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| Format: | Recurso educativo Open Access |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
2005
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ847838 |
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Table of Contents:
- Monsters in the Closet: Spyware Awareness and Prevention Cordes, Christofer Sean Internet Prevention Computer Security Information Technology Web Sites Library Networks Spyware is the general term that describes a collection of technologies that help external parties in "gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge." In addition to the minor annoyances spyware generates, such as redirected pages, redirected searches, and pop-up ads, a spyware infection can have more malicious effects, including the gathering of personal information from unwitting users--e-mail addresses, credit card numbers, and even passwords. Further, some spyware has the ability to read the files on the hard drive, track the strokes a person makes on his keyboard, and even track the use of other applications, like chat rooms. Finally, spyware infection can lead to slow Internet connections and system instability and crashes. Computers typically become infected with spyware from tainted freeware and shareware programs, including peer-to-peer applications like those used for sharing music and movies. Like other types of malware (malicious software), spyware is installed along with the intended application and without the user's knowledge. This article discusses the common types of spyware, provides points that can help practitioners keep spyware issues in perspective, and suggests a few measures in detecting and preventing spyware. (Contains 16 endnotes.)