computer science

List of spyware programs

List of spyware programs is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of spyware programs rather than just read about it. In short: This is a list of spyware programs. These common spyware programs illustrate the diversity of behaviours found in these attacks.

Key takeaways

List of spyware programs belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of spyware programs to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of spyware programs from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

This is a list of spyware programs. These common spyware programs illustrate the diversity of behaviours found in these attacks. Note that as with computer viruses, researchers give names to spyware programs which may not be used by their creators. Programs may be grouped into "families" based not on shared program code, but on common behaviors, or by "following the money" of apparent financial or business connections. For instance, a number of the spyware programs distributed by Claria are collectively known as "Gator". Likewise, programs that are frequently installed together may be described as parts of the same spyware package, even if they function separately.

Spyware programs Advanced Location Tracking and Mobile Information and Deception System (Altamides) is a spyware/malware package developed by First Wap that has been used to illegally surveil targets via mobile phone. CoolWebSearch, a group of programs, takes advantage of Internet Explorer vulnerabilities. The package directs traffic to advertisements on Web sites including coolwebsearch.com. It displays pop-up ads, rewrites search engine results, and alters the infected computer's hosts file to direct DNS lookups to these sites. FinFisher, sometimes called FinSpy is a high-end surveillance suite sold to law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Support services such as training and technology updates are part of the package. Gator, replaced banner ads on web sites with its own GO Keyboard, virtual Android keyboard apps (GO Keyboard - Emoji keyboard and GO Keyboard - Emoticon keyboard), transmit personal information to its remote servers without explicit users' consent. This information includes user's Google account email, language, IMSI, location, network type, Android version and build, and device's model and screen size. The apps also download and execute a code from a remote server, breaching the Malicious Behavior section of the Google Play privacy policies. Some of these plugins are detected as Adware or PUP by many Anti-Virus engines, while the developer, a Chinese company GOMO Dev Team, claims in the apps' description that they will never collect personal data including credit card information. The apps with about 2 million users in total were caught spying in September 2017 by security researchers from AdGuard who then reported their findings to Google. Hermit is a toolkit developed by RCS Lab for government agencies to spy on iOS and Android mobile phones. HuntBar, a.k.a. WinTools or Adware.Websearch, was installed by an ActiveX drive-by download at affiliate Web sites, or by advertisements displayed by other spyware programs—an example of how spyware can install more spyware. These programs add toolbars to IE, track aggregate browsing behavior, redirect affiliate references, and display advertisements. Internet Optimizer, also known as DyFuCa, redirects Internet Explorer error pages to advertising. When users follow a broken link or enter an erroneous URL, they see a page of advertisements. However, because password-protected Web sites (HTTP Basic authentication) use the same mechanism as HTTP errors, Internet Optimizer makes it impossible for the user to access password-protected sites. Spyware such as Look2Me hides inside system-critical processes and start up even in safe mode. With no process to terminate they are harder to detect and remove, which is a combination of both spyware and a rootkit. Rootkit technology is also seeing increasing use, as newer spyware programs also have specific countermeasures against well known anti-malware products and may prevent them from running or being installed, or even uninstall them. Movieland, also known as Moviepass.tv and Popcorn.net, is a movie download service that has been the subject of thousands of complaints to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Washington State Attorney General's Office, the Better Business Bureau, and other agencies. Consumers complained they were held hostage by a cycle of oversized pop-up windows demanding payment of at least $29.95, claiming that they had signed up for a three-day free trial but had not cancelled before the trial period was over, and were thus obligated to pay. The FTC filed a complaint, since settled, against Movieland and eleven other defendants charging them with having "engaged in a nationwide scheme to use deception and coercion to extract payments from consumers." Onavo Protect is used by Facebook to monetize usage habits within a privacy-focused environment, and was criticized because the app listing did not contain a prominent disclosure of Facebook's ownership. The app was removed from the Apple iOS App Store. Apple deemed it a violation of guidelines barring apps from harvesting data from other apps on a user's device. Pegasus is spyware for iOS and Android mobile phones developed by NSO Group which received widespread publicity for its use by government agencies. Predator is spyware targeting iOS and Android mobile phones developed by Cytrox. The US Treasury alleged in 2024 that it has been sold to authoritarian governments. Zwangi redirects URLs typed into the browser's address bar to a search page at www.zwangi.com, and may also take screenshots without permission.

Programs distributed with spyware Kazaa Morpheus WeatherBug WildTangent

Programs formerly distributed with spyware AOL Instant Messenger (AOL Instant Messenger still packages Viewpoint Media Player, and WildTangent) DivX FlashGet magicJack

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of spyware programs

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of spyware programs claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of spyware programs before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of spyware programs ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of spyware programs

In research: List of spyware programs appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of spyware programs in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of spyware programs is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Computer network security, Deception, Espionage devices, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of spyware programs outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study List of spyware programs in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of spyware programs means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain List of spyware programs out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is List of spyware programs in simple terms?

This is a list of spyware programs. These common spyware programs illustrate the diversity of behaviours found in these attacks.

Why does List of spyware programs matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of spyware programs?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of spyware programs.