Trilight Zone

[digital8]

Private Eyes Are Watching You

Enterprise-level tools aimed at eliminating spyware across the network are arriving just in time.

By Keith Ferrell, TechWeb

The eyes of spyware are upon us--and with more than 300,000Spyware Spyware programs out there, the eyes of the enterprise are increasingly focused on the array of problems these dastardly programs can causes.

Last week's release of about Webroot's Spy Sweeper Enterprise, and the recent shipment of of PestPatrol's Corporate Edition 5.0 send strong signals that enterprise-level anti-spyware tools are not only a necessity, but also a growing market.

According to a recent spyware audit undertaken by Webroot and Internet provider EarthLink, the average PC has 28 pieces of spyware in residence, logging keystrokes, monitoring surfing habits, popping up unrequested ads, and so forth.

That's a lot of surreptitious surveillance--and a lot of extra baggage to clog network resources and bandwidth.

And the enterprise is not alone in fighting back; far from it. Anti-spyware initiatives actually began as a consumer movement and now that movement is turning into a war. The counterattack against uninvited monitoring software has been building for some time on several fronts. A Senate anti-spyware bill has been introduced, the Federal Trade Commission has begun to address the issue, and state legislators are taking their own look at the software that's looking at us.

Spyware producers, of course, are fighting back as well, and with different tactics than merely trying to get around anti-spyware network walls. A lawsuit filed in Utah last week argues for an adware vendor's free speech right to offer pop-ups and track users' surfing habits. The cold war has just begun.

Anti-Spyware Vendor Sites
#McAfee
#pestpatrol
#SpyBot
#NetWarden
#Symantec
#Webroot
#Zone Labs

Search The TechWeb Network
Spyware
Get TechEncyclopedia Definitions

#Adware

#Spyware

Get White Papers
#What You Should Know about Spyware