Controlling spyware

Computer viruses have not gone away, but they seem to be mostly under control. Right now, it seems to be spyware that is running wild. A large study done last year found that a third of all computers had spyware running on them. Based on what we are finding on many business machines, that ratio must be much higher today – but it doesn’t need to be.

The purpose of most spyware is to monitor what you do on your computer, and provide that information to someone else. In its most nefarious role, spyware may function as a keystroke logger, recording and reporting to a “spy” what you type on your keyboard. In this way, the spy may steal the information needed to login to your network or to secure websites. In fact, anything you type on your computer, including credit card information or bank accounts, may be compromised.

Spyware is usually installed on your computer through trickery. Unfortunately, there are many ways this can be done. Here is one example: you get an email that says you have received an electronic greeting card, and that you must download the viewer to be able to see it. When you download the viewer, you get spyware.

Spyware may also be installed when you click on offers made by pop-up advertising. You can even become infected simply by visiting some unscrupulous websites.

Without knowing it is happening, computer users can easily wind up with dozens of kinds of spyware running on their machines simultaneously. This can slow your computer to a crawl, and can interfere with all kinds of processes, such as sending or receiving email, opening programs and even booting up.

Many companies are addressing the problem of spyware, but it is a three-part challenge. First, a tool must be able to find the spyware. This can be difficult because of the cloaking methods spyware employs to hide itself. Second, antispyware programs must be able to remove the culprit once they find it – something that is also easier said than done. Finally, a good antispyware product must be able to prevent infection.

One of the early antispyware programs was Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware. It was originally offered free of charge, and there is still a basic version that home users can download and install for free. Commercial, feature-rich versions are available for $26.95 and up.

Another antipyware visionary was Patrick Kolla, a German college student. His product, SpyBot Search & Destroy, has also become an industry standard. SpyBot S&D can be downloaded and installed for free, but donations of any amount are encouraged.

Since they each have their strengths and weaknesses, we recommend having both Ad-Aware and SpyBot installed on your computer. Using the two together is a good, basic, low-budget defense against spyware.

However, in the last year or so, the performance of these early programs have been eclipsed by commercial products. Two of the best are CounterSpy, by Sunbelt Software, and Spy Sweeper, by Webroot Software. Both products are quite effective at finding and removing spyware, and preventing future infection. CounterSpy is $20, while Spy Sweeper is $30, so if I were choosing, I would probably select CounterSpy.

However, before you spend the money, you might consider Microsoft’s new Windows AntiSpyware product. It has a common development heritage with CounterSpy, but is available as a free download from Microsoft’s website. Currently, Windows AntiSpyware is a beta product, which means that Microsoft does not consider it a finished product, but it most reviewers consider it the best of the free products and a worthy rival of the commercial programs.

Just as we have learned to deal relatively effectively with computer viruses, we will eventually get a handle on spyware. However, there is no need to wait. You can already take significant steps to protect yourself.