* The growing problem with spyware
Webroot’s quarterly report on spyware is a very interesting read and is available as a free download from the company’s Web site. For messaging managers, network administrators and others charged with managing desktop systems and/or servers, the report’s findings should raise some red flags. Here are just a few highlights from the most recent report for the second quarter of 2005:
* Using Webroot’s Enterprise SpyAudit, the company found that more than 80% of PCs in the enterprise are infected with spyware and there is an average of 27 pieces of spyware per infected PC. The latter figure represents an increase of 19% from the first quarter of 2005.
* Seven percent of this spyware is considered to be “malicious”, or intended to capture sensitive information like screen shots, keystrokes, e-mail and other information that could be tremendously damaging to an organization if it were divulged to unauthorized parties.
* Consumer PCs also are heavily infected with spyware, with more than 80% of these systems infected. The typical PC analyzed in Webroot’s Consumer SpyAudit had 25.4 pieces of spyware, up slightly from 25.1 in the first quarter of 2005.
The growing concern about spyware is reflected in a survey we have just completed. In that survey, 54% of people who are decision-makers and/or influencers about the day-to-day management of their organizations’ messaging systems view spyware as a serious or very serious problem.
Admittedly, most spyware is not all that serious at this point. More than 90% of spyware consists of cookies and other relatively innocuous bits of tracking software that won’t represent a significant breach of security for most organizations. However, the growing penetration of malicious spyware can and does represent a major threat to network security and could lead to significant loss of data and the variety of legal, regulatory and reputation consequences that entails. Organizations of all sizes, particularly those in which employees work from home, need to deploy solutions to combat this growing problem.
I’d like to hear about your views on spyware, particularly what things you’re doing to address the problem – please drop me a line.
