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                             Issue #5 - Page 2 of 13 
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				  --=Spyware=--
                                 
                                   -by `Enigma-


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What is Spyware?
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Have you ever downloaded free software such as a game or a file sharing
program? If you have there is a very good chance that spyware was installed
in the background. Spyware is software that sneaks its way onto your system to
track your every move and report its findings back to the software's creator 
without the users knowledge. This information is then used for advertising 
purposes. Spyware applications are usually hidden in free software that you
download off the internet. Lots of free software such as Kazaa and Imesh are 
known to install some form of spyware. Spyware is very common on Windows 
computers and sadly most people don't know their privacy is being invaded. 

At the same time spyware infected programs use your internet connection to 
download ads they also upload information about your computer. Several freeware 
applications have been know to upload very personal information about the users 
system, such as browser history. In addition to stealing your privacy, spyware 
is an executable program on your system capable of doing anything. These 
programs can monitor keystrokes, read cookies and even scan files on your hard 
drive. All data that is gathered by the spyware program can be used by the 
spyware's author for marketing purposes or sold for profit.

Have no fear! you will no longer have to worry about your privacy being stolen 
from you. The first step in keeping your privacy is to find out if you currently 
have spyware applications installed on your system. To do this you will need a 
spyware removal program such as Ad-aware. Ad-aware will help you to detect and 
remove any unwanted spyware programs. You should also have some sort of personal
firewall to help you monitor all outbound internet traffic. Also do a little 
research on the free software you are installing to find out if it is known to 
have spyware. That is really all it takes to keep your system spyware free.

So, if you don't like people snooping around your computer and stealing personal
information stay up to date on spyware. Each day these programs get more 
sophisticated and become capable of causing even more havoc on your computer
systems.


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Infected Programs
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Here is a very short list of some common programs that have tested positive for 
spyware.

iMesh 2.20 beta
BearShare 2.40
Cute FTP 3.0
Go!Zilla 3.5
KaZaA (all since early feb. 2002)
Limewire
Media Player (suspect)
Morpheus 1.3 Preview Edition
Netscape 6.x
Opera 5
ProtectX 3
ProxyChecker
RealPlayer 7 and 8
WinXP Search Assistant


More programs with spyware: http://www.tom-cat.com/spybase/spylist.html

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Other Spyware Related Links
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http://www.spychecker.com/
http://www.anti-spy.com/
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/downloads.html (AdAware download page)
