With analysts predicting that spyware will replace mass-mailing viruses as the biggest security threat to consumers and businesses this year, suppliers of anti-spyware tools will also have a banner year.
Spyware consists of unwittingly downloaded software that secretly relays private information, such as tracking a personal computer user's online habits, from the PC to a third party.
These malicious programs have been around for some time and were initially considered a nuisance, just like the online pop-up advertisements delivered by spyware's close relative, adware.
That attitude has changed as these programs have increasingly contributed to a serious loss of personal privacy and productivity.
Spyware can cause computers to slow down to a crawl because the programs dominate system resources and bandwidth.
A recent survey by Forrester Research found that 75 per cent of businesses, big and small, planned to buy anti-spyware programs to protect their networks and users.
Microsoft chairman and chief software architect Bill Gates addressed the spyware issue at the recent RSA information security conference in San Francisco. He trumpeted the company's efforts against this malicious threat through the release of the beta, or test, version of its new Windows AntiSpyware product.