The Cost Of Spyware

March 8, 2008 – 3:47 PM

Spyware is not just annoying. Spyware is hitting all of us in the wallet as tech support firms must deal with millions of customers infected by it.

Some studies claim that as many as 97% of all personal computers may be infected by various spyware programs. Personally, I believe that number is incorrect. Probably that number includes machines which had nothing more than tracking cookies. While cookies can be abused to spy on a person’s web surfing, the cookies themselves are not spyware.

Whatever the actual percentage, the fact remains that countless millions of people find their personal computers hijacked by some form of spyware, adware or a browser hijacker. Many of those people call for technical support from their computer maker or their ISP. That creates more cost for those companies and they pass those costs back to their customers. Even if you never have spyware on your own computer, the cost of your computer and internet service may be higher due to the cost of repairing those that do become infected.

http://www.spywareinfo.net/nov10,2004#cost

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