spyware

[ spahy-wair ]

noun

1. Computers. software that is installed surreptitiously and gathers information about an internet user's browsing habits, intercepts the user's personal data, etc., transmitting this information to a third party:

   a parent's use of spyware to monitor a child's online activities.

2. tools that are used to conduct espionage:

   sophisticated spyware that rivals that of the CIA.

spyware

/ ˈspaɪˌwɛə /

noun

1. computing software installed via the internet on a computer without the user's knowledge and used to send information about the user to another computer

Word History and Origins

Origin of spyware¹

First recorded in 1980–85; spy + -ware

Example Sentences

But a bit of spyware injected into the activist movement may have been sent to do the trick.

From The Daily Beast

They found that all the information captured by the spyware was sent to a remote server in Korea.

From The Daily Beast

What they found was a piece of spyware siphoning data and creating audio files of voice calls.

From The Daily Beast

At first, Stuxnet was thought to be spyware; its goal, industrial espionage.

From The Daily Beast

A new poll reveals that 88 percent of Chinese internet users do not want the new spyware in their computers.

From The Daily Beast

Who voted to put the cameras in our classrooms and follow us around with creepy spyware chips in our transit passes and cars?

From Project Gutenberg