What is Spyware?
Yesterday a client asked me a simple & direct question. What is spyware? I had to pause before giving an answer. Reason: Many times, folks in the tech industry toss these words around without thought. And when we give definitions, we do so in technical terms. Obfuscation instead of enlightenment. Confusion instead of clarity. Bad move on our part.
Tech Terms vs. Business Facts
The questioner runs a business, and what she really wants to know is “What is spyware, and how does it affect my business? Why do I care?”
So I went right to the bottom line, and we talked about spyware in money terms.
The Bottom Line: Driven by Money
Spyware is written by people who want to sell you something. Spyware (also spelled $pyware) is driven by money. A spyware maker will install software on your machine without your consent. The software will keep track of the web sites you visit and relay that information back to the maker. Next, the maker will try to sell you products based on the sites you visited, typically by way of pop up windows.
Bad Spyware
All spyware is bad. Yes, that’s a very judgmental statement. Here’s why spyware is bad:
- It gets installed without your consent.
- It slows the performance of your computer.
Installed Without Consent
Many people don’t realize they’re installing spyware until it’s too late. The “consent” is hidden in the fine print of “free software” (see below). Or they download and install an anti-spyware program, only to learn that the anti-spyware is, in fact, spyware itself!
Slower Performance
Every piece of software installed on a computer will affect the performance of that computer. Spyware has an even greater (negative) affect, since it lurks in the background, observing every keystroke and mouse click. Talk about sucking up resources!
Getting Rid of Spyware
In “The Art of War”, the Chinese general Sun Tzu says that the best way to win a war is to do so without fighting. In other words: Be so prepared, so proactive, that your enemies tremble in your presence, throwing down their weapons and walking away.
In the case of spyware, the best way to eliminate the infection is to not get infected in the first place. Here are a few ways to do that.
Don’t Install Free Software
An economics professor once said “There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” If someone gives you software for free, many times they want something in return. That return could mean installing spyware. Sometimes they blatantly spell out their intentions in the fine print. Remember those terms and conditions that nobody reads? That’s where spyware makers confess (sometimes).
Use a Firewall
A business owner can’t always count on employees to follow the rules. Face it: All of us break the rules sometimes! So it’s best to have properly configured firewall in place. No security is 100% effective, but a well-built firewall will filter out most attacks.
Keep in mind that firewalls fall useless against users who install “free” software. That’s like the guy who bolts the front door of his home, only to let the thieves in through the unlocked back door.
If You Get Infected
If prevention fails (and sometimes it does), it is usually best to wipe out the workstation and rebuild it from scratch. Spyware makers are very clever, and the Add/Remove Programs icon in the control panel never works against spyware. Cleverly written spyware will hide from you and re-install itself after the uninstall program is done. Yes, this is war.
Good luck!