Different Types of Spyware
Categories: featured, What Is?
Written By: AB
Do you know different types of spyware?
Spyware comes in many shapes and sizes, but there are several categories that the majority of spyware can be placed into:
System Monitors
A system monitor observes the activities you performed on your computer. It captures your bank account information, usernames, passwords, and credit card numbers and then sends it to other websites. Naturally, this is done without your knowledge.
System monitors can infect your system through bogus emails or instant messaging viruses. Once infected, the hacker has access to do whatever he wants while in control of your system.
Trojans
Trojan Horses come in through e-mail attachments or free software packages. Once loaded onto your computer, the spyware starts doing its damage.
These types of software are usually in popular, free downloads. They also usually contain at least one Stalking Horse (defined later) and software for ad-serving networks. Sometimes the company asks you if you want to install these stalking horses or ad-serving programs, but usually they are hidden in the fine print of the license agreement and you agree without even knowing it. You have to agree to everything in that agreement because, in some situations, if you choose not to install the spyware you will not be able to use the main program. Examples of programs that are Trojan Horses are KaZaa, Grokster, and Morpheus.
Cookies
You might hear some people argue that cookies are not spyware at all because most of them have a legitimate purpose – to help the owners of web sites save your personal settings and customizations so that when you return to the site it will be tailored to your tastes and interests. However, I delete cookies all the time and I’ve never had trouble when I go back to my favorite sites.
Cookies are also used by advertisers to track sales and clicks to better understand how best to spend their marketing budget.
For example, if you are reading a news story about your favorite football team, on that page you might see an advertisement or a text link directing you to a site where you can get a jersey of your favorite team. Well, your team just won an important game, so naturally you want one now! And it’s a good price! So you click on this link and make the purchase.
The advertiser then knows that the site you came from is a good place to spend money advertising. If the link is ignored, they will not continue to advertise on that site. Without cookies, companies would be blindly throwing money at advertising opportunities without any way of knowing if it is effective.
Adware
Adware programs are free to use but they have advertisements built into the software. When you run the program, it pulls down advertisements from the Internet and displays them somewhere in the software.
Double Click, Value Click, Gain, and Radiate are among networks that use this method.
Backdoor Santas
These programs can have valid uses, but they also collect information about how you use your computer, such as the sites you visit and the type of your hardware and transmit it back to their servers. They generally do not work with adware networks. Comet Cursor, Alexa, and Hotbar are examples of Backdoor Santas.
Stalking Horses
Stalking Horses let adware networks send ads to your computer. They are generally bundled into a program, offered as an addition they make you think you need in the installation of the main software.
Browser Hijackers
Browser Hijackers change your homepage and, no matter how many times you change it back to what you want, they change it back. It’s not just your homepage they take over. When you do a search in Google, hijackers will send your request to another search engine. Your computer has been hijacked.
Why do they do this? Money. They send you to a site where they may gain a commission for the user going there or to increase traffic, thereby generating higher ad revenue.
Dialers
Dialers make their money by connecting your computer through your phone line to other computers, which are usually porn sites. Since these numbers are pay per call, you get charged for the time. It’s generally quite a shock when you receive your phone bill.
Commercial Spyware
Spyware also includes commercial tools like keyloggers and network management tools, which are used in large corporations to keep an eye on employees. Sometimes this software is misused, such as when hackers steal someone’s password to obtain access to the computer system.
Keyloggers
A Keylogger is a program that records all your keystrokes, then hidden in the machine for later retrieval, or shipped right away to the attacker. From these keystrokes, the bad guys will try to find passwords or other information that could be used in an attack. For example, a key logger can reveal the contents of e-mail you’ve written. Keylog programs are commonly included in Trojans.
Phishing
Phishing is when an email is sent to you that claims to be a real business when in fact it is trying to scam you into giving out your private information to be used for identity theft.
Usually the email says that the reader must visit a web site to update or verify personal information, like credit card numbers, passwords, social security numbers, etc. Unfortunately, the web site is fraud, and only wants to steal your identity and information.
Two of the most recent, well-known phishing scams were the emails from a bank, like Sun Trust or Chase. Many people thought the bank was really sending them an email and fell for this scam – sending personal information like bank accounts, password and social security numbers to the bad guys. Another famous phishing scam were emails purportedly from eBay claiming that the user’s account was about to be suspended unless he clicked on the link and updated the credit card information.
It’s easy to make a site look like it’s the real thing, and many people thought they were really being contacted by eBay and were connecting to eBay’s real site to update information.
November 22nd, 2008 at 4:27 am
Thanks for this. I really needed.
Thanks.
Dico
November 22nd, 2008 at 10:55 pm
i think i’ve one of them on my computer.
what should i do?
my computer work so slowly.
thanks
November 23rd, 2008 at 12:06 am
thanks man
November 23rd, 2008 at 11:40 am
Good writing. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed my Google News Reader..
Matt Hanson
November 23rd, 2008 at 2:26 pm
Thanks for the Compliment. Hopefully we can share more in the future.
November 29th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
[...] Different Types of Spyware Do you know different types of spyware? Spyware comes in many shapes and sizes, but there are several categories that the majority of spyware can be placed into: System Monitors A system monitor observes the activities you performed on your computer. It captures your bank account information … [...]
May 6th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
There is obviously a lot to know about this. I think you made some good points in Features also.
February 26th, 2010 at 9:36 am
Very useful article. Since so many spyware made everyday it is good to know that it is already being classified into types.
More power.
March 23rd, 2010 at 10:39 pm
Do you get a lot of spam here? I have a similar blog on a related topic and I get TONS of spam, dunno what to do about it.
April 24th, 2010 at 9:39 pm
[...] fithbiz.com/press/whatis/2008/11/different-types-of-spyware [...]
May 18th, 2010 at 12:24 pm
Hi,Fantastic blogging dude! i am just Tired of using RSS feeds and do you use twitter?so i can follow you there:D.
PS:Do you thought to be putting video to this blog posts to keep the people more enjoyed?I think it works.Sincerely, Adela Kieff
May 20th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
great work
thanks
it really helps
May 28th, 2010 at 9:38 am
Hello,just observed your Blog when i google something and wonder what web hosting do you use for your wordpress,the speed is more faster than my web site, i really want to know it.will back to check it out,thank you!
June 15th, 2010 at 11:02 am
Thanks for your article! I was searching for free classified advertising and classified related articles when I came across your website post on Bing. This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks for the share. I’ve saved this post for future reference
Nice comments – Thanks
July 30th, 2010 at 5:14 am
Winsock Problems??? Try this
Click the Start button.
Click on Run.
Type cmd in the Open field.
Click OK or press Enter on the keyboard.
Type ftp 127.0.0.1 in the Command Prompt window.
Press Enter on the keyboard.
The following error messages are normal and do not indicate a winsock error:
Connection Refused
ftp: connect: Unknown error number
The following error messages are not normal and do indicate a winsock error:
Invalid Argument
An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket
Bad address
Operation not supported
Connection timed out
If you recieve an invalid error then type in netsh_winsock_reset and press enter. This will fix the winsock issue and restart the pc. NOTE: This is only for win xp/2000 operating systems.
October 12th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
Wow that is an very helpful blog entry . I like your style of writing. Maybe you should write more articles of these type. By the way, sorry for my bad english
October 30th, 2010 at 11:56 am
You you should make changes to the webpage subject title Different Types of Spyware to something more specific for your subject you write. I loved the the writing all the same.
January 14th, 2011 at 5:36 pm
very good stuff. Do you have an RSS feed? And would it be cool if I put in your feed to a website of mine? I have a blog which pulls content through RSS feeds through a few sites and I’d like to include yours, many people really don’t mind given that I link back and everything but I like to get consent 1st. Anyhow let me know if you could, thanks.
January 24th, 2011 at 8:19 pm
It truly is probable which you uncovered this assessment web-site mainly because a person sought out your Make it better Pro Equipment or perhaps compose on google and found your web-site. Also , it is sensible to be able to guess that the explanation, why you’re looking for a Remedy a repair Pro Coop because your auto includes dinged lately. What’s promising for you personally that individuals are definitely the unofficial critique site for that Remedy a repair Seasoned Pencil and would likely take pleasure in direct you towards repairing folks troublesome scratches. If you’re a amateur along with Make it better Professional player Pen, you may select the put in writing just by simply clicking the particular marketing off within the proper advertisment banner ad and will also be sent straight to mend Them Professional corporation website, where you can place an order for this object. When you do this, We recommend to carry on the looking through, becouse you can obtain some really good suggestions, which you aren’t able to find for a different review sites.
June 2nd, 2011 at 5:27 am
Different Types of Spyware is actually a pretty good website. I really like the design. I will bookmark it and come back to it again. I just wanted to ask you what your theme is called and if I can find it for free.
July 20th, 2011 at 6:37 am
So is there a plugin for WordPress yet that includes these features? Or will the absolute ones be updated? actually attending industrialized to this, back I put Fb on my website cartage has been ascent steadily. With comments and abnormally the affection area it synches with Fb itself is action to be superb! Now they’re a bit broken and sadly, abounding comments break on Fb and abandon instead of blockage accessible on the blog post.
September 30th, 2011 at 3:36 am
Hey! We want your main writing and in what way one teach you details. Much of the feedback regarding there very really are unusual. My spouse and i get pleasure from anyone. thanks!
November 21st, 2011 at 3:14 am
If only I’d paid more attention to the One Time Offers presented initially when i first logged into your blog.
January 3rd, 2012 at 2:15 pm
Together with almost everything that seems to be developing within this subject material, many of your points of view happen to be relatively stimulating. However, I beg your pardon, because I can not subscribe to your entire suggestion, all be it exciting none the less. It looks to everyone that your remarks are not entirely validated and in fact you are generally your self not even completely convinced of your point. In any event I did enjoy looking at it.
January 27th, 2012 at 3:37 pm
Od dawna szuka?em artyku?u na temat Different Types of Spyware . Dzi?ki
March 14th, 2012 at 9:02 pm
My brother recommended I might like this blog. He used to be entirely right. This put up truly made my day. You cann’t consider simply how much time I had spent for this info! Thanks! Elite Connections, Babmaes House, 2 Babmaes Street, London, SW1Y 6HD, 020 3011 2943
March 22nd, 2012 at 5:19 am
“this kind of is very interesting. thanks for that. we need much more sites like this kind of. i commend you on your great content and excellent topic choices.”
March 28th, 2012 at 1:41 pm
Definitely believe that which you stated. Your favorite reason seemed to be on the net the simplest thing to be aware of. I say to you, I definitely get irked while people consider worries that they plainly don’t know about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top and defined out the whole thing without having side-effects , people could take a signal. Will probably be back to get more. Thanks
April 24th, 2012 at 11:11 pm
I’ll immediately take hold of your rss feed as I can not in finding your e-mail subscription hyperlink or e-newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Kindly allow me understand in order that I may just subscribe. Thanks.
April 29th, 2012 at 8:02 pm
Some brilliant information on here, thanks really for sharing the knowledge! I is going to be certain to bookmark this site so i can check back for just about any future updates you might make.