Spyware is a computer application or software that is stealthily installed on to a persons computer without their consent and is designed to intercept information or take control of the users computer to some degree without that persons consent, and usually knowledge.

According to CNN and other independent studies if you have your computer hooked up to the internet there is a 90% chance your computer is, right now, infected by spyware.

How does a persons computer get infected by spyware? Well, there are a number of ways it can happen. For instance, some spyware publishers will add their applications to music downloads or software programs and then make them available online. Another way spyware publishers infect computer systems in to exploit weaknesses in the Internet Explorer browser. How this happens is that a unassuming computer user goes to a website that has been hacked or setup specifically by spyware publisher then malicious spyware code can quickly make its way into the computer users system via the IE browser and from there it can hijack the browser and change such things as the start page or launch countless pop-ups. By the time the unassuming computer user has become aware of the spyware infection it’s too late.