As you’ve probably already know, adwares are softwares bundled on freewares or sharewares that display advertisements usually based on a user’s web browsing patterns. Sometimes called as spywares because of their tendency to snoop on a person’s computer and Internet activities, these applications were once a legitimate source of income for software developers who offer their technology free of charge or at discounted rates.

Adwares, like most things in this world, have different types and can be classified as such:

Adware

The most common type, which is probably the safest kind, adwares are softwares which display advertisements such as banners or popups on your desktop based on your web browsing patterns.

Keyloggers

A keylogger is a surveillance type software that can monitor and store every keystroke of a user. This means that this software can see anything that type, save them as a log file and then send them to a receiver who will use them in the future for some malicious activities.

Toolbars

Usually a horizontal bar attached to the web browser, a toolbar is a group of buttons that allows for quick navigation. However, these toolbars may trick a user to click on something or to search for something that you did not intend. Two popular examples of non-intrusive toolbars are Yahoo and Google, both have various helpful features for easy navigation within their websites.

Browser Hijackers

These malwares modify a system to force the web browser to go to various web pages either at random or upon selecting the homepage. Usually, the target websites for these browser hijackers are websites of advertisers who have paid the developer to drive traffic to them.

Cookies

Because of its nature to track and store user data without the user’s knowledge, cookies can be technically classified as adwares. However, majority of this type of adware are harmless. In fact, they are actually helpful in that they are typically used to store information and settings to personalize your visit to a certain website. Information that cookies store include usernames, email addresses, locations and other specific settings and customizations.

Though most adwares may be harmful to you and your system, there are those which prove that they are very helpful in making our online lives easier. However, everyone still has to be careful when surfing the Net and using free softwares because they may end up regretting living on the information superhighway at the end.

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