from
Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003)
spyware
n.
1. Software which, when installed by a user insufficiently enlightened
to avoid it, enables third parties to snoop the user's hard drive or
monitor their network transactions. Though the term seems to have
entered use in the late 1990s, it achieved real popularity as applied
to Microsoft Windows XP. Some {back door} features in XP permit
Microsoft to (for example) covertly scan your disk directories for the
names of files it might deem to be {warez}.
2. Systems for spying on email and web traffic, such as the FBI's
Carnivore.
from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
spyware
sypware
<software> (Or "adware") Any type of software that transmits
information without the user's knowledge.
Information is sent via the {Internet} to a server somewhere,
normally as a hidden side effect of using a program.
Gathering this information may benefit the user indirectly,
e.g. by helping to improve the software he is using. It may
be collected for advertising purposes or, worst of all, to
steal security information such as passwords to online
accounts or credit card details.
Spyware may be installed along with other software or as the
result of a {virus} infection. There are many tools available
to locate and remove various forms of spyware from a computer.
Some {HTTP cookies} could be considered as spyware as their
use is generally not made explicit to users. It is however
possible to disallow them, either totally or individually, and
some are actually useful, e.g. recording the fact that a user
has logged in.
(http://spychecker.com/spyware.html).
(2004-05-23)