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Spyware Search Enter the name of a program or the name of known spyware to get more information on its danger rating, what it does and most important of all......whether its spyware or not! Virus Search Enter the name of a virus to find information about removal, effects, etc of the virus. Google Search If those two search boxes don't give you the results you are looking for, try a Google search below.
Welcome to I Security Dictionary Spyware Section. Here we have put quite a lot of spyware related terms and their meanings. We’ve also put each type of spyware and its definition. Adware- Another term for spyware designed to bombard users with advertising, based on surfing habits or other criteria. However, while it is annoying, adware is not malicious. Browser Hijacker- Program or code placed in the Windows registry used to change your browser’s default home and search pages. Some hijackers add a small file that will restore the hijacked settings upon each system start. Diallers- While these programs might not spy in a traditional sense, Diallers can run up huge phone bills by changing your ISP connection number or by covertly connecting to premium rate services. Diallers can often be found in offers of free pornography or for pirated or ‘cracked’ commercial software. Keyloggers- A much nastier form of spyware, keyloggers track what you type in the hope of capturing passwords, credit card numbers and other important details. Sophisticated ones may even send screen shots to their masters. Malware- Malware attempts to alter your system by installing other programs, opening security loopholes, emailing messages to any address in your Outlook contacts or uninstalling spyware detection utilities. Spybots- In general, Spybots are programs that seem generally useful, such as toolbars, alternative cursors and download managers. However, as part of their duties they may also record your IP and email addresses, post code and so on, and pass it on to third parties. Security Holes- Holes in Internet Explorer that allow sites to run program code on your machine without your permission. Tracking Cookies- Small files used to track internet use and serve users with various types of advertising. Quite often, confusion arrives when we speak of viruses. Viruses and Worms are often called the same or incorrectly defined. This section helps you avoid confusion. There are many types of viruses but we have only included the main types. Viruses- Code written with the express intention of replicating itself. A virus attempts to spread from computer to computer by attaching itself to a host program. It may damage hardware, software, or data. Worm- A worm has the ability to self-replicate, and can lead to negative effects on your system. However, worms are not strictly viruses, as they do not need to infect other files in order to reproduce. Worms can exist without damaging files and can reproduce at rapid speeds. Trojan Horse- Trojan Horses or Trojans do not attempt to replicate like Worms and don’t try to infect other files like Viruses. They nearly always come hidden inside a program that seems harmless. Once the program is executed it can install other programs. The Trojan may not act at once but when it does it can cause havoc deleting files, data and opening a backdoor to your computer where someone can steal data from the computer. Other Security Related Terms These are just odd words that you’ll find that we use around the site. We explain most of them on our security steps pages but we decided to put them all here in the same place to make things easier. Zombie- A Zombie is a computer that is being controlled by a remote user. Zombie machines are usually controlled by Hackers and can be used to send Spam (Junk email), Perform Denial Of Service Attacks, Send out viruses to other computers and a range of other malicious activities. Denial Of Service (DOS) Attack- A denial of service attack is where lots and lots of computers send lots of false requests for data to a website and can actually knock a website off the internet. DOS Attacks can go on for hours or even days. For more information about DOS Attacks, see our Denial Of Service Attacks Article from February 2004 at I Security Articles. Spam- Another term for Junk or Unsolicited email. Spammer- A person who sends out Junk Email. A spammer doesn’t usually send out every email themselves, they often use a program to send large amounts of junk mail. Harvester- A harvester (sometimes known as a Spam Bot) is a program that surfs the internet like everyone else does but its main interest is to collect as many email addresses as it can to send junk email to, this is known as harvesting. Several websites have setup policies to capture these Spam Bots. One of the main ones is the Harvester Project (you can find a link on the I Security homepage). Firewall- An invisible barrier between your computer and the internet that filters incoming and outgoing data to stop unsolicited programs accessing the internet or unsolicited people accessing your computer.
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