RE: Adware, spyware, and trojans

["Garbrecht, Frederick" <FGarbrecht () ecogchair org>]

Courtney,

You have a misconception about what spyware is.  In contrast to software
which logs keystrokes, etc. (which would be classified as keylogging
software), spyware is software that is designed to return information about
your websurfing habits to a central server somewhere.  Spyware is often
packaged with some other piece of software, ofter 'freeware' or shareware,
and its installation is often (but not always) disclosed in the license
agreement that comes with the primary software.  The usual purveyors of
spyware are marketing firms who want to collect information about websurfing
habits and online purchase behavior.  None of the spyware that I am aware of
actually performs any type of keylogging activity per se, but there are
clear and significant privacy issues associated with it, and in some cases,
the spyware application(s) have been associated with instability of the
underlying OS.  In addition, they can really clog up your LAN bandwidth.  

The best known spyware removal software is called 'Ad-aware' from Lavasoft
(you should be able to google for them).  The software is free, and they
also provide a free updating utility to make sure you have the most recent
spyware signature files.

Fred

-----Original Message-----
From: Carere, Courtney [mailto:CCarere () rich com]
Sent: Friday, December 06, 2002 11:49 AM
To: 'security-basics () securityfocus com'
Subject: Adware, spyware, and trojans


 
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Upon reading "The Art of Deception" by Kevin Mitnick yesterday (an
excellent book, by the way), he writes that most antivirus software
does not detect spyware, which was a shock to me.  Spyware seems to
be defined as software that logs keystrokes, screenshots, user
actions, etc.  I have a couple of questions:

1.  What's the distinction between spyware, adware, and trojan
software?  (My antivirus software says it protects against Trojans,
and I've seen programs like SubSeven in its log files.)

2.  Is there any good software that detects and removes spyware,
ideally controlled and updated continuously from a central server?

Thanks!

- - Courtney Carere


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