Spyware is bad….
Surprise… what is surprising is how high it’s infiltration is reported to be. Spyware confidential is reporting on a Webroot survey claiming that spyware in the enterprise is at 80% (does this mean 80% of businesses have spyware, or 80% of business machines have spyware?)
According to this about 80% of home users are infected. Spyware is getting harder and harder to remove. (There’s a newsflash.) Among the top threats are coolwebsearch, Elite Bar, PowerScan, Look2Me, PurityScan, Clkoptimizer, 180search Assistant, Web Search Toolbar, ISTbar and aBetterInternet
That sounds like a who’s who of the bugs I’ve removed in recent months.
Are the numbers inflated? I say maybe, but frankly spyware is a HUGE problem for businesses. (Realize that webroot makes spyware sweeper enterprise software, so it might be in their best interest to hype worst case numbers. In spite of this spyware is a serious problem.) I like that Suzi Turner at Spyware Confidential also takes a different attitude on cookies than webroot does. I tend to agree with her, they’re a privacy concern, not spyware.
The report from Webroot is available at their site.