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Spyware & Adware - What are they?

. . . . . . . and how to get rid of them!

These are hidden software programs that transmit user information via the Internet to advertisers in exchange for free downloaded software.

What if you could download for free a robust application that allowed you to do almost everything that an expensive, brand-name program did?
In exchange for having this incredible application program for free, all you have to do is give your name, address, phone, e-mail, and some other general information. Sounds great, doesn't it? But, what if your personal information was also stored elsewhere on your hard drive, and in this instance, the newly installed program routinely transmitted your personal data via Internet back to advertisers in exchange for more advertising? Now we are talking about spyware, aka adware.

According to one adware company, Radiate,

"Consumers can click on banners [within the software] and receive cached Web site pages to view or to order advertised products. When the user goes back online, the appropriate information is sent to the advertiser and tracked by Radiate."

Radiate uses a software program called Aureate. It is installed at the same time as the original free application. There are additional companies that offer other free products that do basically the same thing--record a user's browsing habits, then upload that information via the Internet in exchange for more advertising.

A lot of high-quality free applications, or freeware, have what appear to be standard user registration forms--but watch out, some are, in reality, future sources of demographic information for so-called adware or spyware.

In principle, the software provider should notify users that this information may be used for advertisers.
In practice, such disclaimers are sometimes hard to find.
It is well worth your while to click on and read all provided text links.

Be aware that software providers are not required to provide this information. So follow this general rule of thumb:

Any offline application that includes banner advertising in its user interface may be using spyware.
The next time you connect to the Internet, information gathered about which ads you clicked on, and the duration of your visit to the advertiser's site, will be sent back to the respective advertisers.
A fresh supply of ads--usually based on your previous ad-clicks or demographic information supplied at the time of the installation--will be sent back to your application's interface to replace the current ads.

Warning:
Say you grow tired of your free application and use Windows to Add/Remove it from your system.
Guess what?
The spyware will remain on your computer, often buried within the Windows System Registry.

Detecting and deleting spyware requires additional software.

A product called Ad-aware will identify several programs considered to be spyware, including Radiate's Aureate. Ad-Aware scans a user's hard drive and allows the user to immediately remove the suspected spyware or monitor its continuing activity.

Download Ad-aware

Note: Removing the spyware program while the freeware is still installed may disable the use of the free application software.

The question still remains: Should you use free applications?

It's a trade-off. On the one hand, you are opening yourself up to very targeted advertising. On the other hand, someone worked hard to code that high-quality program you are using for free and only receives the compensation for their hard work by installing spyware for advertisers.

Thanks to ZD Net