Keep Your PC Safe

The term “spyware” was first used on October 17, 1994 in a posting made on a globally distributed bulletin board system, Usenet. Later on, spyware came to be known as espionage apparatus, like tiny cameras. However, Gregor Freund, founder of Zone Labs (a security software company), used the term in one of his press releases for a product, thereby sealing the word’s place in computer users’ lingo.

In 2000, Steve Gibson, owner of Gibson Research (a computer software development firm), found out that advertising software components from two companies had been installed in his system and even suspected them of collecting information without his knowledge. He retracted this claim later on, but still he reprimanded the advertising companies Aureate and Conducent for secretly installing the spyware and making it very difficult to remove.

With this event, Gibson made and released OptOut, the first ever anti-spyware program. Many others followed suit and came up with their own spyware removers.

According to a survey conducted by the National Cyber-Security Alliance and AOL in 2004, a whopping 80% of computers had spyware, with almost 93 spyware workings per computer. 89% of the participants in the survey said they were not aware of the existence of the spyware, while 95% said they didn’t give any permission for the installation of any spyware program.

As of today, spyware has become the top and primary security threat to computer systems running under Microsoft Windows. Internet Explorer users are targeted more often than not because of its popularity. You need a good Spyware Remover to help keep your PC safe from these threats. Get PC Tools Spyware Doctor to protect your PC and your privacy.