According to the Wikipedia,
spyware is defined as a broad category of malicious software
designed to intercept or take partial control of a computer's operation without the
informed consent of that machine's owner or legitimate user.
This means software that watches what you do on your computer
(sites you visit, software you run, etc) and reports this
information back to a company or hacker. It also means software that
can reset your homepage, or even watch your keyboard usage and get your account user names
and passwords - something we definitely want to avoid.
Most people don't realize just how many spyware programs are currently running on their computers.
I was pretty skeptical until I downloaded CyberDefender's AntiSpyware, tried their
free scan offer, and discovered 283 (!) various forms of spyware lurking on my wife's laptop.
Just to be safe, I downloaded PC Tool's Spyware Doctor which only found 190 spyware-related threats.
This was concerning because it meant that some spyware programs might be inferior to others, leaving my
system still vulnerable. To be fair, I also tried both spyware programs on my other workstation computer, where
PC Tool's Spyware Doctor found 444 infections, and Cyberdefender only found 193.
At this point I don't have a clear winner based on number of threats found alone
(since they each vary depending on the computer). Cyberdefender's scan speed was
about twice as fast as Spyware Doctor's, but I didn't like it's user interface as much as Spyware Doctor's.
I think I need to find a good tie-breaker.
