Spyware, Part 3: Is using it illegal…or just sleazy?

[scoutt]

Interesting article, I think I know what everybody else thinks on this subject but it is just interesting.

http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2836365,00.html

[Jason]

I suppose I understand that employers have the right to spy on their employees, but personally I never bother (besides, Ian has boring email anyway, execpt for that one letter that he received from Goldilocks one night ...er.. nevermind :shady: )

But seriously, I really hate those spyware programs. Some of them are very obvious like those so-called Internet accelators, and gator, which is mentioned. I'm going to give that Lavasoft (http://www.lavasoftusa.com/) program that he mentions a whirl, and suggest the same for everyone.

[Ian]

Hey, i'll just put a redirect on my account if you want to read it anyway Jason, It's mostly spam :) well... exept for my goldilocks emails woohoo..

I think it is a shame that employers even have to consider doing this to their employees, its not very trusting, but then neither is the employee if they are abusing the company they are working for, so I guess it goes both ways...

Gator, Comet-Cursors and Go-hip are common ones, but also download tools such as Gozilla and even ICQ, I consider spyware. There was a little program you could get called "Optout" which cleaned your system up, That program from Lavasoft sounds like the same sort of thing, however I recommend caution in using these types of cleaners and be aware of which files it is removing, they are known to render some harmless programs useless as a result.

It is well worth being aware of what is hiding on your system though and what programs/files are potential security leaks/risks. Good article scoutt.