What is Adware?

ADWARE

Any software application in which advertising banners are displayed while the program is running is called Adware. Software can be Adware and Spyware at the same time! More importantly, not all Adware is Spyware and most Spyware is NOT easily detected by displaying ads.

Most people are familiar with or have heard of freeware, shareware, cookies, media players, interactive content, and/or file sharing. What you may not realize is that some of the above mentioned may contain (more often then not) code or components that allow the developers of these applications and tools to actually collect and disseminate information about those using them.
They can track your surfing habits, abuse your Internet connection by sending this data to a third party, profile your shopping preferences, hijack your browser start page or pages, alter important system files, and can do this without your knowledge or permission. The security and privacy implications of these exploits should be quite obvious! Adware and Spyware are intrusive and undesirable threats to your privacy on any system or network!