Project Business Ethics

34. What is Spy ware & Ad ware

Find out how you got infected and what
Spy ware & Ad ware can do to your computer!

Do you remember all those really cool free software programs, screensavers, games and "peer to peer" file sharing applications you or your children downloaded from CNet or Tucows and other free download sites....

WELL.... you might have gotten a whole lot more than you bargained for!

Not only that, but simple web surfing can infect your computer with a host of unwanted adware and spyware!

For those of you who remember reading "1984" and briefly began wondering if someone was monitoring you through the TV hold on to your seats because it's not far off the mark -- but it is not your TV you need to worry about - - it's your computer!

Many consumers wonder what spyware is and what it does. Spyware programs are small applications that can get installed on your computer without your knowledge. These spyware programs can get installed either by downloading innocent looking software programs that include them or through ActiveX controls hidden within the source code of participating web sites or pop-up advertisments while you surf the internet. These bundeled programs and ActiveX controls can install a wide range of unwanted software onto a user’s computer.

Spyware is not just limited to Adware any more - now even your spouses parents, friends, and co-workers can purchase software that can monitor your computer usage and behavior.

Now don't get me wrong, I love surfing the internet and I am not against downloading a software program here or there -- I have downloaded many, and to be very honest - I never read the "terms of use" and went right to the install button but I will be a lot more selective from now on after I learned what is behind many of those free deals!

The Misconceptions about Spyware and Adware:

There is a lot of confusion about the difference between spyware and adware. To most of us (the average person) a statement that something is "ad supported" means that we will have to put up with a few advertisements - no big deal right? We are all familiar with the concept of paid advertising on TV & Radio which is sponsored by companies who pay to have their products advertised on the most popular shows. But in the case of adware/spyware that is not what it means at all. It is a whole new game! What these adware and spyware programs are really doing is bundling additional software along with the one you wanted which they acknowledge will monitor your web surfing. But unfortunately it does not end there.

Now for the Facts:

Currently there are well over 800 shareware - freeware products which also include adware and spyware and the numbers of web sites that include these types of installers is impossible to calculate. These Freeware and Shareware applications are located all over the internet as easy downloads. They can be found on CNet, Tucows and hundreds of other locations offering free & low cost bargains. Most of these products make no real statement that they include adware or spyware and if they do it is buried in the "terms of use" or at best they might make a vague reference that they are ad supported. Some developers might include a vague privacy statement which does not fully explain what information will be gathered or give a full explanation regarding what will be done with the information. Compare these vague "strongly encouraged regulations" for consumer privacy against the detailed regulations set down by the FTC regarding advertising disclaimer regulations. <

As an example of the scope and extent of the number consumers effected consider that an estimated 260 MILLION computer users have download at least one of the five most popular Gnutella File sharing applications just from CNet.com in the United States alone.

KaZaA Media Desktop119,021,166 Morpheus 102,253,332 BearShare17,651,773 LimeWire 14,528,779Grokster 4,307,827 Total Downloads from CNet.com 257,762,877As of Sept 2002The known third-party applications bundled with these downloads include Cydoor, TopText, On flow, Webhancer, BonziBuddy, ClickTillUWin, and New.net in addition to trojans and viruses such as the self replicating Nimda virus. These add on spyware/adware applications can deliver on line advertisements, collect information, assign computers user's a GUID for user tracking, overlay content or graphics on the Web site they are viewing, or modify their system settings.

What is even more alarming is that these estimates do not include the numbers from the many other download locations scatted across the internet nor do these figures include estimates of the various other Gnutella file sharing programs that are available or any of the 900 freeware or shareware programs that are downloaded each let a long the number of the "drive-by" "backdoor" installations. If these additional numbers were able to be calculated the total number of effected computers would be staggering and well be well over 600 million infected computers!

In addition to being included with other software products many of these spyware programs can get installed on your computer while you surf the internet!

Why are they doing this?

 Originally all the advertisers wanted to do was get some general demographics on where web surfers were browsing and that was the extent of it. Very similar to the general demographics the TV and radio sponsors use. However internet marketing and advertising companies got hungry for more and better information and developed more complicated programs to gather more detailed information right off your hard drive.

In the past the information generated was anonymous in nature now however when someone installs software which bundles these adware/spyware components they are assigned unique identifiers. so that they can be fully recognized & tracked and provided with highly targeted advertisements. If you are looking to buy a new car they know about it and provide you with car ads, new house - same thing, toys for the kids, no problem. They know what you want and will provide additional pop-up ads for you to view! Many say this is a good thing and would prefer ads targeted to their needs. However, the information that the adware marketers collect is then sold to 3rd parties and can now in many cases included your name, address, email address and goodness knows what other information they have gathered in your unique personal profile.

Did you know that currently in the US a drug abuser has more rights to privacy than an internet web surfer!

To accomplish this advertising and marketing firms will generally approach struggling software developers or web sites who are hard up for the money and offer to sponsor them financially if they will agree to bundle these adware features with the programs they are developing or ActiveX insallers in the background of web sites. Sometimes these marketing and promotion firms will set up, develop and market their own separate software programs to offer out to the general public, the primary objective is to find as many ways as possible distribute and get the adware installed on as many computers as possible.

Many of these adservers acknowledge that they monitor browsing habits and click through rates and several also montor user query strings and information from form fields which might contain highly personal information such as email addresses, or other private information depending on what the user might be searching for such as medical or banking information. There have been documented cases where highly personal information has been gathered which the ad servers claim was "accidentally" captured.

Are all freeware and shareware programs doing this? No, not all but most are. These adware features can be bundled with just about any type of software including games, utilities programs, calendars, databases, FTP programs, educational software, MP3 and audio programs, and the list goes on and on. software programs that included adware and spy ware components.

So - What exactly are they installing?
 Here is a brief breakdown of what some of these newer adware/spyware programs can do once they are installed on your computer: In addition to doing a detailed check of your browser history, they install a wide assortment of DLLs and other executables files, they send a continuous data stream to the parent marketing company out from your computer and leave a backdoor open for hackers to either intercept your personal data or enter your computer, they can install other programs directly on to your computer without your knowledge, they can send and receive cookies to other adware/spyware programs and invite them into your computer (even if you have cookies disabled), and they can add Trojan horses into your system which perform a wide range of "mischief"on a users system including changing your home page and downloading unwanted images and information.

Many spyware and adware programs are fully independent executable files which are self sufficient programs which take on the authorization abilities of the user, they include auto install and auto update capabilities and can report on any attempts to remove or modify them. These programs can hijack your homepage, reset your browser favoirtes, reset your auto signature, disable or bypass your uninstall features, monitor your keystrokes on or off line, scan files on your drive, access your word processor, e-mail and chat programs, change homepages inaddition to displaying advertising content on or off line. Many of these spyware programs can read, write and delete files and in some instances sometime even reformat your hard drive and they do this while sending a steady stream of information back to the advertising and marketing companies.

The majority of these programs once installed can not be deleted from your system by normal methods and leave residual components entrenched and hidden on a users system to continue to monitor your behavior and try to reinstall themselves. Many people have noticed a significant decrease in their computers performance after installing spyware infested shareware with no idea of why since they had no idea of the additional software being installed which is using up their system resources and connection bandwidth.

We are talking serious capabilities that go way beyond the gathering of simple demographics! By now you are probably saying no way - that is impossible, I never gave them permission to do that - but according to them you did - when you clicked YES on the "terms of use and continued to install.