"Adware and Spyware" presentation by David Phillips

Dave Phillips, Open University Dave Phillips, who works at the Open University in the Interfaculty Electronics & Computing Unit located in the Technology Faculty, gave a presentation at the breakfast meeting on 10th February 2005. The subject chosen was "Adware and Spyware" which are the latest threat to users of the internet that particularly affect web browsers. Adware is the name given to any software application that is installed unwittingly on the user's computer which causes advertising banners and "pop-up" windows to appear on the screen during web "surfing". These are particularly irritating, but perpetrators believe that they are a justifiable use of the internet for advertising purposes. Normal anti-virus software will not detect the installation of these programs and specific software is required to detect and remove these phenomena. The names of some of these adware software programs are intriguing and include BonziBuddy, which monitors the user's surfing habit and delivers relevant advertisements. Gator is another software product  that can automatically fill in passwords and other form elements on web pages, but its main purpose is to load an advertising spyware module which displays "pop-up" ads when visiting some web sites

Spyware is the more sinister and potentially more dangerous software application because it has the ability to record keystrokes, history, passwords and other confidential and private information. It is often sold as a spouse monitor, child monitor, surveillance tool or simply as a device to spy in users to gain unauthorised access. Spyware is also known as snoopware, PC Surveillance, key logger, system recorders, parental control software, PC Recorder, Detective software and Internet Monitoring software.

The real danger with spyware is that it collects data from the user's computer and feeds it back to a central site. The implication is that secure information for such applications as on-line banking and e-commerce can fall into the wrong hands and hence identity can be stolen and used to gain financial advantage.

Interest in this presentation was such that it caused alarm to some computer users and Dave offered advice on how to locate software to help eradicate the problem. In addition his advice is to always install the updates provided by the operating system vendor (often Microsoft for home users) and when unexpected windows pop up that purport to offer solutions to fix adware and spyware neither accept nor decline, because these may well be installation applications themselves.

For those Rotary members who were concerned by the information imparted, Dave is prepared to offer advice and possibly consultation to those contacting him at d.phillips@open.ac.uk.

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