Spy Ware and Anti-Viruses Software

Group 6

Magen Price, Candice Fitzgerald, and Brittnee Breze

Key Words: Spyware, Computer viruses, Panda Software, Microsoft

In this new age of technological advancement, people have gained many new conveniences and a continually growing variety of entertainment possibilities. Those who have taken advantage of the new opportunities know of the expense for such convenience. Not only do those wishing to advance their personal or business practices have the immediate cost of the technology, but they also have the probable expense of technological mishaps ranging from a spyware problem to identity theft. According to Microsoft, Spyware is defined as a wide range of programs that are designed to either cause harm to a computer or to enable a person to steal private information from unsuspecting users (Microsoft, 2006). A computer virus, however, is software that has been written with malicious intent in order to cause damage or annoyance to a system. Computer viruses are also a major threat for computer users. A virus can corrupt and destroy files, along with slowing the system down. Both problematic software issues can affect personal and business computers. The threat of technology problems has caught the attention of many technologically based companies that have developed ways to cure problems caused by spyware and viruses. While there are many different programs designed to block spyware, until recently there was no way to protect against new threats that have not yet been discovered.

If accidentally installed by an unsuspecting user, spyware will cause many issues for the computer. Some of these effects include unwanted advertisements and unexpected changes in computer settings. Performance may be dramatically reduced, causing the computer to be slower and less efficient. Along with a slower computer, applications may crash often. Spyware can also affect user privacy. A common method hackers use to collect information and passwords is called a key logger. A key logger records every keystroke and mouse click a user makes. This type of software makes it much easier for people to steal personal information.

A computer virus is software that targets applications. One major type of virus is a worm. Worms spread themselves through email and use personal address books to help transfer from user to user. For example, it is estimated that the Mydoom worm infected approximately one quarter of a million computers in one single day in January of 2004. Virus can cause hardware problems and infect files (Haag & Cummings, 2006). Many viruses are simply made as an annoyance and do not cause the same serious damage that others may. Therefore, viruses are put into two categories based on their behavior once executed: nonresident and resident. Nonresident viruses search immediately for hosts that can be infected, infect the host, and transfer control to the application. Resident viruses load themselves into memory once executed and give control to the application. It stays present in the background and transfers infection to new hosts when loaded (Wikipedia, 2006). In order to avoid problems caused by viruses, many counterparts have been developed. Program series such as Norton Anti-Virus have continually updated their software to allow for newer viruses to be detected and destroyed as well as older ones. These programs work by examining all the contents of the computer and its drives. It compares the files to a database of virus signatures (Wikipedia, 2006). Some companies such as Panda Software have been able to create software to deter both spyware and computer viruses.

Panda Software is one of the leaders in this industry working to prevent spy ware and computer viruses. In 2006, panda released “Antivirus + Antispyware and Platinum 2006 Internet Security” that will help with the problem in spyware. These new programs use new technologies referred to by experts as anti-rootkit and are designed to detect suspicious processes that may be hidden in a computers memory. Rootkits are used by hackers to attempt to avoid anti-virus engines. “Rookits have become a serious problem in recent months, as although the concept itself is nothing new, they are complicated to detect, as are the programs they hide,” described the director of Panda Labs, Luis Corrons (Panda Software, 2006).

Microsoft has also developed innovative software to protect consumers from computer viruses and spyware. Their vision is the commitment to provide technology that helps detect and remove spyware, helps improve Internet browsing safety, and includes timely updates that address the latest spyware threats. Windows Defender, also known as Beta 2, was acquired by Microsoft in December 2004. The Beta 2 can help identify, disable, and remove known spyware along with future potential spyware problems. There are three main tools Windows Defender uses to monitor software behavior: internet agents, system agents, and application agents. An internet agent protects against unauthorized connections to the internet and prevents settings changes. The system agents prevent changes in critical system settings such as passwords. The application agents protects against the addition of unwanted materials such as toolbars. Microsoft is committed to educating its customers by providing automatic updates, by giving access to the software industry, and by working with legislation and law enforcement (Microsoft, 2006).

With advancing technology comes additional expense for users such as spyware and computer viruses. The two dilemmas are not only annoying, but can be detrimental to the computer. Fortunately, preventions and treatments like anti-virus software have been developed. Panda Software and Microsoft are leaders in the industry for keeping computers safe from viruses and spyware. Having the knowledge of what can happen to computers if infected, users should be sure to have and continually update anti-virus and anti-spyware software.

References

Microsoft. Microsoft Spyware Strategy (2006, February). Retrieved 4/11/2006, from http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware.

Panda Software. New Panda Software anti-rootkits technology in Titanium and Platinum 2006 (n.d.). Retrieved 4/10/2006, from http://www.pandasoftware.com/about_panda/press_room.

Haag, Stephen & Cummings, Maeve, (2006). Information Systems Essentials. New York, NY. McGraw-Hill/Irwin