Computer Spyware infects a computer without the user’s permission. Spyware can be very dangerous to your personal privacy and can serve as a gateway to additional computer malware infection on your computer. Spyware by its nature does not self-replicate, but is used to exploit holes in the security on your computer. Recent trends have seen a significant rise in fake anti-spyware programs on the Internet that have been used to trick users into downloading additional spyware and malware to their computers.
Four of the common types of computer spyware are: Adware, Browser Hijackers, Keyboard Loggers, and Modem Hijackers.
Not all Adware is bad. There is a growing population of Adware, however, that collect and send information to remote servers from your computer. This information includes web surfing history, advertisement clicks, etc. The rogue adware variants are also known to be bundled with other computer malware that could be installed on your computer.
Browser Hijack
A large amount of spyware will attempt to take over your web browser and modify the hosts file that determines what uniform resource locator is used to correlate to major search engine websites such as Yahoo, Bing, and Google. They will also force your browser to open rogue websites that pretend to be security centers of major providers online. The hijacked websites will then download computer malware to your computer and result in further infection.
Keyboard Logger
Keyboard loggers are one of the most dangerous variants of Spyware. Their sole purpose is to steal your private information and send it to a hacker for further use. This can be anything from your bank records, to email, to any other site that requires a login and password.
Modem Hijackers
Less prevalent today in the age of broadband connections, Modem Hijackers are still dangerous to computer users who have to use dial-up to connect to the Internet. A modem Hijacker will call a phone number that has a high per-minute charge and will run your phone bill up.
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[...] XP Antivirus 2009 is a rogue antivirus or antispyware software program. It will pretend to be a useful antimalware tool and will then display a significant number of “Your Computer is Infected” messages on your computer. The primary goal of the malware is to convince you to buy the “Commercial” version of the software, but instead will only pay money to further infect your computer with additional computer spyware. [...]