|
Name of Spyware |
Danger Level |
What it does |
Common Sources |
|
Alexa Spyware |
Severe |
Collects and catalogs information on web browsing and shopping habits.
May collect personal information including credit card numbers and passwords.
Transmitted via URLs. |
Referral from Microsoft's site. Direct Download from Alexa or Amazon.com.
Preinstalled on some computers. |
|
Aureate/Radiate |
Moderate |
Monitors browsing and media downloads. Causes system instability and crashes. |
Many ad-sponsored freeware products and Qualcomm's Eudora. |
|
Aveo/HelpExpress |
Moderate |
Displays targeted advertising at regular intervals. May try to reinstall itself if not properly removed. |
Many commercial products from Canon, Corel, Hewlett-Packard, McAfee, US Robotics and others. |
|
BackOrifice |
Severe |
Trojan horse; can control PCs and monitor their activities |
Usually installed via physical access but can be injected via mailware or security holes. |
|
BrilliantDigital |
Moderate |
Shows 3-D ads. Causes instability and crashes with some graphic cards. May install the company's Allnet software without warning. |
Kazaa |
|
BonziBuddy Spyware |
Moderate |
Gathers information about browsing habits. Talking purple gorilla. Slows some systems, can cause a blue screen of death. |
May be downloaded or silently installed with other software. Ads masquerade as alarming error messages. |
|
CommonName |
Srevere |
Toolbar lets users type site names rather than URLs-but also tracks web browsing and identifies users via cookies. Pops up ads, changes search settings, causes malfunctions, and blocks access to some sites. Tricky to remove |
Gator, iMesh, Kazaa, NetSonic Internet Accelerator, others. |
|
Cydoor Spyware |
Moderate |
Serves Advertising within ad-sponsored software. Attempts to collect demographic information. Profiles users according to ads clicked. Identifies users with unique ID numbers. |
Kazaa, Opera |
|
ClipGenie Spyware |
Moderate |
Runs on Windows start-up. Connects to servers and downloads advertising software. It or the software it downloads can crash or take over the system. |
ActiveX Drive-by downloads, Grokster, Kazaa. |
|
DSSAgent Spyware |
Moderate |
Discontinued product of Broderbund. Pulls advertising from a central server. May create serious network congestion with legions of DNS queries. |
Broderbund Family Archive Viewer;some Mattel software, including Wherein the World in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? |
|
eAcceleration |
Low |
Periodically downloads advertising for ad-sponsored software. |
AudioGalaxy, Direct Connect, Webcelerator. |
|
EasyInstall |
Moderate |
Appears to track browsing habits and use this information to download targeted ads. |
NetSonic |
|
eZula Spyware |
Severe |
Alters Web pages to add new links from selected phrases to sponsors sites. Queries a central server; information leakage likely. |
Kazaa, Drive-by downloads. |
|
Gator Spyware |
Moderate |
Ostensibly just fills out forms and remembers passwords. Collects info on browsing habits. Steals sites' advertising revenue by replacing web page ads-sometimes with those of competitors. The subject of pending lawsuit. |
usually installed by other products such as Grokster and Morpheus or as a drive-by download. The installer is designed to trickle Gator software onto PCs in the background, unnoticed, while users are online. |
|
HotBar |
Moderate |
Toolbar monitors browsing and adds sponsored links based on browsing history. |
iMesh and other freeware; spam purporting to upgrade outlook. |
|
Lop Spyware |
Severe |
Hijacks start page and default search engine; alters bookmarks to add links to advertisers; pops up ads; triggers spontaneous dial-up connections |
Drive-by downloads, pop-up ads. |
|
NetBus Spyware |
Severe |
A remote-control Trojan horse, similar to BackOrifice |
Installed via IM, IRC, malware, security holes, or physical access to machine. |
|
NetObserve |
Severe |
Key logger; captures screens, monitors browsing. |
Suspicious spouse, boss, or parent |
|
Network Essentials |
Moderate |
Monitors browsing; displays targeted pop-up ads. URLS visited may be sent to a central server. Employs Web bugs to gather statistics. |
DownloadWare (which has its own row above) |
|
New.net Spyware |
Low |
Lets a browser resolve names from an alternative Domain Name System. Not spyware, but reported to cause problems with some browsers |
BearShare, Go!Zilla, Grokster, Kazaa |
|
OnFlow |
Moderate |
Like BDE, a 3-d animation player for advertising. Phones home with a unique ID to indicate that ads have been played. |
Kazaa, other applications |
|
PromulGate/DelFin |
Moderate |
Plays targeted multimedia advertising during Internet connection time. Runs continuously in the background; sometimes displays error messages at system start-up. |
Kazaa |
|
SaveNow Spyware |
Moderate |
Monitors browsing, collects demographic info, pops up windows with ads related to sites visited. Runs continuously in the background. |
BearShare. |
|
SpyAgent |
Severe |
Key logger; captures screens, monitors browsing. |
Suspicious, boss, or parents. |
|
Sub7 client |
Severe |
Trojan horse; can control PCs and monitor activities. May use machines in DDoS attacks. |
Installed via security holes or pushed to users via IM or IRC. |
|
TimeSink Spyware |
Severe |
Gathers data on browsing habits and attempts to transmit it to Conducent(now out of business). Tries to reinstall itself if partially removed. May slow systems by repeatedly trying to connect to defunct servers. |
Formerly bundled with ad-sponsored freeware from PKware. |
|
TwistedHumor |
Severe |
Hijacks browsers to display large Flash ads. May gather personal information for sale to third parties. |
Programs (such as "Yo Mama, Osama") downloaded from TwistedHumor.com and affiliated sites. |
|
VX2 Spyware |
Severe |
Gathers personal data, including name, e-mail address, browser history, entries from web forms filled out, and detailed computer configuration info. Uses tracking cookies. Can install additional software at will. |
AudioGalaxy. |
|
webHancer |
Moderate |
Tracks Web browsing, watching for customer acquisition, conversion, and retention. Feeds statistics to the vendor. Can disrupt networking, especially if removal is attempted. |
Many free products, including AudioGalazy and other file sharing programs. |
|
Web 3000 |
Moderate |
Serves ads in freeware, as Aureate and Time sink do. Collects demographics. Uses tracking cookies. |
NetSonic. |
|
WinWhatWhere |
Severe |
Key logger; captures screens, monitors browsing. |
Suspicious spouse, boss, or parents. |
|
WurldMedia |
Severe |
Hijacks e-commerce sessions, steals referral commissions, and may capture personal data. |
Morpheus. |
|
Xupitar Toolbar |
Severe |
Tracks and hi jacks browsing; deploys pop-ups; diverts browsers to its own site. |
Drive-by Downloads, spam. |
