Moving to Free Software

Chapter 17. Spybot: Protecting You from Spyware

Ah, spyware . . . it almost makes you long for the good old days when we only had to worry about viruses on our PCs. Spyware programs come in many flavors. Some are more or less benign, popping up rather annoying ads while you are trying to get your job done. These programs are generally referred to as adware. Other programs are there to cause damage, or use your PC’s resources to launch attacks on other systems. This is malware. Finally, we have the real spyware, programs that literally spy on your activities, capturing private information such as your credit card numbers, bank balances, and passwords, passing it on to a remote location where your identity (and funds) can be put to criminal uses. ...