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In this lesson,

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we're going to discuss spyware and bloatware.

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In our modern enterprise networks,

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software plays a pivotal role in our daily operations,

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but as software continues to evolve,

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some threat actors and even legitimate organizations

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have taken the opportunity

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to install various types of unwanted

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and potentially harmful software applications

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on our devices.

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First, let's take a look at spyware.

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Spyware, as the name suggests,

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is the type of malicious software that's designed to gather

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and send information about a user

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or organization without their knowledge.

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This information can range from the user's browsing habits

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and software utilization patterns

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to more sensitive data, like passwords, credit card numbers

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and other relevant personal details too.

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Spyware can get installed on a system

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in several different ways,

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including being bundled with other software,

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being installed through a malicious website

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or be installed when a user clicks

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on a deceptive pop-up advertisement.

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Once installed,

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the spyware will typically operate in the background

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without the user's knowledge or consent.

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Spyware can cause issues because it invades your privacy,

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but it can also have other negative effects,

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such as significantly slowing down

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your system's performance.

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It is continually using your system's resources

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to monitor and transmit data back to the attacker

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who's gathering information about you.

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To help protect yourself against spyware,

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you should only use reputable antivirus

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and anti spyware tools that are regularly updated

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to be able to detect and remove any potential threats.

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Also, whenever you're downloading software,

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you should only download it from trusted sources

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and you should read through

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the end user licensing agreement, known as the EULA,

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to see if the company is collecting any of your personal

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or private data without your knowledge.

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Finally, you should make sure that your operating system

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and other software applications are up to date

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and patched with the latest security updates

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to ensure that spyware cannot exploit

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any known vulnerabilities that exist in your system.

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Second, we have bloatware.

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Now, bloatware is quite different from spyware,

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but it can be just as frustrating

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when it gets installed on your system.

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Now, bloatware refers to any software

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that comes pre-installed on your new computer or smartphone

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that you, as the user, did not specifically request,

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want or need.

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Bloatware isn't really dangerous,

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but it does take up precious resources on your devices,

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including storage space

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and using up your limited system RAM,

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or Random Access Memory.

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Typically, you're going to find that manufacturers

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or vendors of a device will add this kind of bloatware

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as part of their promotional partnership deals.

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For example, if you bought a new Windows laptop

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and it came with a 30 day free trial of Microsoft Office 365

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and 90 day free trial of Norton Antivirus,

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these are both considered to be bloatware

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because you didn't ask for them to be installed,

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and instead,

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these companies paid the manufacturer your laptop

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to pre-install these applications on that laptop,

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so that you will hopefully purchase their paid version

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of these applications.

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And so this becomes a marketing technique

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for these companies.

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Other examples of bloatware

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are things like unnecessary toolbars

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or applications that can promote certain services

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that may exist inside of your computer.

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Now, in general, bloatware is not going to be malicious,

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but as I said, it does waste your storage space,

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slows down the performance of your devices

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and introduces new security vulnerabilities

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into your systems,

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because all that extra code could have bugs in it,

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and those bugs could be exploited by an attacker.

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Remember, anytime you have a piece of software installed,

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that is going to be one more potential threat vector

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for the attacker to exploit

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if you don't properly update that application.

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Personally, I find the best practice

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is to remove any extra software or applications

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that you're not using on a daily basis

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to help minimize the attack surface

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of your devices and systems.

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Now, to remove bloatware, you can either manually remove it,

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or you can use bloatware removal tools,

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or you can perform a clean operating system installation.

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First, we have a manual removal process.

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For Windows-based devices,

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you can go to the programs

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and feature section in the Control Panel

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and uninstall any unwanted software you have.

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If you're using a smartphone or tablet,

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you can navigate to the app section in the settings

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and uninstall or disable any unnecessary applications

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from your device.

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Second, we can use bloatware removal tools

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to uninstall the unwanted applications.

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There are several third party tools

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available in the marketplace that can help identify

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and remove bloatware more comprehensively

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than you might be able to do on your own,

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so they are something to think about or to consider.

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Third, and my personal preference,

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is to perform a clean operating system installation

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whenever you buy a new device.

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Instead of using the operating system

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and the bloatware that came pre-installed on your device,

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you can instead perform

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what is known as a clean operating system installation,

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which ensures you are only going to be starting out

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with a software you need on your new system.

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So remember, spyware and bloatware represents software

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that isn't necessarily always malicious,

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but it is considered to be unwanted.

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Spyware is the type of malicious software designed to gather

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and send information about a user

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or organization without their knowledge or consent.

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Bloatware, on the other hand,

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refers to software that comes pre-installed on a new device,

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computer, or smartphone, which the user did not request

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and often doesn't need or doesn't want.

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While spyware and bloatware do serve different purposes

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and provide different threat levels against our systems,

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it is important to be aware of the existence of both spyware

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and bloatware in order to understand how to manage

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or eliminate these risks to create a safer,

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more efficient and more pleasant experience

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for our end users when using our systems and devices.