include emails that are simply annoying, such as spam, to emails that are specifically designed as a ploy to gain access to your personal information, such as spoofing or phishing emails.

5.  Most importantly, a firewall provides peace of mind, knowing that your computer is safe and, most of all, that your personal information is kept confidential.

Any company that has been the victim of a computer virus attack will understand just how big a problem it is. It costs time and money in terms of the IT resources that are required to clean up the ensuing mess, and dents productivity while systems are down. In some cases, corporate reputations can be hurt if they have inadvertently passed the virus on to key customers or business partners.

But financial gain is not usually what motivates virus writers. Rather, the prime motivation appears to be generally notoriety among their peers. However, that is not the case with the latest security menace receiving a lot of headline space - malicious programs that are generally banded together under the heading of spyware.

Spyware is the term used for any technology that is used to gather information about a person or a company that is then generally sold on to a third party for financial gain. It includes such technologies as keyloggers for gaining user names, passwords or account information, as well as a wide variety of other hacker tools. But, in order to qualify as spyware, the technology must be installed on a computer system without the user's knowledge - if a person has allowed some form of tracking software to be placed on their computer, that technology cannot be defined as spyware.

Spyware is also more dangerous that viruses as there are multiple ways in which it can be installed on a network, including being downloaded from a web site or through viruses, worms or e-mail attachments. Because of this, a user does not actually have to take any action that would be counter to good security advice, such as not opening an attachment sent from an unknown or untrusted source - especially since the e-mail address of the sender could be spoofed.

Technology vendors have been looking at the problem of spyware for some time, with some anti-spyware having been available for two to three years. In response to customer demand, several of the larger technology vendors have recently unveiled anti-spyware programs, many of which they have acquired from other vendors. These include well known companies such as McAfee and Symantec, but even security laggards Microsoft has recently acquired anti-spyware capabilities.

But there are still two distinct opinions observable in the marketplace; anti-virus vendors believe that their capabilities and experience in dealing with viruses make them ideally placed to offer anti-spyware technology, whereas the specialists believe that the problem is much more far reaching than that of viruses. Since many of the offerings are so new, the jury is still out on which side will win. But potential consumers should adhere to the old adage 'buyer beware' - look for company stability and customer references. Reports have been appearing of technology touted as anti-spyware, but which is actually spyware itself. This is not a problem we have heard the last of.