Ad ware and Spy ware have
                                                                 become familiar terms in the lexicon
                                                                 of Internet jargon. Their definitions
                                                                 range from helpful cookies that many
                                                                 people choose to have on their
                                                                 computer to programs that can
                                                                 actually steal your identity. That's a
                                                                 pretty big area. That's why any
                                                                 information of these important
                                                                 subjects needs to include definitions
                                                                 of exactly what actually encompasses
                                                                 both ad ware and spy ware

Ad ware is software that provides advertising, usually in the form of pop ups,
and gathers general information, by using cookies, through the user's Internet
connection. Ad ware is often packaged with free downloaded programs. By
definition, ad ware, by itself, is not dangerous, but can fall into the annoying
category. Ad ware can generate constant pop up advertising when the
downloaded program is running. It can also place cookies on your computer
that will provide information about you when you click on the pop ups or log on to the original program download site. If users register the downloaded program, usually games, and pay the registration fee, the ad ware disappears. If you download a free program, there is a reasonable probability it will contain some form of ad ware So far, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Many people happily trade payment for enduring a few pop up advertisements and don't care if their general Internet surfing habits are being tracked. The problem begins when they become intrusive. That's when ad ware becomes spy ware

When ad ware is expanded to use your computer's resources to steal information, it becomes spy ware Spy ware is like the Trojan horse that is discussed on our Virus article. Computer users who are installing a program or swapping files (i.e. music downloads) may also be installing a spy ware program whose purpose is to monitor your computer activity and gather your private and confidential information. This includes e-mail addresses, user passwords and certainly any credit card numbers you enter when making a purchase on-line. They can also happily install other spy ware programs, hijack your web browser by changing your home page and how you search the web. All the time it is sending back information to the bad guys, who will use it for their own advertising purposes, sell it to other bad guys or use it to steal your identity. To do all this, spy ware uses your computer's memory resources and bandwidth. This can slow your computer to a crawl, especially if you use memory intensive programs. Spy ware is not good.

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