Digital Demons

How big is Spyware? Pretty big-both on the solutions market and the impact
side of the things. According to a report by Forrester Research, 65% of the
large and small enterprises would invest in anti-Spyware solutions during 2005
to rid themselves from spyware-malicious software programs that create wide
ranging damages from rendering the hard disk useless to poaching user data.

No wonder anti-spyware vendors are smiling with their cash registers ringing.
The report titled 'Anti Spyware adoption in 2005' by Forrester revealed the
ground realities of the spyware problem by exposing the enterprises' lack of
preparedness in managing the various types of spyware and the loopholes in their
anti-spyware strategy. The report says that most enterprises find it difficult
to gauge the level of infection, as 39% of the companies surveyed were not aware
of the number of systems infected with spyware. The remaining 61% of the
respondents said that the level of infection could be as high as 17%. This
survey was carried out among 185 North American companies of all sizes.

According to a survey by FaceTime Communications and NewDiligence,
enterprises spend on an average $130,000 per month fighting spyware-related
issues. The survey covered more than 1,000 end users and IT managers to
determine the impact of unsanctioned applications.

Managing Spyware

The biggest challenge lies in identifying the type of spyware that resides
in the systems connected on LAN or individual machines. However, running
anti-virus software programs alone will not expose the spywares present. One
needs specialized solutions. There are hundreds of shareware programs available,
most costing anywhere between $25 to $100, each claiming to be the best in
removing spyware. But mostly, no one solution works and users need to exercise
great caution when buying these anti-spyware programs, which may cause further
damage to data when a wrong anti-spyware solution is implemented. However, most
experts aver that the enterprise should put in place a spyware management
strategy as part of its overall network security plan. Some of the surveys have
also proved that in the recent times most of the help desk calls were related to
spyware problems.

Meanwhile, one of the most popular anti-spyware solutions being used across
the world is a free program called Spybot-Search and Destroy. While the opinion
is divided on this solution, by far the program has been rated high in the anti-spyware
solutions chart. Spybot runs similar to an anti-virus solution and scans the
users machines for more than 26,000 known spywares and fixes the users'
machines. But it is not the sole solution, as larger spyware problems call for
advanced systems and IT management skills.

As experts say, the best way of managing spyware threats is putting in
placing a judicious blend of technologies. Awareness in this regard can help
check the growing menace.

Srikanth G in Chennai

Infections Demystified

Spyware: The job of a spyware is to install a third-party component
bundled with a freeware or shareware application. It includes programs that
records and pass information about the user and the activities to a third party.
The data is collected discretely by these spyware programs and passed to the
third party, while the user remains unaware.

Solution: Popular spyware removal tools are Spybot-Search and Destroy
and Microsoft Anti-Spyware. These are pretty effective anti-spyware solutions
that will help get rid of the problem. Also, installing personal firewalls like
Zone Alarm greatly reduce the risk of infection.

Adware: Ever wondered how the pop-up window comes every time you open
the browser. It's due to adware, which gets embedded on to the browser. This
is called 'browser highjacking'.

Solution: A popular program called Ad Aware SE fixes most of the
adware.

Hijackers: These programs change the browsers' home page and popular
hijackers are 'CoolWebSearch' and 'about: blank' that garnered global
attention. When the user opens the browser, it goes to a search page or a page
not set as default. This is a very annoying problem and most challenging to
remove.

Solution: A combination of solutions help. For instance, in safe mode
one should run a utility called —'Hijack This' and remove the hijacked
browser path.

Trojan horses: Trojan horses get into the system and run without the
user's knowledge. They can have many functions. For instance, auto dialing the
user's modem to dial long-distance, generating huge phone bills for the user.
Unlike viruses and worms, trojan horses do not make copies of themselves.

Solution: An anti-spyware solution will expose the Trojan's present
in the system.