(GIST OF SCIENCE REPORTER) Spyware

[February-2022]

Spyware is a kind of software that gets installed on somebody’s computer and starts monitoring the device including the user’s online behaviour secretly without the knowledge or permission from the user.
Spyware is a kind of malware that covertly gathers information from the computer and sends it to third parties. Advertisers or marketing data firms also use this technology to monitor the consumers’ behaviour.
Spywares used for marketing and advertisement are called ‘adware’. Methods like drive-by download or a Trojan are used to install this software.
The gathered information from users’ computers is sent to third parties such as email IDs or websites or servers through the internet. Some Spywares can steal a user’s login credentials such as username and password, etc. These Spywares are referred to as ‘keyloggers’. Spywares may consume CPU capacity, disk usage and network traffic.