Spyware Infection Rates - Surveys conducted around the world have shown alarming increases in the numbers of spyware and adware programs infecting our PCs in recent years. Spyware is a broad term that describes a category of programs, such as key-logging software, that illegally monitors a computer user's activity, often capturing and transmitting that information. Adware describes "legally" installed software, including Web page "cookies," that track user behaviour such as Web surfing, often for the benefit of online advertisers.

1) AOL Survey (September / October 2004)
Technical experts examined 329 home computers connected to the Internet and participants were interviewed about their awareness of online threats. Following their interview, the technicians examined the firewall and antivirus settings on participants' computers and looked for virus infections and for the presence of spyware and adware. Their results were as follows:
 80 percent of the computers analysed were infected.
 On average, each machine contained 93 spyware or adware components.
 67 percent of all machines do not use firewall software that can protect machines from attacks.
 More than 70 percent of participants falsely believed they were safe from viruses and spyware.

Plymouth Computer Doctor can help guard against the latest online threats.
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2) Earthlink's SpyAudit Results 2004
This report detailed the results from a 12month long survey tracking the growth of spyware on consumer PCs. Over the year, the number of system monitor programs (capable of capturing keystrokes, online banking login information and credit card numbers) rose 230 percent. The instances of Trojans (a hackers secret way of accessing your computer and its data) rose 114 percent from October 2004 to December 2004.
Earthlink concluded, "The audited numbers from the past year clearly show that spyware is rapidly becoming one of the Internet’s most dangerous threats ... anti-spyware solutions are essential protection tools for anyone who accesses the Internet.”

Our engineers use only the best spyware detection software to protect our customers.
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3) TechNewsOnline Survey (May 2005)
This recent industry-wide survey has shown that both home PC users and corporate networks are being bombarded with spyware infiltration at record rates, but relatively few victims are deploying adequate solutions to combat the threat. The survey canvassed 200 IT managers and executives nationwide and a further 200 owners of home computers.  The survey found that despite taking drastic measures against the threats from spyware, still not enough was being done to successfully combat the problem.
According to the survey, "...more than 70 percent of corporations have expressed an increased concern about spyware, but less than 20 percent of businesses have adopted commercially available anti-spyware software. For home users the problem appears worse as fewer than 10 percent of those who use the internet have sufficient protection. Many people only learn that they have such spyware problems after they have become victims of fraud."
The survey also showed that more than 96 percent of the respondents felt protected from outside threats using traditional antivirus and firewall solutions, yet nearly 82 percent report their desktops are currently infected with spyware, with more than a third noticing an increase in spyware infections in the last six months.

Plymouth Computer Doctor can protect you and your data.
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Additional information: Virus infection rates (Plymouth Computer Doctor's Statistics).