Spyware Keeps a Close Watch:
Programs Track Users' Web Use
By Jan Boyles

Spyware. The term implies lipstick cameras and lapel microphones that might be employed on a top-secret mission by James Bond.

But the true spyware isn't found in a secret attaché case. It's located on virtually every computer. Probably even yours.

Simply put, spyware are pieces of software that arrive on a computer without a user's knowledge. The tools allow companies to gain more insight into the user's surfing habits.

Like most gadgets, some types of spyware can be helpful.

So how does Amazon.com know what types of books you're likely to read? The Web site tracks your movements around the site and can take a logical guess that someone that just picked up a book by Bill O'Reilly won't rush to read Al Franken's bestseller. Similarly, someone that pre-ordered jazz chanteuse Norah Jones' album, "Feels Like Home" probably won't listen to rapper 50 Cent's "Get Rich or Die Tryin."

So how does the New York Times Web site allow you to view articles without entering your password each time you visit? The newspaper's tech-team has implemented a software system that recognizes your computer apart from the millions of other Internet users.

"Businesses have a legitimate interest to track your information," Pat Logan, Marshall associate professor of information technology, said.

For example, Logan relates that if a company can determine that 90 percent of the people who visit starbucks.com are AOL users, then the java giant would be wise to advertise heavily on the service provider.

Though the media behemoths don't know a user's name or location, it does know the service provider (AOL, Verizon, Charter) and a special number that's assigned to each computer on the Internet - called an IP address.

The spyware basis of both amazon.com and nytimes.com are called "cookies." The non-edible files reside on your computer's hard drive.

"Basically, a cookie is like an artifact," Logan said. "It lets them know that you've been to the site before. It can store information like a password or what you've looked at on the site"

Logan believes that the high-tech cookies are inherently benign. But there are more vicious and insidious types of parasitic spyware.

Some spyware, called clickthroughs, track your web surfing pattern.

Several months ago, Logan (whose expertise lies in Internet security) was in the market for a home mortgage. She visited the Web sites of various banks to competitively assess their rates. Around this time, pop-up ads appeared on her computer advertising mortgage rates. She was the victim of a clickthrough.

Even more sophisticated pieces of software allow hackers to detect what keystrokes you make while connected online, including passwords or credit card numbers. This online voyeurism raises serious privacy issues, Logan said.

"There is a constant push/pull in our industry, weighing the balance between consumer protection and advertising," Logan said.

The only way to prevent cookies and clickthroughs is to never connect to the Internet at all, Logan jokes.

"You really can't prevent these pieces of software from resting on your machine," Logan said.

Freeware and shareware programs, such as AdAware, allow users to maintain the cookies on their hard drives. Each type a company Web site wishes to place a cookie on the computer, the user must either click 'agree' or 'disagree.' Although it's possible to turn cookies off on an Internet browser, that option limits the amount of web surfing that individuals can perform, Logan said.

"This debate is something that we will hear about for years to come," Logan said. "I think that ultimately there will be a legislative solution."

Until then, we can only wish for a special laser or high-tech device to make spyware disappear.

Copyright 2004 Charleston Newspapers Charleston Gazette (West Virginia) February 8, 2004, Sunday, BYLINE: Jan Boyles jan@dailymail.com