Communications of the ACM

Home/Magazine Archive/August 2005 (Vol. 48, No. 8)/Introduction/Abstract

Spyware

Introduction

By Thomas F. Stafford
Communications of the ACM, August 2005, Vol. 48 No. 8, Pages 34-36
10.1145/1076211.1076235
Comments

View as: Print Mobile App ACM Digital Library Share:

Anyone who has ever dealt with spyware knows the irritation of lost bandwidth, the frustration of commandeered machine processor cycles, the innumerable pop-up ads and spam trails that result from an infestation. It is indeed a threat to computer security, and yet the sort of maladaptive software application spyware represents is supported by just the sort of wink-and-a-nod online barter economy that seems to nourish the emerging business functions of the Internet worldwide. You "pay for free" by sacrificing (knowingly or not) some personal information or some loss of personal privacy in exchange for great "free" features in software functionality that you can download without paying for or as a "piggybacked" part of some other free applications you might wish to use.

The full text of this article is premium content

No entries found

Log in to Read the Full Article

Sign In

Sign in using your ACM Web Account username and password to access premium content if you are an ACM member, Communications subscriber or Digital Library subscriber.

Need Access?

Please select one of the options below for access to premium content and features.

Create a Web Account

If you are already an ACM member, Communications subscriber, or Digital Library subscriber, please set up a web account to access premium content on this site.

Join the ACM

Become a member to take full advantage of ACM's outstanding computing information resources, networking opportunities, and other benefits.

Subscribe to Communications of the ACM Magazine

Get full access to 50+ years of CACM content and receive the print version of the magazine monthly.

Purchase the Article

Non-members can purchase this article or a copy of the magazine in which it appears.