Subscribe to our e-mail newsletters
For more info on a specific newsletter, click the title. Details will be displayed in a new window.
IT Management
Computerworld Daily News (First Look and Wrap-Up)
Computerworld Blogs Newsletter
The Weekly Top 10
More E-Mail Newsletters 
Computerworld 2007Subscribe to Computerworld
40 years of the most authoritative source of news and information for IT leaders.

Spyware Wake-up Call

 

Sign up to receive Security Resource Alerts

May 03, 2004 (Computerworld) -- Like most oblivious users, I've never given much thought to spyware. I've always shrugged it off as just another slimy advertising gimmick in an online world chock-full of them. But as any security expert will tell you, anybody who surfs the Net has spyware on his machine.
Whatever you call it -- adware, sneakware or snoopware -- spyware is a catch-all term for any hidden software program that surreptitiously monitors your Web activities or gathers data without your knowledge. At its most harmless, spyware tracks your Web shopping pathways and gives marketers new numbers to crunch. At its most toxic, it may be monitoring your keystrokes, installing programs, scanning files or even turning on a webcam to secretly film you.
Yet, until recently, spyware has been seen as mainly a consumer, home-user concern -- a perpetual hot button among privacy advocates, but hardly a significant corporate IT security risk. That view is changing, however, and once you read Robert L. Mitchell's "Spyware Sneaks Into the Office" , you'll see why. The story makes a strong case for paying attention to this menacing but silent invader of corporate networks.
What kind of menace are we talking about? For starters, spyware is doing the following:

  • Interfering with regulatory compliance efforts. Companies must comply with a complex legal web of privacy regulations and data protection mandates today. When spyware is loose in your environment, you can no longer guarantee that corporate information is secure. Unauthorized, untested software on corporate laptops basically blows a hole in your carefully crafted security policies.

  • Generating even more spam. When spyware finds e-mail addresses, it obligingly sends them back out over the Internet to be traded, shared or sold to spammers. Users clueless enough to click on product ads within the spam may be downloading additional spyware.

  • Devouring network resources. One LAN administrator quoted in our story discovered multiple spyware programs running on 200 desktop PCs when he investigated complaints about lousy network performance and proliferating pop-up ads. When his ever-helpful users tried to block the pop-ups by downloading freeware to do the job, even more spyware rode in with the free software.

Ah, freeware. Or not-so-free ware, as it turns out. Bundling in adware programs is all part and parcel of the way distributors make money on freeware . Exhibit A is the wildly popular Kazaa Media Desktop, a kitchen-sink collection of peer-to-peer file sharing services that also delivers multiple adware programs (and much worse). If downloading freeware isn't already outlawed in your company, it should be.
Which brings us to the human element in this: the already-overworked IT staffs, and their managers, who don't think it's that big of a deal.
"There's not enough senior management buy-in to the problem," says one security manager at a financial services company. "Our hands are full just handling the antivirus stuff." Yet the antivirus vendors have to tread lightly when it comes to blocking advertisements because of lawsuit threats from the ad vendors. Legislation is even less likely to help, though many will be watching the impact of Utah's controversial Spyware Control Act, which goes into effect today.
In the meantime, our story has plenty of advice about how to eradicate spyware, and much of it dovetails with good security practices. Maybe users like me can afford to remain oblivious, but IT managers can't. It's time to answer the spyware wake-up call.
Maryfran Johnson is editor in chief of Computerworld. You can contact her at maryfran_johnson@computerworld.com.
See more editorials by Maryfran Johnson.



Print this Story Send Us Feedback E-mail this Story Digg! Digg this Story Slashdot this Story
Sidebar: Counterespionage Measures
Spyware Sneaks Into the Office
Sidebar: 10 Tips to Stop Spyware
Sidebar: Legislating Away Spyware
Sidebar: The Cost of Freeware
Spyware Wake-up Call
"Are you the uber-geek at your job who holds all the pieces of the network and security together? If so,..." Read more...
"Today, CIO means being more than a competent manager of IT. It should mean Lord of Process, and we should..." Read more...
Read more Management posts or See all Blogs
Microsoft to limit capabilities of cheap laptops
FBI worried as DoD sold counterfeit networking gear
Update: Microsoft to appeal $1.3B EU fine
More top stories...
XP SP3 cripples some PCs with endless reboots
Windows Vista more secure than XP, says security company
Microsoft grows DAISY for blind computer users while Adobe wilts
Mistakes such as putting down co-workers or burning bridges when you resign are surefire ways to darken your career prospects. Here's how to avoid them
Hype and promises abound in the IT world, but these six breakthroughs really will change your life, says author and former IT manager John Brandon.
Baby boomers are retiring and taking their knowledge with them. Why do so few in IT seem to care?
Computerworld editors share stories of their first PCs, including some classics and some real clunkers -- then we ask readers to share their early-PC tales.
Reviews, analyses, how-tos, visual tours, hot issues and predictions about Microsoft's new OS.
Four years from now, the IT field will be a vastly different place. Will you be ready?
All Zones
Application Performance Zone
Enterprise-Class Security Zone
Enterprise Solutions Zone
The File Data Management Zone
Grid Computing on Windows Zone
Security Management Zone
ITIL Best Practices Zone
The SAS Zone
Storage Virtualization Zone
The Data Center Management Zone

Ads by TechWords

See your link here
HP's Virtualization: HP's Remote Client Solutions Webinar
HP's Virtualization: HP's Remote Client Solutions Webinar
View this webcast!
Go to the webcast 
Computerworld Report: Storage Gets Strategic
Download this Computerworld Report, free, compliments of HP.
(Source: Computerworld) Data Storage has emerged from the back room to become a key part of regulatory compliance, disaster recovery and strategic tecnhology plans. Learn more in this new this Computerworld report, a $49.95 value, available free for a limited time, compliments of HP.
Download this executive briefing download
Does collaboration drive business success?
Get this white paper now!
(Source: Microsoft Office Live Meeting) Collaboration occurs at the intersection of an enterprise's technology and culture. Discover how these two critical factors affect the quality of collaboration in Meetings Around the World: The Impact of Collaboration on Business Performance. You'll learn why enterprises need to work collaboratively - and examine how collaboration impacts business success.
Download this white paper go
White Papers
Read up on the latest ideas and technologies from companies that sell hardware, software and services.
New Fujitsu High-End Itanium Windows- and Linux-Based PRIMEQUEST Servers Offer the Utmost in High Availability
New Fujitsu High-End Itanium-Based PRIMEQUEST Servers Offer Industry-Leading System Management for Linux and Windows
Symantec State of the Data Center Report 2007
View more whitepapers 
HP Compaq t5735 Thin Client

Linux-based thin client delivers desktop-like performance supporting a variety of open-source applications, creating a new paradigm in thin client computing. The NEW HP Compaq t5735 Thin Client provides convenient access to server-based solutions, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) or to a variety of remote client solutions.

Download this datasheet 
Global Operations Uses HP Thin Clients to Improve Security and TCO

Do you need a secure standardized platform while maintaining a lower cost of ownership company wide and to help make the company more competitive? Read how the CIO of the world's largest manufacturer of polyethylene folding tables, chairs, picnic tables, and residential basketball equipment obtained his IT Goal with HP Thin Clients.

Download this case study 
HP's Virtualization: HP's Remote Client Solutions Webinar

- Hear from IDC analysts on PC Client Virtualization and Alternatives to Client Computing
- Hear how customers solved IT challenges with HP's solution to Virtualization
- Learn about different types of virtualization market analysis from HP's CTO
- Hear from the VP of Netpads, Inc. how HP Thin Client solutions helped solve IT challenges, security concerns and lowered TCO for the emerging hospitality.

View this webcast