Spyware
This chapter wouldn't be complete without a mention of spyware. Spyware can be defined as any program that monitors or accesses your personal information without your permission and sends it back to the program's inventor. Spyware is usually some program you downloaded as shareware. It can be an MP3 player, a cool backgammon game, or anything else. Spyware can also come to you over a Web site that installs and runs programs on your computer that you really have no clue about. The next time you get a message from your Web browser asking whether you will allow the Web site to install and run software, think twice.
Here are several ways that a spyware program can operate:
The program can search your computer for stored information, such ...
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