Scaremongering over Spyware?

Dynamoo writes "The BBC is reporting that PCs in the UK are infected with over 20 pieces of spyware on average. A frightening statistic, if it is to be believed. In fact, the figures come from Webroot - an anti-spyware firm with a commercial interest in playing up the spyware threat." From the article: "In Poland, 867 of every 1,000 domestic PCs have been infected by trojans, unsolicited programs that can allow remote users to control the machine. It is this international reach that concerns those in authority trying to combat the spread of spyware. "

Spyware??

[Anonymous Coward]

Well it would all depend on what was being classed as spyware. Are they including tracking cookies, in which case anyone using google with cookies turned on will be infected.

And why oh why can't the BBC specify "Windows" users. Why do they report every piece of Malware as being a threat to PC users. It's not. Most malware is operating system specific. if it affects Windows, say Windows.

Sloppy journalism...slipping standards, blah blah...

I could easily believe that.

[edunbar93]

Hell, I've seen computers that would push that average *way* up all on their own.

You have: 10,489 viruses on your computer

No, I did not make that up. There are actually people out there (many, in fact) that think that the computer is running really slow because it's getting old, and not because there's three billion pieces of crap bogging it down. It just never occurs to them.

its a concern

[dotpavan]

sometimes it concerns me as to how much of valuable resources get wasted in trying to remove these malicious progs. It is sheer ignorance, utter haughtiness and no intention to prevent damage to systems from the users that cause such stats to occur.

On the other hand, doesnt it lead to waste of:

(*) valuable time, because every now and then you have to scan/remove/update/etc

(*) valuable comp resources/processing because you HAVE to have your anti-****(whatever)-ware ALWAYS on, which are generally bloated and eat up memory/processing (*) and imagine the rebooting and re-installing

Its sad that the 'wonderful pc experience' has now come to a stage that the price one pays is getting heavier. And with some very basic steps/prevention measures (as explained by many at /. during such stories), it could be enhanced many times.

Depends on your definition of "spyware"

[Opportunist]

I'm working for an antivirus company (and you have NO idea, the problem with spyware is not that you couldn't remove it, it's the legal issues around removing it and labeling it spyware), and from my perspective, there are 2 kinds of spyware out there.

The kind that comes in the form of a cookie like doubleclick. It's tracking you, so it is technically spyware, even though it does not modify anything on your PC, does not have any negative impact on your stability or anything else. All it does is to monitor your browsing behaviour.

If you count this kind of spyware then yes, the infection rate is crippling. 99% I'd wager. And 20 on average is reaching kinda low.

If you only count those pesky popups that come as BHOs and other installed services, then my count would be a LOT lower. Still way too high but WAY lower.

And yes, the average infected computer carries a tremenduous load of spyware. If you have one, you have them all. If I didn't know better, I'd say they download each other. :)

Re:True number or not, way too common..

[HermanAB]

Every Windows PC I get to repair has at least 10 pieces of spyware running.

Re:20 Spyware Packages?

[Esion Modnar]

it barely boots from the hundreds (sometimes thousands) of evil packages

When I first start to clean a PC, I don't even try to boot it. I just yank the HD, put it in an external USB case, then plug it into a malware cleaning workstation to run a whole slew of programs against it: AVG, Spybot, AdAware, Spysweeper, etc. By the time I replace it in the original box, what few evil programs that remain have been so crippled that finishing the job is a breeze.

I also get a printout of the list of evil programs and hand it to the customer. Helps the customer's sense of value of my services.

Spyware is even scarier than that...

[foQ]

It's always a shocker to see what kind of data is collected by keyloggers. With 20+ pieces of malware on the average PC, how many do you think are in places where you do have personal information. Your company has all of your personal information, somebody had to enter that in by hand. How about banks? They're frequently the target of even nastier things than the article mentions. Remember that the credit card and check scanning devices that are attached to computers input data in the same way that keyboards do. In fact, most of them are daisy-chained to keyboard plugs to get power. This means that if your local florist, butcher, dry cleaner, etc. does transactions on the computer, all of your credit card or check information could be in Russia within the hour! Scary.