[jsfg_cinti] Information Technology and the job search : Spyware

Dear JSFG Members,
In this day and age the use of computers and information technology is an 
integral and indispensable component of the job search.  In the interest of 
educating JSFG members on the use of information technoloy in their job search 
and to inform them of the hazards of modern information technology, I plan to 
post a series of messages to the JSFG E-mail Mailing List in which I will point 
to articles in the technology press that describe those hazards.  I also plan 
to post information on how to ameliorate the hazards described in the trade 
press.  The following is the first of that series.  I hope you find this 
information useful.

Please note that the article excerpted below declares that roughly one in three 
computers are infested with spyware.  That means that there is a pretty good 
chance that your computer is infested with spyware.  In the next posting in 
this series we will refer you to resources that will help you combat the 
problem.

Regards,
Lance Feldman
Chairm, JSFG Computer Committee


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Full article at: 
http://www.internetweek.com/security02/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=22101195

Spyware Is Everywhere 
By Gregg Keizer, TechWeb News 

Nearly one in three computers scanned by EarthLink and Webroot in their second 
monthly SpyAudit were found infected with a Trojan horse or system monitor 
planted by spyware, the two companies said. Internet service provider EarthLink 
and Webroot, a message security software maker, scanned more than 420,000 PCs 
during April and found nearly 134,000 Trojans or systems monitors. 

So far this year, the SpyAudit has detected more than 500,000 Trojans and 
system monitors out of the roughly 1.5 million machines scanned. The revised 
numbers also showed a slight decrease in the average number of pieces of 
spyware per system from March to April. Scans done in April detected 26.9 
spyware programs or components per machine, while March's scans found an 
average of 29.9. The year-to-date average is 27.5 pieces per system. 

EarthLink and Webroot define spyware as any application or software that's 
placed on the user's machine without his or her authorization, said an 
EarthLink spokesman, including adware, adware cookies--typically planted to 
track your surfing habits for marketing and advertising purposes--Trojans, and 
system monitors. The best-known monitors are key loggers--software that traps 
every keystroke, including user names, passwords, and critical financial 
information like credit-card numbers, then passes them along to hackers. 

"Consumers should be aware of the applications and files residing and running 
on their machines," Matt Cobb, EarthLink's VP of core applications, said in a 
statement Wednesday. "When users discover spyware, they need to take action to 
immediately immobilize or remove the programs." 
...
Spyware has been attracting attention primarily because of the risk of identity 
theft and subsequent online fraud. Earlier this week, Gartner released a report 
that estimated total checking account fraud--much of it due to a combination of 
spyware and phishing attacks--cost American banks and consumers $2.4 billion in 
the last 12 months. 

"Viruses we all understand," Moll said. "It's a $15 billion business, but in 
the end it's more vandalism than anything. Spyware has a lot of commonality 
with viruses, but one of the differences is the financial motive behind 
spyware." 
...
The EarthLink/Webroot SpyAudit results can be viewed on the EarthLink Web site. 
Webroot's free SpyAudit tool detects spyware, while EarthLink subscribers can 
use its Spyware Blocker to find and disable spyware. 

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