Spyware

I plugged the name of the virus into Google and got a “guaranteed fix,” which turned out to be more spyware, called “SpyNoMore. Unfortunately, malware masquerading as fixes to spyware or virus problems is common and, in fact, has recently generated several queries to this column. Incidents like this, which trick people into infecting their own systems, underscore the need to know about the trustworthiness of software before installing it, said Jeff Crume, an IT security expert with IBM. Once installed, a keystroke logger runs silently in the background without the user’s knowledge, then attempts to copy the information it has snagged — such as online banking passwords or other sensitive data — to the attacker. A good firewall should generate a warning when the keystroke logging program attempts to send data back to the attacker, he said. This assumes that you don’t grant permission automatically to every program wanting to connect to the Internet — something too many people do, Crume said. More Spyware News

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