Spyware is a type of malware that is secretly fed into a device and observe activities on the device and send it to the snoopers. The criminal then uses that information to track online activity and may be sold in the black market. It is widely used to gather personal information, account passwords, credit card details, identity card number and much more.
Types of spyware
Given below are a few examples of Spyware.
- Adware
Adware is a common type of spyware that observes your online activity and displays ads on different sites which they think you are interested in. Adware impacts the performance of a device after entering the device.
- Tracking cookies
Tracking cookies are a type of adware which opens the device and spy on you and also affect the device performance, but it is less intrusive.
- Trojans
This type of spyware is inserted in a device to steal personal and sensitive information, such as bank account details and forwarded to the third party who will use the features to get access to the accounts and borrow money. Backdoor and remote access Trojan is used to gain control of systems and networks.
- Keyloggers
This type of spyware is used by a cybercriminal that captures every keystroke from the computer keyboard. It focuses on the keystrokes that are used for account login.
- Stalkerware
The stalkerware is installed on mobile phones through which the third party tracks the owner. The third party can easily read the text messages, listen to call conversations and follow the moments of the users.
- Stealware
This type of spyware is developed to take advantage of online shopping sites which award credits to websites that send traffic to their product pages. Stealware captures the request of the users and send it to the places and takes credit for sending it.
- System monitors
The is a broad type of spyware which is used to record every activity that happens on a system, such as keystrokes, emails, chat rooms dialogs to websites, phone calls, a program launched and much more. They further send it to the third party or cybercriminal. It is also used to monitor a system’s processes and identify any vulnerability on it.