Spyware: More Dangerous Than You Think

By: Peter Simons
Posted In: News

The first time Mike Chicoria took his work home with him, he returned from a quick trip to the bathroom to find that his computer had crashed.

An engineer for Berlin Steel, he’d been designing steelwork for Boston’s Big Dig. He restarted his computer to find he’d lost an entire day’s worth of work.

He didn’t know what to do. But when he found out spyware was to blame, and all he wanted to know was how to remove it.

According to www.spychecker.com and www.spywareinfo.com, Spyware, also known as adware, is a type of tracking software that is installed on a user’s computer without that user’s knowledge. Downloaded inadvertently from many websites, spyware then connects to the internet, using up bandwidth to activate pop-up ads or track the user’s movement.

It uses up memory within the computer, and total removal is often very difficult. Ultimately, it overwhelms the computer’s processor, causing freezing and crashing.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 90% of computers are infected with spyware.

“I’ve seen the problem grow exponentially,” says Chris Springer, 25, a network engineer for DiConnect. It “hurts the average computer user so much, someone who just wants to surf the web and write papers.”

And spyware also opens up “a portal in your computer to let other spyware in.” Once you get spyware, you’ll keep getting more and more, Springer says.

You’ll start with pop-up ads and pop-under ads. Then, your home page will be usurped (your browser will take you to a new home page, one decided upon by the spyware). Then, there is a possibility that pornographic websites will open up in greater and greater number whenever you use the internet.

But that is only the beginning. Your computer will slow. Downloads will no longer be possible. Your browser will crash. And then, your computer will crash.

And spyware comes from many places. Common websites like Google.com install spyware. But the biggest problem comes from peer-to-peer downloading programs like Kazaa and BearShare.

Brian Morrison, 24, who works for Electronic Vision Access Solutions to modify computers for people who are handicapped, warns to look out for your computer to start running slowly or crashing your web browser.

He says the best recourse is to download spyware removal programs, many of which are free. “Spybot, Ad-aware, Hijackthis,” he says, are all good programs that are free to download from download.com.

Spyware tracks your movements on the web. “It takes away our freedom. Think 1984. They can see you…” says Morrison, alluding to George Orwell’s novel. “Computers and data houses get this info on you and may send you stuff in the mail or even call your house,” he says.

Morrison deals with spyware every day.

“People send their computers back to be repaired and they are loaded with spyware,” he says. EVAS, however, keeps a backup, or ghost, of the computer’s system as it was when they shipped it out. That’s a last resort, in case they have to reformat the hard drive. It happens more often than you’d think. Spyware “makes home computers into junk,” says Morrison.

Morrison ascribes most computer problems to spyware. And even if your spyware’s been removed, “your computer is still not the same. The only way to truly fix a computer with 1000 counts of spyware is to reformat.”

Springer also encounters spyware in his daily work for DiConnect. He warns that “there are a lot of [spyware removal] programs out there that are scams,” he says. “Some people will install spyware on your computer and then make you pay to get rid of it.”

Chicoria learned about spyware from his brother. With that knowledge, he went to an online discussion group. They told him to “go into the registry and screw around,” he says.

It’s the place in the computer “where you’re not supposed to touch anything. And I did just that.” It destroyed his hard drive and he lost all his data.

Chicoria, 21, a student at the University of Rhode Island, uses an $800 computer-aided drafting program called AutoCAD to craft steel-related structures. It’s expensive software to replace. Even harder to replace was his schoolwork and his music files, including a rare, live version of The Doors’ “Love Me Two Times.”

AOL and Earthlink have initiated programs to scan for spyware. It’s become a major issue in holding on to a consumer base, as it relates to the security of their software, says an article by a major anti-spyware site, www.spyware.pcwash.com.

“I think we need to do something about spyware now,” says Springer. “The FCC and the government can’t control it. It takes away your freedom to surf the net.”

By controlling your web browser, says Springer, spyware “lets you see what they want you to see.”