Fear of Spyware is Changing Internet Habits, Survey Says

Jul. 7–Spyware is making Internet surfers more careful about their online activities, according to a study released Wednesday.

Four-fifths of Internet users have stopped opening e-mail attachments if they don’t know the source, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

One-quarter have stopped using file-sharing networks, a major source of spyware, the monitoring programs that personal computer users often unwittingly install.

PC users have gotten savvier about how spyware enters their machines and are learning about how to avoid the scourge, said Susannah Fox, an associate director at the Pew project, which studies the way the Web affects society.

“It’s become such a phenomenon that at a cocktail party people are talking about firewalls,” Ms. Fox said. “It’s part of the conversation now on the sidelines of the soccer field.”

Spyware is “probably one of the biggest issues we’ve dealing with this year,” said Dave Cole, director of product management with Symantec Corp.’s security response group.

Users often install spyware by inadvertently clicking “OK” on a box on their computer screens. Or they download other software they want, not noticing that it comes with spyware as an extra.

The most innocuous spyware simply tracks users’ Internet activity. Its cousin, adware, sends out pop-up advertisements based on browsing behavior.

More insidious spyware can track a user’s keystrokes, recording sensitive information such as passwords.

About half of Internet users said they’ve started to avoid some Web sites they suspect of foisting spyware on them.

And about one-fifth say they’ve started using a different Web browser, hoping it might be less susceptible.

The Pew study was based on a May and June telephone survey of 2,001 U.S. adults.

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