Spyware Making People Change Web Habits

The Pew Internet and American Life Project is reporting that the fear of spyware is making Internet users change their online behaviour.

Spyware denotes computer programs that secretly plant themselves on people’s computers and then monitor users’ online behavior or hijack their browsers.

The report is based on a phone survey conducted in the United States. Some of the findings include:

• 81% of Internet users say they have stopped opening e-mail attachments unless they are sure these documents are safe
• 48% say they have stopped visiting particular sites that they fear might deposit unwanted programs on their computers
• 25% say they have stopped P2P file-sharing to avoid getting unwanted software programs on their computers
• 18% say they have started using a different Web browser to avoid software intrusions
  

News reports:

• Report: Spyware Bringing About Change in Online Behavior (TechNewsWorld)
• Spyware makes people wary online (BBC News)
• Americans changing tack to shake off spyware (Reuters via CNET)