What is "spyware" ?

Spyware is any software which takes information from your system without your knowledge or consent.  There are multiple types of spyware available including Trojans, Web Bugs, Advertiser software, and Stand-Alone Commercial Computer Monitoring software. 

Trojans are programs which are placed on your system by tricking you similar to the story of the trojan horse in Troy. 

Web Bugs are ActiveX controls or cookies that track what you do online from web sites. 

Advertiser software is software installed with certain ad-supported programs which watches what you do online in order to send you targeted advertising. 

Stand-Alone Commercial Computer Monitoring software is software sold for use by bosses, spouses, private investigators, identity thieves, X's and others for one purpose: to record everything you do on your computer for later retrieval.  These include URL recorders, keyloggers, chat monitors, screen recorders, program loggers and more!

Do not confuse stand-alone computer monitoring spy software with remote administration products.  Most remote administration products (PC Anywhere, etc) are not stealthy and can be stopped by the user on the host end.  Remote Administration software can be easily stopped in their tracks by a simple firewall. 

What types of computer monitoring spy programs are available?
There are simple ones known as keyloggers which record your keystrokes for later viewing on the same PC and then there are the totally insidious type which can record your screen as a slide show and Email the recording to someone else.  Of course, there is everything in between.

Why is this so dangerous?
Reading the information above should make this obvious.  Anyone who may want to keep an eye on you, including your Boss, Spouse, Company Employees, X-lover, hackers and criminals can easily learn more about you then you would ever want.  Spy software makes it easy for anybody to get your financial information, credit card numbers, and web site passwords!  SpyCop will search your system for these programs and help you stop them from operating.

Why haven't I heard about this before?
The widespread use of spy software is a somewhat recent phenomenon.  There were keyloggers and the such in the early computing days of DOS, but nothing nearly as invasive as the ones available today.  More and more people are using spy programs to spy on each other's computer usage.  Programs advertised as software to keep your child's Internet activities in check are being used by spouses and bosses.  Some companies are advertising that their software can be useful for catching your spouse cheating online.  The scary part of this is that companies advertising this way are making the largest number of sales!

Why can't I just clean my registry or delete startup items?
Most of the more advanced spy programs run completely hidden.  This means they are not visible in the task list, are not shown in your registry and are not shown in the standard startup areas.   Instead, these spy programs are placed in another area of Windows startup which "startup cleaners" don't usually look at, and once they are running, they run in "stealth" mode.  

I'm a business owner; why do I have to be concerned with this?
Just like Bosses can spy on their employees, employees can spy on their bosses.  An angry employee can simply swipe credit card numbers from the bank they work at, or this software can be used for a new form of corporate espionage.  The fact of the matter is that these types of activities are occurring at this very moment within the business world!  Is YOUR business safe?

Is spying in this way legal?
Spy software itself is legal in some cases.  It is perfectly legal for an employer to install it on computers they own and it is legal to install the software on a computer with the owner's consent.  We do not market our software for the purpose of defeating monitoring on a machine that you do not own. 

It is illegal for a person to install software on another person's computer without permission.  With today's latest spy software, it is no longer necessary for a spy to be in physical contact with your computer to spy on you.  Refer to this article for details on the latest greeting card ploy.

Despite being a felony in some cases, illegal spy software installation occurs quite frequently in the real world.............

This article is reprinted with permission.

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