US consumers unaware of spyware

Although as many as 90 per cent of US home computers have been infected with spyware at some time, a majority of PC owners don't know how to solve the problem, according to a new poll.

The findings come in a report from the newly formed Consumer Spyware Initiative, a joint effort by Dell and the non-profit Internet Education Foundation that aims to increase awareness of spyware.

Spyware is a term used to describe software that can monitor user behaviour and display unwanted advertising. It can often significantly slow down a computer. The new initiative hopes to reach 63 million US internet users over the next year to show them how to identify and eliminate spyware infections, its backers said

"We've been focused on arming our customers with the information and tools they need to combat this problem," said Mike George, general manager of Dell's US Consumer Business, in a statement. "Through this process, we've seen that education is our best counterintelligence against the threat of spyware."

The spyware issue has been increasingly visible in news and policy circles over the past month. The Federal Trade Commission filed its first lawsuit against an alleged spyware distributor last week, and Congress is close to passing several bills regulating the practice.

The Internet Education Foundation's website has recommendations for minimising the impact of the potentially annoying software.

John Borland writes for CNET News.com