If you want to know more about the threats and dangers pose by spyware, I strongly suggest that you keep reading. There are some real risks that you need to know about, like how spyware can violate your online privacy, and even steal your personal details for use in crime. You can lose a lot of money if the wrong people get their hands on your credit card details!

Spyware is more of a problem than most people think. In 2005, 62% of all computers were infected with Spyware – by now, it is more. This means that you are quite likely to be already infected, even if you think that you are safe.

Spyware is software that is installed on your computer without your knowledge. It is designed to secretly monitor your actions, record what you do, and to copy the information that yo type or save on your computer. When you are connected to the Internet, it makes a secret connection to a server and sends this information back home to the designer. This person can now use this information for his own purposes – which are usually criminal.

The spyware also is often used to display advertising to you. It does this by first analysing your behaviour – what sites you visit, what links you click on, what you buy, your demographics, interests, etc. When it has a good idea of what you will buy, it will start displaying ads to you. Usually this advertising is quite blatant, in the form of flashing pop-ups that appear every minute or so. Sometimes it is more subtle, such as banner ads that appear on websites that do not normally have banner ads.

Whatever form this advertising takes, it is intrusive and can be very annoying, or even disturbing.

The bigger threat is in the form of personal information which can be stolen. It is very easy for a computer program to search through all the files of your computer looking for a certain pattern – such as a credit card number. When it finds this information, it can send it to the remote server. Add this to the address and other details it is able to extract, and the spyware designer will rapidly be able to gather enough information to steal money from you, or to open up a bank account in your name.

This account then will be used to commit fraud, and you will usually be left to blame as the person responsible. This can be extremely damaging to you, and difficult to prove.

We have looked at how spyware can pose a serious threat to you. We’ve seen how it is used to spy on you, bombard you with unwanted adverts and even to steal your money or identity. I’m sure you’ll agree – this is a serious threat, and one you would be happy to avoid. Unfortunately, there is a better than even chance that your computer is already infected.

What you need to do now is get software to detect spyware. Trying to perform a spyware adware scan yourself is nearly impossible, as the spyware is designed to avoid detection. Luckily, the anti-spyware programs are designed to do this automatically. If you are worried about price, there are even cheap spyware detector programs that you can use.