Since early use of the term in a Usenet post that was reported October 17, 1994, the word “” began being used in a relatively joking manner with Microsoft products. Although the term used to refer to James Bond-type tiny spy cameras, in the year 2000 the term was used by Zone Labs Founder Gregor Freund in a ZoneAlarm Personal Firewall press release. And this term was adopted worldwide by online users thereafter.
In a nutshell what happened was that around the time the press release was published in 2000, Gibson Research’s Steve Gibson reported some advertising software that was installed on his system without his approval and knowledge beforehand with adware features that was sharing his personal information without his authorization. And the software was not easy to remove. Hence Gibson announced their initial anti utility called, OptOut. And many more programs have since followed from companies all over.

Just the Facts….

 
If you think spyware isn’t serious, check out these facts reported in a November 2004 research survey conducted by National Cyber-Security Alliance and AOL. Studies showed that:

Nearly 80 percent of those who responded said that as computer users, they had some form of on their systems.
There was an average of 93 spyware components on each computer system.
Approximately 89 percent of the participants reports having no knowledge of the spyware’s presence.
And more than 94 percent stated that they had not granted permission for the spyware’s installation.

With Microsoft’s browser, Internet Explorer, being so popular, it also is the most likely places for spyware activity and computer attacks to occur. So Window’s users especially need protection. Arm yourself with an arsenal of a firewall, anti-virus software and . Beware fake programs, though, that say they will remove spyware, but in reality only add to the problem. Some bad software programs reported in this manner are, in no particular order of preference, are:
AlfaCleaner
AntispywareSoldier
AntiVirus Gold
BraveSentry
Malware Wipe
PAL Spyware Remover
Pest Trap
Privacy Defender
PSGuard
The Shield 2006
SpywareStrike
SpyAxe
SpyBan
SpyFalcon
SpyTrooper
Spy Sheriff
SpyWiper
Spyware Stormer
Spyware Quake
VirusBurst
Trustcleaner Pro
WorldAntiSpy
WinFixer
 
Before you try , go to names you can trust like Symantec, McAfee and Lavasoft's Ad-Aware. And begin with updating your Windows security feature on a regular basis.