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Cloak and dagger spyware. |
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Written by Tony Phelps
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Thursday, 17 November 2005 |
Spyware is moving to the forefront of computer security worries. Where
the biggest threats used to come from viruses which sought to disrupt
or destroy computer systems, now it is increasingly faceless
individuals or groups seeking to take control of your computer for
their own benefit. “Spyware” is the all-encompassing term for software
that one way or another ends up in your computer to perform jobs
without your knowledge.
It’s been said that if you connect a computer to the internet, on
average it is only 15 minutes before it is probed for weaknesses.
Unfortunately, computer security is still largely down to the
computer’s owner, and it is far from easy or straightforward. The
typical computer needs anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, and
auto-update facilities all correctly configured, working together, and
regularly updating themselves (preferably automatically). This is an
afternoon’s work for an expert, let alone a newcomer.
But how much of a threat is this spyware? What can it really do? At the
low end of the scale, it is just annoying – “adware” retrieves ads from
the internet when you are connected, and pops them up on your screen
when your in the middle of doing other things. Most of the ads will be
useless to Vanuatu viewers. There are also programs that just send out
information reporting what websites you go to, how long you spend on
each page, and what you are looking at. This marketing information is
unlikely to be used or be useful, but it slows your internet connection
down.
Much more of a concern are the programs that try to trap your
confidential information. At the highest and worst end of the scale are
keyloggers, small applications that simply record the keys you press on
your keyboard. These applications are getting smart enough to recognize
specific information : your account numbers, UserIDs, passwords,
passport number, and other personal, private and unique data. The
international market for this “identity” information is already very
large and growing fast. Criminals can take out loans in your name, buy
cars and even houses in your name, and of course use your bank
accounts.
At the moment, Windows computers (as usual) are mostly affected. If you
don’t have anti-spyware software, you should get some. The popular
commercial anti-virus vendors generally offer anti-spyware modules, but
there is also an effective free product called Spybot ; go to
safer-networking.org for info and to download it. Spyware can get in to
your computer far more easily than you might think. |
