Spyware is any software that, without your full consent, takes information about you and makes that information available to someone else, usually via the Internet.



In its most extreme form, spyware can be truly harmful. It can put you under surveillance, logging everything you do on the computer and every key you press. So-called keyloggers can steal valuable information like passwords and credit card numbers or trade secrets. Such spy software is readily available for sale on the Internet, and it can be easily installed by anyone with physical access to your computer, especially if your system is not password-protected. It is also spread via e-mail, disguised Trojan-horse-style as a legitimate program.

Most spyware and Trojan virus removal tool, however, are not so cloak-and-dagger. The spyware makers do not want to steal your information and destroy your life. They just want to make some money, and they do not care what methods they use to do it.

You see, the key to making money through online advertising is targeting. If you display untargeted ads randomly to people, they are unlikely to be interested, click the ad, and make a purchase. However, if you can determine what someone is interested in and target an ad to that specific interest, you have a better chance of closing a sale. For instance, if someone is looking for plane tickets and you show him an ad for an online travel service, he is likely to click the ad and use the service.

That is what makes spyware so lucrative. The spyware makers get as many people to install their software as possible, using whatever trickery required, and then sell advertising for their service; that is, sell the right to invade people's privacy and annoy them with targeted advertisements.

Of all the nastiness of spyware, browser hijacking is one of the most obnoxious. It can take several forms, including obvious ones, like changing your home page or redirecting you to web sites other than the ones you want to visit. For instance, if you type in one web address, it may send you to a different web site with a similar theme.

is often much more subtle. For instance, if you do a search on a particular term, it will modify the search engine's results to put its advertisers on top or pepper the results page with advertising links.

Spyware is one of the fastest-moving, least-understood aspects of the Internet. ISPs and software makers are furiously trying to add the best spyware remouvers and Trojan virus removal tools to protect users against spyware and Trojan. This is a constantly evolving threat that you will need to keep an eye on.