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Congress Moving to Tackle Spyware Problem
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| Contributor | ArmyDem |
| Last Edited | ArmyDem Apr 15, 2005 06:35pm |
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| Category | News |
| Media | Newspaper - Washington Post |
| News Date | Saturday, April 16, 2005 12:00:00 AM UTC0:0 |
| Description | By David McGuire
washingtonpost.com Staff Writer
Friday, April 15, 2005; 7:33 AM
An anti-spyware bill could clear the U.S. House of Representatives as early as next week, but final legislation is not expected to be sent to the White House until disagreements about what qualifies as "spyware" are ironed out by key technology interest groups and lawmakers.
Spyware is a catchall term used to describe programs that stealthily install themselves on computers. Some versions -- often referred to as "adware" -- spawn numerous pop-up advertisements when computer users attempt to navigate the Internet. Other, more intrusive versions can track online movements, steal passwords and sensitive data, and give hackers control over infected computers.
Even the least-intrusive spyware programs can severely restrict an infected computer's ability to carry out basic functions like surfing the Web and word processing.
Experts say the spyware problem has grown to near epidemic levels, rivaling the problem with e-mail spam. Last October, America Online and the National Cyber Security Alliance examined the computers of 329 randomly selected Internet users and found that 85 percent of them contained some form of spyware. The average "infected" computer had more than 90 spyware and adware programs.
The research firm IDC estimated last year that people would spend $305 million a year on anti-spyware software in 2008, up from $12 million in 2003. |
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