Spyware was Inevitable.

The article presents information on spyware, potentially privacy-compromising PC add-on software whose ongoing presence in millions of PCs worldwide benefits not the computer's owner and operator, but the interests of the publishers of this troubling new class of unsolicited software. Spyware has always been possible, but it wasn't until the Internet brought ubiquitous worldwide connectivity that the spies had any means for communicating back to their masters. By leveraging the inherently open nature of the PC, from which it derives virtually all of its inherent value, this unsolicited commercial software sneaks into a computer to set up shop without the user's knowledge or permission. Spyware is the PC user's latest and biggest problem; a larger source of worry, concern, and frustration than anything PC users have faced before, and potentially more damaging than the worst computer viruses. Due to the growing use of PCs for personal tax preparation, online banking, investment portfolio management, and real-time e-commerce, the threat from privacy violation and identity theft cannot be ignored.