La Cosa Nostra
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How much spyware have you got sitting on your PC. Last night on the news they were saying the average household PC has 28 pieces of spyware at anyone time working on it.
For those that don't know what spyware is, It's software placed on your PC without your concent that allows companies to gather information on what you type and which sites you visit.
AOL are notorious for spyware , so if you are logged in through AOL they know exactly how to spam you.
and god help you if you've visited porn sites..... that may explain why your email is filled to the brim with junk mail about viagra and other services.
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This is from ZDnet but its a summary of what was on the news
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PCs teeming with spyware - EarthLink
Dinesh C. Sharma
CNET News.com
April 16, 2004, 10:45 BST
The ISP says that each PC scanned by its free audit service during the first three months of this year harboured an average of 28 spyware programs
EarthLink is starting to keep score in its fight against spyware.
The Internet service provider on Thursday said it found an average of nearly 28 spyware items on each PC it scanned during the first quarter. The company, in conjunction with Webroot Software, conducted a total of 1.06 million scans through its Spy Audit service. The majority of the items found were relatively harmless, EarthLink said, but some represented serious problems.
The term "spyware" has yet to be precisely pinned down. EarthLink uses it to describe several types of software code that might be deposited on a person's computer, often when freeware or shareware such as peer-to-peer programs are downloaded. The most common type, it said, is adware: software that displays ads and also sends data back to a third party. Others include system monitors, which track a computer user's online activity.
"While most spyware is adware-related and relatively benign, it's disturbing that over 300,000 of the more serious system monitors and (Trojan horses) were uncovered. This figure represents how real a threat identity theft or system corruption is for users," Matt Cobb, EarthLink's vice president of core applications, said in a statement.
Consumer groups and lawmakers have expressed concern over the proliferation of such software. The Federal Trade Commission, which has taken action on spam and other Internet-related privacy issues, plans a high-profile hearing on the matter on Monday. Utah, meanwhile, has passed a law to curb spyware.
Still, groups such as the Business Software Alliance argue that these laws tend to focus too much on technology, rather than on practices that might need to be curbed.
The Spy Audit service is available to all Internet users, not just EarthLink subscribers.
For those that don't know what spyware is, It's software placed on your PC without your concent that allows companies to gather information on what you type and which sites you visit.
AOL are notorious for spyware , so if you are logged in through AOL they know exactly how to spam you.
and god help you if you've visited porn sites..... that may explain why your email is filled to the brim with junk mail about viagra and other services.
__________________________________________________
This is from ZDnet but its a summary of what was on the news
__________________________________________________
PCs teeming with spyware - EarthLink
Dinesh C. Sharma
CNET News.com
April 16, 2004, 10:45 BST
The ISP says that each PC scanned by its free audit service during the first three months of this year harboured an average of 28 spyware programs
EarthLink is starting to keep score in its fight against spyware.
The Internet service provider on Thursday said it found an average of nearly 28 spyware items on each PC it scanned during the first quarter. The company, in conjunction with Webroot Software, conducted a total of 1.06 million scans through its Spy Audit service. The majority of the items found were relatively harmless, EarthLink said, but some represented serious problems.
The term "spyware" has yet to be precisely pinned down. EarthLink uses it to describe several types of software code that might be deposited on a person's computer, often when freeware or shareware such as peer-to-peer programs are downloaded. The most common type, it said, is adware: software that displays ads and also sends data back to a third party. Others include system monitors, which track a computer user's online activity.
"While most spyware is adware-related and relatively benign, it's disturbing that over 300,000 of the more serious system monitors and (Trojan horses) were uncovered. This figure represents how real a threat identity theft or system corruption is for users," Matt Cobb, EarthLink's vice president of core applications, said in a statement.
Consumer groups and lawmakers have expressed concern over the proliferation of such software. The Federal Trade Commission, which has taken action on spam and other Internet-related privacy issues, plans a high-profile hearing on the matter on Monday. Utah, meanwhile, has passed a law to curb spyware.
Still, groups such as the Business Software Alliance argue that these laws tend to focus too much on technology, rather than on practices that might need to be curbed.
The Spy Audit service is available to all Internet users, not just EarthLink subscribers.
