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You may think that your computer is safe, you do not visit questionable sites, you do not download questionable files from internet, you only open e-mail from people you trust and you have nothing of importance making it worthwhile to steal from your computer. So, following the logic you would think you are safe. Right?... NOT.

It has been some twelve years and change since Spyware term has first been coined and the first fable attempt to exploit the third party's computer by installing a malicious code or program that will intercept or report third party's interaction and information flowing in and out of the infected terminal.

The Spyware was first used for espionage purposes, to steal confidential information, sabotage progress of the competitive business, etc. It was not until about five years after the technology was developed that it had been used maliciously for purposes other than espionage.

The Wikipedia has a nice and well chronologically written article on Spyware, its history, current prevalence, risks, remedy, etc. This article is my own shorter version of the long version available on Wikipedia with my own comments, resources, etc. I would however strongly recommend you reading the Wikipedia article as a good reference to learn about the Spyware.

The link to the article is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S pyware#History_and_development

Since than the Spyware has become a plague of 21st Century together with Spam, Phishing, etc. The sophistication, maliciousness and resilience of Spyware and the underground industry that has spun out of it, has grown exponentially and so has the damage that this illegal industry is causing every day (identity theft, credit card fraud, Phishing, etc).

And the forecast for the future is not looking any better. The TrustedSource, a web site published and maintained by a leading security appliance manufacturer (Secure Computing) paints a disturbing but very real picture what we are to expect. You can read the article from: http://www.trustedsource.org/T S?do=threats&subdo=storm_track er

So, what can you do to protect yourself?

To be as safe as possible when it comes to Spyware, knowledge is the key to safety. Knowing how the underground industry operates, how they propagate Spyware to people's computers, what value the computer with no information has to the criminal trying to hijack it and how to protect yourself from becoming a victim, is essential.

How the Underground Industry Operates?

Spyware started as a malicious code that

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