3. What is
spyware
?
Spyware is software that aims to gather information about a
person or organization sometimes without their knowledge,
that may send such information to another entity without the
consumer's consent, that asserts control over a device without
the consumer's knowledge, or it may send such information to
another entity with the consumer's consent, through cookies
Spyware is programming that is put in someone's computer to
secretly gather information about the user and relay it to
advertisers or other interested parties.
4. Working
Principal
Spyware does necessarily not spread in the same way as
a virus or worm because infected systems generally do not
attempt to transmit or copy the software to other computers.
Instead, spyware installs itself on a system by deceiving the user
or by exploiting software vulnerabilities.
Most spyware is installed without knowledge, or by using
deceptive tactics. Spyware may try to deceive users by bundling
itself with desirable software. Other common tactics are using
a Trojan horse, spy gadgets that look like normal devices but turn
out to be something else, such as a USB Key logger. These
devices actually are connected to the device as memory units
but are capable of recording each stroke made on the keyboard
6. Adware
Adware, or advertising-supported software,
is software that generates revenue for its developer by
automatically generating online advertisements in the
user interface of the software or on a screen presented
to the user during the installation process.
Some legitimate application software is offered as
either a free version that is advertising-supported or as
a paid version without advertisements. Users would
purchase a software license code or a separate piece of
software for an ad-free experience.This type of adware
gives users the opportunity to access the software
without making large payments.
8. System
monitor
s
System monitors are applications designed to monitor
computer activity to various degrees.These programs
can capture virtually everything you do on your
computer including recording all keystrokes, emails,
chat room dialogue, websites visited, and programs
run.
System monitors usually run in the background so that
you do not know that you are being monitored.The
information gathered by the system monitor is stored
on your computer in an encrypted log file for later
retrieval. Some programs are capable of emailing the
log files to another location.
9. Tracking
cookies
A Cookie is a plain text file that is stored on your computer in
a cookies folder that stores data about your browsing
sessions. Cookies are used by many websites to track visitor
information. Hackers can steal your cookies and can generate
password’s and user account can be at threat.
Tracking cookies are used to track users' web browsing habits.This
can also be done to some extent by using the IP address of the
computer requesting the page or the referer field of
the HTTP request header, but cookies allow for greater precision.
By analyzing this log file, it is then possible to find out which pages
the user has visited, in what sequence, and for how long.
10. Some of the biggest companies using tracking cookies
include:
AddThis
Adnxs
Doubleclick
Facebook
Google
Quantserve
Scorecard Research
Twitter
11. Trojans
Trojans:- Trojans Horses or Trojans are malicious programs
that appear as harmless or even desirable applications. Trojans
are designed to cause loss or theft of computer data, and to
destroy your system. Some Trojans, called RATs (Remote
Administration Tools), allow an attacker to gain unrestricted
access of your computer whenever you are online.
The victim receives an official-looking email with an
attachment. The attachment contains malicious code that is
executed as soon as the victim clicks on the attachment.
Because nothing bad happens and the computer continues to
work as expected, the victim does not suspect that the
attachment is actually a Trojan horse and his computing device
is now infected.
13. Effects and
behaviours
A spyware rarely operates alone on a computer; an
affected machine usually has multiple infections. Users
frequently notice unwanted behaviour and degradation of
system performance. A spyware infestation can create
significant unwanted CPU activity, disk usage, and
network traffic. Stability issues, such as applications
freezing, failure to boot, and system-wide crashes are also
common. Spyware, which interferes with networking
software commonly causes difficulty connecting to the
Internet.
Moreover, some types of spyware disable
software firewalls and antivirus software, and/or reduce
browser security settings, which opens the system to
further opportunistic infections. Some spyware disables or
even removes competing spyware programs, on the
grounds that more spyware-related annoyances increase
the likelihood that users will take action to remove the
programs.
14. ADVANTAG
ES &
DISADVANT
AGES
Advantages of spyware is that you can keep watch on
your children's continuously through software that spy
your child’s computer without knowing them, you can
check what kind of sites they access when they use the
internet when you are away.You can check what they
do on social media.
Disadvantages of spyware: Some time if user installed
malicious software which can steal their password and
private data that can led into big trouble as their
private data will be accessed without their consent and
their social media account can be hacked, money can
be withdrawn without knowing them.