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- UW Law Digital Commons - Defining Spyware: Necessary or Dangerous (PDF)
- Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency - Spyware
- NC State university - Office of Information Technology - Spyware
- Digital Commons at Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School - Spyware Regulation: National Legislation Should Prompt Industry Self-Policing (PDF)
- DigitalCommons at University of Nebraska - Lincoln - Zero Progress on Zero-Days: How the Last Ten Years Created the Modern Spyware MarketModern Spyware Market (PDF)
- ACM Digital Library - SPYWARE: A Little Knowledge is a Wonderful Thing
- Pew Research Center - The threat of unwanted software programs is changing the way people use the internet. (PDF)
- Lifewire - What is Spyware? Plus, How to protect yourself against it
spyware
spyware, type ofcomputer program that is secretly installed on a person’scomputer or mobile device in order to obtain the owner’s private information, such as lists ofwebsites visited, passwords, andcredit card numbers.
Spyware often finds its way onto users’ computers when they install some othersoftware, such aselectronic games or system utilities, from third-party sources that have altered the original programs. For example, a large proportion of software downloaded fromP2P (“person-to-person”)file-sharing networks contains computer viruses,worms, spyware, adware (unsolicited advertisements), or other “malware.” Spyware may also be secretly installed when a user opens an infectede-mail attachment. Because digital audio or video files are frequently shared among friends, a contaminated file can quickly proliferate if left unchecked. Some spyware can be installed as part oflegitimate programs that seek to track a user’s activity.
Some spyware is designed to steal U.S. Social Security numbers, passwords, and other private information directly from an infected computer’s hard drive, while other spyware may alter the results ofInternet searches in order to redirect users to a website that may infect their computers with even more spyware. Keyloggers can record the keystrokes that a user types. ThePegasus spyware developed by the Israeli firm NSO Group grants an attacker complete access to aniPhone, including e-mail, text messages, and photos, and can even activate the microphone and camera without the user’s knowledge. Somecomputer security experts consider trackingcookies (small text files that track a user’s online activity for such purposes as showing advertisements a user might find interesting) as spyware, but others point out that such cookies do not carrymalware or adware that displays obtrusive advertisements and thus are not as dangerous as other spyware, despite the amount of information they collect.
Most commercial antivirus software programs include features to help detect and eliminate spyware and other malware. In addition, modernoperating systems include features to make it harder for criminals to install malware without the owner’s knowledge. Still, all such preventive measures are ineffective if users do not regularly update their system and antivirus software, and no combination of security measures will work if individualsindulge in imprudent behaviour.