Digital Trends

Spyware continues to plague computer users according to the latest report issued Wednesday by EarthLink and Webroot.

From the press release:

This week EarthLink and Webroot Software released their third SpyAudit Report, which has tracked the growth of spyware on consumer PCs for the first half of 2004.

Since the SpyAudit report's inception on January 1, 2004, more than two million scans have been performed. The scans discovered approximately 54.8 million instances of spyware, for an average of 26.5 traces per SpyAudit scan. Scans nearly doubled from the first to the second quarter. For each category, the instances of adware increased month-over-month, while adware cookies, system monitors and Trojans decreased slightly overall. The complete report is available at http://www.earthlink.net/spyaudit/press.

"As the saying goes, big things come in small packages - and EarthLink's SpyAudit application, which is small and easy to run, has enabled millions of consumers to find the spies that reside on their PCs," stated Matt Cobb, EarthLink's vice president of core applications. "SpyAudit helps a consumer identify threats to their machines so they can take action and continue to enjoy all that the Internet has to offer."

Cobb also stressed that not all Internet applications and files are classified as spyware. The majority of Internet-related programs help improve a consumer's Internet experience.

More on Adware

Webroot defines adware as any advertising-supported software application that has the ability to display pop-up, pop-under, and banner advertisements on your computer. Some adware may track your Web surfing habits. COAST, the consortium of anti-spyware technology vendors, http://www.coast-info.org/, has documented that adware can slow your Web browser's performance, and in a worst-case scenario, may have the ability to download third-party software programs on your computer without your knowledge or consent.

Webroot's research team found that CoolWebSearch (CWS) is a particularly virulent form of adware and one of the top adware threats found on the Web. Analysis shows that CWS is the most defiant threat in current existence, and the anti-spyware company has identified and written definitions for close to 100 CWS variations, each one more complex to remove than the last.

"The increased prevalence of adware in the report is concerning, and consumers should know that not all adware is harmless or benign," said David Moll, Webroot's CEO. Some of the most notorious programs in the spyware family are classified as adware."

"CoolWebSearch is a nasty example of adware that hijacks homepages and Web searches, triggers a crippling amount of pop-ups, and changes a user's browser settings," added Moll.

CWS's most common exploit is to hijack a user's homepage and direct it to a paying client's Web site. Particularly damaging CWS variants can:

• Pop-up so many ads that a computer locks up or crashes.
• Add pornography links to a favorites list.
• Change a consumer's browser settings.
• Deposit large numbers of files throughout a PC's system, which quickly reduces performance.

CWS has the ability to modify itself, so finding and removing it is an ongoing challenge for consumers. Once CWS is discovered by an anti-spyware application, such as EarthLink's Spyware Blocker, powered by Webroot, Internet users should take action to immobilize or erase the program from their PCs.

The results from the SpyAudit report are culled from EarthLink and Webroot's SpyAudit detection programs that run analyses of Internet users PCs and provide audited reports of spyware residing on the machines. The SpyAudit report charts the overall number of scans and figures for each of the defined spyware categories from January 1, 2004 to June 30, 2004.

To further inform consumers about the dangers of spyware, EarthLink and Webroot offer SpyAudit, a free-of-charge spyware detection program. SpyAudit provides a fast, detailed report in minutes and is available to all Internet users at http://www.webroot.com/services/spyaudit_03.htm or http://www.earthlink.net/spyaudit/.

Overall Results

The information below depicts the quarterly growth, the running six-month total number of scans, instances of spyware found per scan, and an average of spy instances per scan, along with a categorical breakdown of spyware installations.

Overall Results	First Quarter	Second Quarter	Six-month Total (Jan. 1 - June 30, 2004)
SpyAudit Scans	703,002	1,368,775	2,071,777
Spyware Instances Found	18,611,344	36,203,219	54,814,563
Average Instances of Spyware Found per Scan	26.5	26.5	26.5
Spyware Installations by Category
Adware	3,558,595	7,887,557	11,446,152
Adware Cookies	14,799,874	27,868,767	42,668,641
System Monitors	122,553	210,256	332,809
Trojans	130,322	236,639	366,961

Monthly Results	May	June	Six-month Total (Jan. 1 - June 30, 2004)
SpyAudit Scans	443,382	504,632	2,071,777
Spyware Instances Found	11,765,241	13,132,507	54,814,563
Average Instances of Spyware Found per Scan	26.6	26.0	26.5
Spyware Installations by Category
Adware	2,610,135	2,979,221	11,446,152
Adware Cookies	8,989,817	10,005,395	42,668,641
System Monitors	75,115	74,268	332,809
Trojans	90,174	73,623	366,961