History and Development of Spyware
The first recorded use of the term spyware occurred on October 17, 1994 in a Usenet post that poked fun at
Microsoft's business model. Spyware later came to refer to espionage equipment such as tiny cameras. However,
in early 2000 the founder of Zone Labs, Gregor Freund, used the term in a press release for the ZoneAlarm Personal
Firewall. Since then, computer-users have used the term in its current sense.
In early 2000, Steve Gibson of Gibson Research realized that advertising software had been installed on his system,
and he suspected that the software was stealing his personal information. After analyzing the software he determined
that they were adware components from the companies Aureate (later Radiate) and Conducent. He eventually rescinded
his claim that the ad software collected information without the user's knowledge, but still chastised the ad companies
for covertly installing the spyware and making it difficult to remove.
As a result of his analysis in 2000, Gibson released the first anti-spyware program, OptOut, and many more software-based
antidotes have appeared since then. International Charter now offers software developers a Spyware-Free Certification
program.
According to a November 2004 study by AOL and the National Cyber-Security Alliance, 80% of surveyed users' computers
had some form of spyware, with an average of 93 spyware components per computer. 89% of surveyed users with spyware
reported that they did not know of its presence, and 95% reported that they had not given permission for the installation
of the spyware.
Spyware, Adware and Tracking Users Movements on the Web
The term adware frequently refers to any software which displays advertisements, whether or not it does so with the user's consent. Programs such as the Eudora mail client display advertisements as an alternative to shareware registration fees. These classify as "adware" in the sense of advertising-supported software, but not as spyware. They do not operate surreptitiously or mislead the user.
Many of the programs frequently classified as spyware function as adware in a different sense: their chief observed behavior consists of displaying advertising. Claria Corporation's Gator Software and Exact Advertising's BargainBuddy provide examples of this sort of program. Visited Web sites frequently install Gator on client machines in a surreptitious manner, and it directs revenue to the installing site and to Claria by displaying advertisements to the user. The user experiences a large number of pop-up advertisements.
Other spyware behaviors, such as reporting on websites the user visits, frequently accompany the displaying of advertisements. Monitoring web activity aims at building up a marketing profile on users in order to sell "targeted" advertisement impressions. The prevalence of spyware has cast suspicion upon other programs that track Web browsing, even for statistical or research purposes. Some observers describe the Alexa Toolbar, an Internet Explorer plug-in published by Amazon.com, as spyware (and some anti-spyware programs report it as such) although many users choose to install it.