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By David Kaiser
Vice President, Information Systems
Minnesota State Fund Mutual Companies
Computer viruses and worms are the rage
in the media. We are constantly reminded of the numerous threats from
those “friendly” email attachments. Many companies have formal
processes and policies in place to deal with the computer virus threat.
There is another less-known threat roaming the Internet and waiting to
take advantage of your PC. It’s known as spyware. Nearly every PC
connected to the Internet has some type of spyware installed on it, but
few people are aware it is there, and even fewer are taking proactive
steps to stop it.
Spyware applications sneak onto your PC when you download file-sharing
services, open infected emails, and click “yes” to the wrong
popup ads while surfing the web. Spyware can be as innocent as remembering
your address for shopping sites to as nasty as taking control of your
PC and stealing your credit cards.
When spyware initially started years ago, the main goal was to track computer
users’ web usage, track software licensing, or even tailor advertising
to a specific PC user. Some companies that create spyware believe spyware
isn’t bad at all. They believe it actually enhances the use of a
PC. A strange view when you consider that spyware installs quietly on
your PC and tracks your PC usage without you even knowing it. Today, the
vast majority of spyware is created for malicious purposes.
There are more than 78,000 spyware programs in the wild right now. These
include applications that track your web surfing, show you advertisements
on your PC, redirect your searches on the web, record your keystrokes
to steal information, and allow hackers to control your PC remotely, to
name a few.
To help combat spyware, a number of utilities are available to find and
remove it from your PC. An excellent free utility is called “Spybot
Search & Destroy”. A utility that works a little better for a
$29 purchase price is “Spy Sweeper.”
There isn’t a single utility that catches all spyware. It’s
best to run a couple of utilities if possible. PC Magazine has an excellent
list of Spyware prevention techniques on its website at http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1522568,00.asp.
For corporate networks, there are security tools that can strip spyware
out of incoming email messages. There are also ways to stop PC users from
downloading executable programs that may be spyware. Spyware can look
very innocent, and some users may not be able to understand the difference
between a safe download and a dangerous download. Corporate-level policies
and procedures to block spyware are key concerns for overall security.
The risks to corporations are pretty straightforward. Spyware key loggers
can steal information that staff enters and transmit that to someone else
on the Internet. Corporate financial information, software programs and
security information have been stolen through key loggers. Trojan horses
installed as spyware may attempt to steal customer lists and other valuable
and confidential information.
Knowledge and prevention are key to keep your information safe from this
risk.
See http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1523357,00.asp
for a more detailed article on spyware.
For more information on identity threats and other general risks, see
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1524776,00.asp.
Author David Kaiser can be reached at david.kaiser@sfmic.com
or (952) 838-4317.
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