Last spring, the public got a firsthand look at spyware's pervasiveness when it was discovered that peer-to-peer file-swapping app Kazaa was bundling a program designed to form a giant distributed network -- composed of Kazaa users' computers -- that could transmit information back to Brilliant Digital Entertainment, the company that created it. In effect, this network would use people's computers to perform work for Brilliant Digital.

The program had been distributed with Kazaa since the fall of 2001, according to a document that Brilliant filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in April.

Read More Even though Brilliant said it would not "flip the switch" to turn on the distributed network without gaining user permission, Internet privacy advocates were outraged. Because Brilliant had installed its software on users' computers in a seemingly underhanded way -- notification of the program's inclusion was buried in Kazaa's user licensing agreement -- Kazaa assumed a permanent spot on routinely posted lists of spyware applications.



But many users seem blissfully unaware of spyware's reach. Kazaa Media Player was the number one PC download last week at Download.com and has topped the charts for the last 33 weeks. This week alone, the program exceeded 2.8 million downloads.



Can PC spies be stopped?
Read More over NewsFactor.Com.

Thanks to Zoneman FYI.