Spyware firms targeting children

Wireless makes things worse
While the pain of pop-up ad software is hardly new, Symantec says adware and spyware targeting children have quietly ticked up in recent months thanks to the proliferation of wireless networks.  There will be 12.6 million home wireless networks in the U.S. by year's end, according to Jupiter Research. 

And in wireless homes, it's much harder to control kids' Internet use, Lane said. The PC in the living room often isn't the only computer with Net access any more, he said.

"Parents are getting an eye opener in the last year, and it's driven by wireless internet, he said.  "Last year, there was an old PC delegated to the kid, and that PC was offline. They used it to do their homework, and spent time trying to sneak onto to dad's machine for the Internet. Now that PC upstairs is connected wirelessly." Parents can't watch everything their kids are doing all the time, he said.

Industry groups and lawmakers are trying to fight back. Both America Online and Microsoft Corp. offer special anti-spyware tools. Microsoft's new anti-spyware program has been downloaded 14 million times since it was released, the firm says. 

(MSNBC is a Microsoft - NBC joint venture.)

Meanwhile, the the Safeguard Against Privacy Invasions Act, or SPY Act, sponsored by Rep. Mary Bono, R-Calif., is making its way through Congress. The bill passed the House last year, but died in the Senate. A slightly different version of the bill was passed by a House committee in February.

And just last week the New York State attorney general's office filed against Intermix Media Inc. of Los Angeles, alleging that firm secretly installed pop-up ad software on millions of computers. The firm tricked users with promises of free games and screen cursors, the lawsuit claims — tools often attractive to children.

But there are no signs of spyware letting up any time soon. Anti-spyware firm Webroot claimed in a report issued this week that adware is a $2 billion-a-year business, and home PCs are infected by an average of seven programs.

"I think if parents realized what was out there, you'd have a lot more parents setting parental controls," AOL's Weinstein said. 

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