I just ran across a staggering statistic. Did you know that Websense, a reputable network marketing firm, recently studied forms with more than 100 people (and their computers, of course) and found spyware on 92 percent of PCs? This means just 8 of the 100 computers were spyware free!

Additionally, EarthLink/Webroot reports an average of 28 spyware programs running on each PC it scanned for a recent study and Microsoft blames spyware for over half of all application crashes.

Because of this, governments are getting serious about spyware and are frantically working to bridge the gap that exists between legitimate software and adware and illegitimate spyware, with laws that are aimed at keeping damaging spyware at bay.

But, as with everything else on the Net, it can be extremely difficult tracking down spyware creators who are responsible for developing spyware that falls under one of these three categories, according to the Center for Democracy and Technology:

1.) The first category comprises keystroke loggers and screen capture utilities. Also called “snoopware,” these applications are installed by a third party to capture the user’s keystrokes and record periodic screen shots. This category of spyware has legal uses, as in limited situations of employee monitoring, and illegal uses.

2) The second category concerns “adware” and similar applications, which are installed covertly by piggybacking on unrelated applications and downloads that are resistant to being uninstalled. Instead of capturing keystrokes, these programs transmit information about the user or the user’s computer back to a central location. They are the most problematic because they fall into a legal grey zone, depending on the facts of the particular program and the manner in which it is installed.

3) The third category involves legitimate applications that have faulty or weak user-privacy protections. According to the CDT report, the third category has been inappropriately labeled as “spyware” because it includes programs that, although featuring flawed user privacy protections, are based on legitimate business models.

There are existing laws (in the United States) that have been put in to act to combat spyware that is installed without a computer user’s knowledge and can be damaging, reeking havoc on a computer, stealing your identity, and/or redirecting profits for the spyware creator’s benefit. These include:

� The Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA);
� The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act; and
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� Commission Act, which allows the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to take
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Keep in mind that these laws really do not cover everything, including some of the most common uses of spyware, simply because technology (and spyware) continue to evolve and the creators of spyware continue to perfect their craft, making it difficult to locate and prosecute them. Because of this, legislators continue to work diligently on introducing new laws that will better deal with and control the escalating issues with spyware.

Most recently, The “Spy Act”, which was originally introduced in 2003, has been passed to protect Internet users against “cybertrespassing,” which is mostly security and privacy breaches that are executed by spyware or adware.

While the Spy Act protects computers exclusively used by a financial institution or the U.S. government, or a computer used in interstate or foreign commerce or communication, it does not protect the everyday computer user whose personal use of a computer certainly does not fall into one of these categories.

While lawmakers continue to work to keep spyware at bay and impose penalties and punishments for this intrusive technology, it is important to take action in your own hands and protect your computer from spyware. Certainly, computer users can look for more laws and legislation to emerge in this area, but until then (and even afterward), it is absolutely paramount that computer users also realize that as technology evolves and spyware creators get more crafty, this problem is sure to escalate.

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