Internet Tips: Get That #@&* Spyware Off My Computer!

Have you downloaded a new version of Netscape Communicator, only to discover that you received an uninvited "download manager" in the deal? If you think a download manager sounds useless, you're mistaken. It actually is useful to someone--just not to you.

Tools such as Netscape's SmartDownload and Radiate's GoZilla have just one objective: to monitor and log your download activity, and then send targeted Web advertising to you based on that activity. And those programs aren't the only nosy parkers in town. Hundreds of freeware, shareware, ad-supported, and even shrink-wrapped commercial applications contain components that maintain a record of your online activity and transmit that information to an advertiser's server.

Not only do the programs spy on you (usually after giving you minimal notice that they intend to do so), but they do it via the Internet connection that you pay for. Uninstalling the host application often leaves the spyware unaffected. If you use a dial-up connection, the programs keep track of your online doings but go to sleep when you close the link.

Fortunately, you don't have to tolerate spyware. Since it first came to light several years ago (see Steve Gibson's welcome rant on the subject), many software vendors have either removed spyware from their products (Headlight Software's GetRight is an example of this) or provided tools that allow the user to remove it. But the best way to deal with spyware is to find out which applications contain it and then choose Big Brother-free alternatives. In some cases, you can opt out of installing the spyware during the host program's installation process. In others, you may be able to purchase a commercial version of the same application that omits the spying component.

Before downloading and installing an application, look it up on one of several online spyware databases. Spychecker is one such service, and Camtech 2000's Spy Chaser is a nifty downloadable database of nearly 1000 spyware-infested apps (see FIGURE 1).