Welcome to DR's note, your weekly dose of knowledge from Circuit Stitch Blog.

 This week I start a series called Know thy enemy

    In this series, we will talk about different forms of Malware that can affect your computer.  I kind of started this last week with my DR note about ransomware.  This week we will talk about spyware. 

    So what is spyware?  How does it work? How do I get it?  I will hopefully answer all of these questions and possibly anymore you have.  So let us start with what is spyware?  Spyware infects your computer and gathers information about you, that is where the spy part comes in.  The ware part, when used with computer, is used to describe a type of computer product, like software, hardware, firmware, you get the point.  So spyware spies on us to gather things like websites you visit, things you download, any usernames and passwords you use, payment information, or anything you do personally on your computer.  It doesn't have to do all these things to be considered spyware.  It could just do one of these things. I'll be giving an example later on about different forms of spyware.

    Unfortunately, spyware is everywhere, I can guarantee you have spyware on your computer or cell phone right now.  So at this point you're probably like “Dan what are you talking about, I don't have any spyware on my computer or phone.”  or” I use a program to keep spyware off my computer and phone, so there is no way I have any on my devices."  Well that is the thing, like real life spies it is sneaky, infiltrating your device without you even knowing, or you even gave them free access to your device.  So what am I talking about?  Most of the apps or social media site you visit or use have one form or another of spyware that they use.  When you agree to the terms and conditions, it is in there that they can collect data on use to be used how they see fit.  Granted, they aren't allows to do anything illegal with it, and we all know how big business is truthful and trustworthy.  But let me descend my soap box.  This is why you must look out for what you are doing online.

    I am not asking you to delete your social media accounts, but to be cautious.  Now can hackers use spyware on you?   Yes they  can, and they do by forms like Trojans, spoof emails, phishing attacks, and security vulnerabilities.  Now it is not just limited to only these types of attacks, but these are the most popular.  This is why you make sure your computer or cell phone is up-to-date with the latest software, and your anti-malware programs are up-to-date as well.   Just please stay vigilante and watch your butt out there.  As always, if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to call or email me.  Have a great day.