Spyware: Users really won't know what's hit them

Companies are failing to protect staff and critical systems from the often unseen menace of spyware on their networks.

According to the findings of a silicon.com poll only 38.4 per cent of respondents expressed confidence that their company has done enough to protect from spyware.

With so much spyware in existence, many of those respondents may even be kidding themselves but the majority of respondents openly admit businesses are failing to get to grips with the problem.

A worrying 29.5 per cent of respondents said their companies have done nothing to warn of the threat of spyware or protect users from it, while 23.2 per cent said individuals must look after themselves – suggesting only the threat-savvy will be safe.

Perhaps more alarming still, nearly one in 10 respondents still don't know what spyware is, despite widespread coverage of the threat on services such as silicon.com as well as in some mainstream media.

David Jemitus, head of IT at the Government Planning Portal, told silicon.com that companies may need to be stung before they'll react.

"Many organisations don't seem to worry about spyware until they get examples where it has caused problems," he said.

silicon.com's CIO Jury this week also revealed a lack of confidence among senior IT professionals that the problem is under control.

Roger Thompson, director of content research for CA's eTrust Pest Patrol and Anti-Spyware solutions, said spyware has been Dell's number one tech support issue since December 2003 and is Microsoft's number one cause of system failure.

It also poses a serious threat of identity theft as well as acting as a source of potential data leaks, yet businesses appear unable to get their heads around the gravity of the situation.

Thompson said: "You can pretty much go into any company and onto any computer and there is a lot of nasty stuff on there."

Phil Young, head of IT operations at Amtrak, told silicon.com a clarifying of terms is also necessary in order to fully understand the threat.

"I do not believe that organisations have a full handle on spyware threats and it is hard to determine what can and cannot be considered to be spyware," he said. "Some applications need to run cookies and applets and this in itself can be considered to be spyware."