Spyware has infected almost all companies polled for a survey about web-using habits at work

Spyware has infected almost all companies polled for a survey about web-using habits at work. Nine out of 10 of the technology managers questioned said machines at their firm had programs that spied on the browsing habits of staff. The computer staff estimated that, on average, 29% of work PCs had spyware surreptitiously installed on them. By contrast only 6% of users questioned believed that the machine they use had been infected by such software. The figures came to light during the annual Web@Work survey commissioned by mail filtering and security firm Websense. Spyware is the name given to small programs that accompany popular applications such as the Kazaa and Morpheus file-sharing software. As the name implies the software surreptitiously keeps an eye on what a user is interested in or searches for. Once installed the spyware can redirect web searches, install bookmarks or bombard a user with pop-up ads tailored to other search terms.