What is Spyware?

Coined as a term in widespread use in the mid-1990s, spyware is actually software that has been around for many years. In short, spyware is malicious software that infects all kinds of computers and connected equipment. It is almost always illegitimate usage code (there is some that app users legitimise, for example, by accepting usage licenses) that tracks and stores the user’s browsing data, steals passwords or credit card data, to name a few just a few examples of its use.

Theft of information (Infostealers), passwords (Password Stealers), Keyloggers, banking Trojans, modem hijacking… There are many examples of known spyware. And the number continues to grow. The illegal business associated with the exploitation of this malicious software is so juicy that the appearance of new variants is very frequent.

Spyware is usually installed on computers without the consent of the owners. Often associated with a legitimate program (exchange programs, shareware applications…), an infected attachment, or a malicious web page. Once inserted into the operating system, it will begin its activity in the background and often without the user being aware that they are being compromised.