continued...

Then, the software pretty much takes over the consumer’s computer. The software can create new cookies, make pop-ups appear, replace affiliate IDs and even steal passwords or other private information.

In other words, spyware companies are also the masters of viral marketing – they spread their disease via freebie information and programs that unsuspecting consumers download.

Who pays the price? You and I.

What is being done to stop it?

In all honesty, not much. It is not because no one cares, but more because the more we try to stop it, the more technical these companies get. As always, human eyes are being required to track down and stop these companies.

The trend has been to move towards software products that block these spyware agents. Consumers are slowly becoming more aggressive in trying to stop their computers from being invaded (they are tired of pop-ups).
 

In all honesty, the next thing you can do, short of designing a break-through program to stop this problem, is to be more careful and report more actively. Any time you see an uninvited pop-up on your computer that has an affiliate ID in the link – you can be 98% sure that it is spyware.

Take the time to report it!