Crunching cookies and encrypting your e-mail can help protect your privacy online, but Web users should also be aware of another avenue pursued by data miners, advertisers and identity thieves seeking to look over your shoulder: the stealth software known as spyware.
Spyware includes "adware" programs that track your Web surfing habits and use your Internet connection to report the results back to a data-collection server. Spyware can also litter your screen with pop-up advertisements and take up so much memory that it interferes with the functioning of other programs. The more sinister forms include Trojan horses and programs that secretly monitor your computer system for unethical or illegal purposes.
The ways in which spyware can land on your computer may surprise you.
"The most common way for people to get infected with adware is when they download a shareware program such as KaZaA," said Steven Thomas, the founder and chairman of Webroot Software. "Oftentimes without their knowledge, these other programs will piggyback on like a parasite and install on your system."
Other shareware programs may mention spyware only in the fine print of user agreements, which few people tend to read before installing the software.
Webroot recently released a program called Spy Sweeper that can remove spyware.
The program works with Windows 98 and later and costs US$29.95 at www.webroot.com. A free trial version is also available at the site along with a free Spy Audit Tool to screen your PC for intruders.
Another antispyware program, Ad-aware by Lavasoft, is available in a free basic version for Windows at www.lavasoftusa.com. Lavasoft offers more powerful versions of the program for US$26.95 and US$39.95.
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