Articles on the explosive growth of adware, spyware and malware abound; with much discussion of risks, threats, statistics and lost productivity. But what many fail to address is control.

 Prior to the birth of the Internet as we know it about a decade ago, computer viruses were making themselves known in the IT world. Fortunately propagation was much slower, depending on “Bulletin Boards” and “Sneakernet” (http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/s/sneakernet.html) for distribution. Virus protection began as one-offs. Each computer had an individual installation of antivirus software protecting that system, with updates often performed manually by visiting each computer with a floppy disk. Antivirus protection has since evolved into the major industry it is today, with corporate packages and single installation points that control and monitor antivirus protection throughout the organization. Alerts can be setup to notify administrators in the event of infections, and systems can be cut off from the rest of the network as soon as an issue is detected.

 Now it seems we're about to reinvent the wheel with the relatively recent threats of spyware and malware. Once again, few corporate networks utilize centrally manage spyware protection, and there are few preventative strategies. The line of thought seems to be to handle individual systems as they become compromised. If a system shows signs of spyware, a one-off software package can be installed and run to clean off the offending software. This strategy, however, depends on the assumption that the end user will notice that something is on their system. Many disreputable pieces of software are designed to run without noticeably impacting the system.

 Using previous research and designs of their antivirus products, many companies are now offering centralized spyware control. As with virus protection, these packages can be installed on networked system from a central location. Systems can be configured and monitored without having to visit each system, and alerting systems can be setup. With these tools, administrators can now be proactive in their spyware protection rather than reactive.

 An implementation of a centrally managed anti-spyware package can prevent a lot of headaches and lost time. Networked systems, whether in house or part of a mobile work force that connect to the office from time to time, can be protected, monitored and updated without a single visit to the workstations themselves.

 Neil Murray is a consultant at Data Perceptions Inc. Neil has helped several companies plan strategies to protect their data networks, not only from a technical aspect, but also from a procedural point of view.