The battle against spyware

Malicious software called spyware may be hidden on your computer right now, spying on your charity’s confidential data. Spyware can cause catastrophic damage to your charity, but the chances are that if your computer is infected you will be unaware of its existence.

 

 

What is spyware?

 

Spyware, like ransomware, is a type of malware, or malicious software. But whereas ransomware makes its presence obvious by preventing an infected computer from working properly and displaying a ransom demand, spyware is much stealthier.

 

It is designed to remain undetected on an infected computer while it collects data which might include passwords, credit card numbers, email addresses, browsing and search records, and other confidential information. It then forwards this information to a cyber criminal who will either exploit it themselves or sell it on to other cyber criminals.

 

 

How do you know if your computer is infected with spyware?

 

Usually you won’t, although some spyware may cause your computer to slow down noticeably.

 

But some spyware allows its presence to become obvious a little while after the initial infection. After having stolen any confidential data that it finds, it may start to make advertisements pop up on your screen, or it may carry out a search engine hijack.

 

When this happens your Google searches will produce results from a different search engine which may include more advertisements or links to phishing sites.

 

 

What are PUPs?

 

There is also a type of spyware which, strictly speaking, is not malware. Rather, it is classified as a “PUP”, or “potentially unwanted program”. This type of spyware may offer some benefit to you, but its real purpose is to obtain information from your computer.

 

In many cases these programs have an end user licence agreement (EULA) which you have to accept before installing the program and hidden in the EULA are terms which mean that you have unwittingly agreed that the program can take information and pass it on to the spyware authors.

 

 

How do charities get infected with spyware?

 

Broadly speaking, charities can get infected with spyware in the same ways that they can get infected with ransomware or any other malware. Clicking on malicious links, downloading, and installing unknown software or opening attachments in emails can all lead to a spyware infection.

 

Spyware that falls into the PUP category can also come in the form of a seemingly innocuous program that is installed as an option when other software is installed. For example, you may download a program and be offered the choice of an “express” or a “custom” install.

 

Clicking on “express” will give the program the permission to install additional software such as a shopping price comparison program. This software is often practically useless to you, but it can extract valuable information for the author.