Explain like I'm five · Security

What is Spyware?

Spyware, adware and cryptojacking, told as a story about the three quiet cousins of the bug in the gift box.

SALE!SALE!SALE!flyers on every windoweverything is slowthe candle's half gonenobody locked a chest, and no bell rangbut something about the castle is off

Something is off in the castle. It's slow, flyers cover the windows, and the candle burns down fast.Nobody locked a chest and no bell rang. And yet something about the castle is wrong.

HAND OVER THE GOLD!the lock bug is loud — you notice at onceshh…the cousins stay quiet — so they can stay longthe quiet bug stays in the castle longer

The lock bug is loud. These bugs have to stay quiet to stay long.The lock bug gets noticed at once — being noticed is the point. The cousins are the opposite. The day they're noticed, their business is over.

password: 1-2-3-4the spying bugwrites down your passwordsSALE!SALE!SALE!the ad bugsticks flyers on every windowthe bug that makes you workturns our wheel all nightall three are quiet — that's why they're cousinssame family as the bug in the gift box

The bug's three cousins — the spying bug, the ad bug, and the bug that makes you work.All three are family to the bug in the gift box. They break nothing, lock nothing, and quietly take what is yours.

The spying bugwrites down passwords, letters, what's out the window
The ad bugsticks flyers on windows and gets paid
The working bugspins our wheel all night to make its own gold
All three stay quietgetting noticed is the end for them
usuallatelythe candle burns twice as fastWOOF!the guard dog sniffs it outmatched against the bug cardsslow castle, fast-burning candle — someone is working in secret

The way to notice is the candle. When a bug turns the wheel, the candle burns fast.The candle is electricity and the computer's power. Slow, hot, and a bigger bill — be suspicious. Then the guard dog and the bug cards find it.

FREE TOOLSit rides along in a free-tool boxsometimes someone you know plants itopen it first in the windowless roomunknown boxes go to the empty room first — and keep an eye on the candle

Most ride in with a box of free tools. Sometimes someone you know plants one.Open an unknown box in the windowless empty room first. If there's a bug, it can only crawl around in there.

In one breath

Spyware, adware, cryptojacking = the bug's three quiet cousins. One writes down your passwords, one sticks flyers on every window, one turns your wheel all night to make its own gold. A slow castle and a fast-burning candle are the giveaway.

Spyware secretly collects keystrokes (keyloggers), screens and files and sends them out; adware injects ads for profit; cryptojacking mines cryptocurrency on someone else's CPU and electricity. All three aim to stay unnoticed, so watch CPU usage, network traffic, and what is installed.

When grown-ups say it

Spyware
Watches in secret, sends in secret. Passwords, letters, where you go. Sent to the thief outside the castle every night.
Keylogger
Writes down the password you say at the door. Every letter, one by one. That's why a password alone isn't enough → the doorkeeper who checks three times
Adware
Flyers on every window. The bug's owner gets paid for every flyer. The mildest cousin — but annoying, and it slows things down.
Cryptojacking
Turns our wheel all night. Makes its own gold (cryptocurrency) with our power and electricity. The reason the candle burns fast.
Stalkerware
Planted by family or a partner. The same as the spying bug, but planted by someone you know. Common on phones.
Bundled install
Tucked in the corner of a toolbox. Free tools come with a bug attached. Look inside the box before clicking next, next, next.
Ransomware vs. spyware
Loud vs. quiet. The lock bug earns by being noticed; the cousins earn by not being. → the thief's lock on every chest
Sandbox
The room for opening unknown boxes. If a bug comes out, it can't leave that room. → the windowless empty room
Next story
The Runner at the Back Door →
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