Spyware: Not just a privacy prob

Here's a new rule for child surfers: Don't click on "yes" to all those "Download this!" offers they run into on the sites they visit - check with Mom or Dad first. "Why?" they might ask. There's a strong chance they'll be downloading spyware, or "scumware," as the Wall Street Journal's Lee Gomes calls it. It can "reset your home page to a porn site ... and then refuse to let you change the page back" (see our "Spyware & an 8-year-old" last week) or "hijack your search requests and then direct them to its own page" or even "secretly record the keystrokes you use to log in to bank accounts and then send the info off to who knows where," Lee writes, adding: "A program making the rounds in Europe installs a piece of software that dials up expensive 976 numbers the spyware authors have set up," running up large family phone bills. There's a fund of information on spyware and what to do about it at SpywareInfo.com.