Spyware and Adware
Spyware and Adware typically taunt your imagination with cute little programs that appear legitimate. Say, they've got a jolly good calendar for Free! Or maybe it's an atomic clock. That is so cool! A must have! You've done this before, downloaded programs from the internet. No problem. Except the jolly little calendar doesn't just arrive quietly. There are things you're supposed to read. Yeah, yeah, I've installed plenty of stuff in my day. I don't need no stinking windows with lots of words. Next, Next, OK, Whatever. Tsk. So anyway, there's this spyware running secretly in the background on your computer. And it's interested in you. It is fascinated by your browsing habits. Like a real and true friend, it makes no judgements about you. It just gleefully sends the websites you frequent to advertising companies. And the rest is simple and why every Spyware infection is concurrent with a flurry of popup ads everywhere you go.
Adware supplies all those extra popup ads you get. slowing down your computer. The Gator Advertising and Information Network is one of the earliest and most widespread advertising parasites on the internet. Gator adware is your smart online companion that fills out forms and remembers passwords. It also comes with the OfferCompanion application, the premier application for saving money on the web. Gator adware displays popup ads periodically in IE as well as its own non-browser windows. It also tracks each and every site you visit and reports it back to the Gator servers. It sends them with a unique user id, thus enabling them to keep track of your detailed browsing activity.
Gator software also has an update feature which can be used to silently download and install software from the Gator servers. They can be a big security risk and can be used to execute arbitrary code in your computer systems. Gator accompanies programs such as Limewire, AudioGalaxy, eWallet, several popular clock setting programs and most P2P file sharing network programs, such as KaZaa. Gator can also be installed by visiting websites that are paid by Gator to include the installer links in their pages (you may have seen the message screen asking to install).
