Spyware:

1
Spyware

• Prevention vs. Elimination, a comparison in
  efficiency.

2
Introduction

• Need for User Education.
• Current Solutions are not 100. 
•  Spyware is a serious security threat.
• Spyware can cause lost work time.
• Spyware can affect your operating budget.  

3
User Education

• Users need to be the first line of defense in
  preventing spyware from being loaded.  The vast
  majority of spyware is loaded by the computer
  user, unknowingly in most cases, but with their
  compliance.  Users must be discouraged from
  downloading and installing unapproved 3rd party
  software without consulting their IT personnel. 

4
Spyware is mutable

• Spyware companies are heavily funded and
  continually rewriting their programs to escape
  detection.  You must have a preventative solution
  and maintain it to prevent infection.

5
Spyware is a security threat

• Spyware must be considered a severe security
  threat for campus users.  Many spyware programs
  monitor web traffic, store copies of your
  passwords, and harvest email addresses and
  personal information for marketing purposes.  The
  shadowy nature of spyware companies means that
  this information could easily end up in the hands
  of criminal hackers or identity theft scam
  artists. 

6
Spyware is deceptive

• Spyware companies use free, useful seeming
  programs as a backdoor to enter the users
  machine.  Webshots, Weatherbug, Date Manager,
  most music sharing programs and many others
  include permission to install additional software
  as part of their terms of service agreement. 
  Free search engines and tool bar additions for
  Internet Explorer are another prime source of
  spyware infection. 

7
Spyware impacts

• The presence of spyware impedes normal machine
  operation, can cause data corruption or loss,
  blue screen crashes, and program crashes. 
• Several classes of spyware programs can affect
  network traffic from the client machine.  This
  can cause sporadic network outages, slow browsing
  or downloading, or the loss of network
  connection. 

8
Reloading is expensive

• Spyware is capable of changing registry entries,
  system files, and security settings, and can
  cause damage to a computer that requires a system
  reload to correct.  Preventative actions are much
  more cost and time effective than corrective
  actions. 

9
Spyware Solutions

• Adaware
• Spybot
• Spysweeper

10
CC Spyware Help

• Computing and Communications Spyware Information
  Page

11
Most Prevalent Spyware

• GAIN/Gator
• VX/2
• AdGoblin
• Cool Web Search
• Direct Dialer
• Alexa
• WebRebates