Posted by NikkiT2 on April 21, 2003, at 8:36:06
In reply to Ok, what's difference btwn SPYWARE and COOKIES?, posted by Janelle on April 20, 2003, at 20:44:07
OK..
Bascially, cookies sit in your computer, saving information on websites you use, and remember certian things.. like your password to here and your username. Its also a cookie that that puts "new" onposts you haven;t read.. it remembers which posts you have read you see.
Spyware does something similar, but has the ability to send this information "home" (ie, to someone else computer). there is alot of different spyware.. Gator, the most common, is pretty innocuous in that it works like a cookie and remembers infor for you. But there are others that record all your key strokes and sends them home - so has the ability to send someone all your passwords and even your credit card number. Another one I had, called dialler, overrides a dial up modem, and dials a high toll number instead of your normal ISP's number.. I think its a $2 a minute number it calls, so someone in the US infected could end up with a very large phone bill without knowing why.
I hope this explains it OK.
Nikki
poster:NikkiT2
thread:220970
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030421/msgs/221108.html