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Coping with "spyware"

October 9, 2002 › Sandy McMurray | comment

A segment on CBC Radio this morning talked about "spyware" -- unwanted software that installs itself on Windows computers and gathers information about you or your electronic activities.

I was surprised to hear the guest tell the listeners that there's not much you can do about this. I disagree. Unwanted software -- sometimes called spyware, adware or "malware" -- is disturbing and annoying, but you CAN do something about it.

Can spyware be detected? Yes!
A free program for Windows called Ad Aware -- which the radio guest mentioned -- can tell you whether there is malware on your system right now, and help you remove it. You can get it free from www.lavasoftusa.com

Zone Labs, makers of the well-known firewall software Zone Alarm, recommend another malware detector called PestPatrol. I've also heard good things about SpyBot Search & Destroy (http://beam.to/spybotsd).

The best-known anti-virus folks -- Symantec and McAfee -- will undoubtedly add malware detection to future products. This is, after all, something that seems to require regular detection and elimination, just like viruses, and there's money to be made doing it. I wouldn't be surprised to see this feature built into a future version of Norton Internet Security.

Can spyware be avoided? Yes!
These programs are called "trojans" for a reason -- malware is typically installed on your system during the installation of OTHER software. Some freeware/shareware programs that are known to have carried malware in the past include familiar names like CometCursor, KaZaA, AudioGalaxy, BonziBuddy, and Gator, to name but a few. If you have teenagers in your house, you probably have KaZaA on your system -- it's a free program that allows users to trade MP3 files.

cexx.org is one of several sites that keeps a public list of known malware. To find out more about these software pests -- and software to remove them -- see www.cexx.org/adware.htm

Finally, it's worth noting that computers running Windows operating systems are the main target of malware because a) most people run Windows, and b) Windows really isn't very secure, despite Microsoft's stated goal of Trusted Computing. Mac users and Linux users aren't bothered by these malware programs.

October 9, 2002 › Sandy McMurray | comment on this item