Editing Spyware (section)

== Overview ==
Spyware is mostly classified into four types: [[adware]], system monitors, tracking including [[web tracking]], and [[Trojan horse (computing)|trojans]];<ref name="Shin">{{cite web |url=http://www.justice.gov.tr/e-journal/pdf/cybercrime_essay.pdf |title=SPYWARE |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131101154446/https://www.justice.gov.tr/e-journal/pdf/cybercrime_essay.pdf |archive-date=November 1, 2013|url-status=dead|access-date=2016-02-05}}</ref> examples of other notorious types include [[digital rights management]] capabilities that "phone home", [[keylogger]]s, [[rootkit]]s, and [[web beacons]]. These four categories are not mutually exclusive and they have similar tactics in attacking networks and devices.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Taejin |last2=Yi |first2=Jeong Hyun |last3=Seo |first3=Changho |date=January 2014 |title=Spyware Resistant Smartphone User Authentication Scheme |journal=International Journal of Distributed Sensor Networks |volume=10 |issue=3 |pages=237125 |doi=10.1155/2014/237125|s2cid=12611804 |issn=1550-1477 |doi-access=free}}</ref> The main goal is to install, hack into the network, avoid being detected, and safely remove themselves from the network.<ref name=":1" />

Spyware is mostly used for the stealing information and storing Internet users' movements on the Web and serving up pop-up ads to Internet users.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bergren |first=Martha Dewey |date=2004-10-01 |title=Spyware |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10598405040200050801 |journal=The Journal of School Nursing |language=en |volume=20 |issue=5 |pages=293–294 |doi=10.1177/10598405040200050801 |pmid=15469380 |issn=1059-8405}}</ref> Whenever spyware is used for malicious purposes, its presence is typically hidden from the user and can be difficult to detect. Some spyware, such as [[Keystroke logging|keyloggers]], may be installed by the owner of a shared, corporate, or [[public computer]] intentionally in order to monitor users.

While the term ''spyware'' suggests software that monitors a user's computer, the functions of spyware can extend beyond simple monitoring. Spyware can collect almost any type of data, including personal information like [[internet surfing]] habits, user logins, and bank or credit account information. Spyware can also interfere with a user's control of a computer by installing additional software or redirecting [[web browser]]s.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ames|first=Wes|date=2004|title=Understanding spyware: risk and response|journal=IT Professional|volume=6|issue=5|pages=25–29|doi=10.1109/MITP.2004.71}}</ref> Some spyware can change computer settings, which can result in slow Internet connection speeds, un-authorized changes in browser settings, or changes to software settings.

Sometimes, spyware is included along with genuine software, and may come from a malicious website or may have been added to the intentional functionality of genuine software (see the paragraph about [[Facebook]], below). In response to the emergence of spyware, a small industry has sprung up dealing in [[anti-spyware]] software. Running anti-spyware software has become a widely recognized element of [[computer security]] practices, especially for computers running [[Microsoft Windows]]. A number of jurisdictions have passed anti-spyware laws, which usually target any software that is surreptitiously installed to control a user's computer.

In German-speaking countries, spyware used or made by the government is called ''govware'' by computer experts (in common parlance: {{Lang|de|Regierungstrojaner}}, literally "Government Trojan"). Govware is typically a trojan horse software used to intercept communications from the target computer. Some countries, like Switzerland and Germany, have a legal framework governing the use of such software.<ref>Basil Cupa, [http://www.zora.uzh.ch/81157/1/Cupa_Living_in_Surveillance_Societies_2012.pdf Trojan Horse Resurrected: On the Legality of the Use of Government Spyware (Govware)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201190736/http://www.zora.uzh.ch/81157/1/Cupa_Living_in_Surveillance_Societies_2012.pdf |date=February 1, 2014 }}, LISS 2013, pp. 419–428</ref><ref>[http://www.ejpd.admin.ch/content/ejpd/de/home/themen/sicherheit/ueberwachung_des_post-/faq_vuepf.faq_3.html FAQ – Häufig gestellte Fragen<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130506102113/http://www.ejpd.admin.ch/content/ejpd/de/home/themen/sicherheit/ueberwachung_des_post-/faq_vuepf.faq_3.html |date=May 6, 2013 }}</ref> In the US, the term "[[policeware]]" has been used for similar purposes.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070719-will-security-firms-avoid-detecting-government-spyware.html |title=The tricky issue of spyware with a badge: meet 'policeware' |author=Jeremy Reimer |date=July 20, 2007 |website=Ars Technica |access-date=June 15, 2017 |archive-date=November 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106105837/http://arstechnica.com/security/2007/07/will-security-firms-avoid-detecting-government-spyware/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Use of the term "spyware" has eventually declined as the practice of tracking users has been pushed ever further into the mainstream by major websites and data mining companies; these generally break no known laws and compel users to be tracked, not by fraudulent practices ''per se'', but by the default settings created for users and the language of terms-of-service agreements. 

In one documented example, on CBS/CNet News reported, on March 7, 2011, an analysis in ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' revealed the practice of [[Facebook]] and other websites of [[web tracking|tracking users' browsing activity]], which is linked to their identity, far beyond users' visits and activity on the Facebook site itself. The report stated: "Here's how it works. You go to Facebook, you log in, you spend some time there, and then ... you move on without logging out. Let's say the next site you go to is ''[[The New York Times]]''. Those buttons, without you clicking on them, have just reported back to Facebook and [[Twitter]] that you went there and also your identity within those accounts. Let's say you moved on to something like a site about depression. This one also has a tweet button, a [[Google]] widget, and those, too, can report back who you are and that you went there." ''The Wall Street Journal'' analysis was researched by Brian Kennish, founder of Disconnect, Inc.<ref>{{cite news |last=Cooley |first=Brian |url=https://www.cnet.com/videos/like-tweet-buttons-divulge-sites-you-visit/ |title='Like,' 'tweet' buttons divulge sites you visit: CNET News Video |work=CNet News |date=March 7, 2011 |access-date=March 7, 2011 |archive-date=March 10, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310130715/http://www.cnet.com/videos/like-tweet-buttons-divulge-sites-you-visit/ |url-status=live }}</ref>