If you surf the internet, you are probably familiar with spyware. Millions of dollars are spent annually detecting, fending off and liberating computer systems from various forms of unwanted spyware. Many states have enacted specific statutes criminalizing unlawful spyware activity, while others prohibit the same illegal conduct under more “traditional” statutes, such as theft of services, criminal mischief, computer trespass or similar statutes.1
There are various forms of spyware, but most forms involve the interception and monitoring of certain electronic communications. Some spyware is a type of software that is utilized by vendors with the consent of their customers to learn how their product is being utilized. Other spyware is utilized by parents to monitor their children’s computer usage, while still other spyware is surreptitiously installed on a computer, without the user’s knowledge or consent, to monitor the subject’s electronic communications. This type of spyware may covertly monitor all the user’s electronic activities, including e-mails, passwords, and Web browsing. Every key stroke and every communication may be intercepted, exposing the user to identity theft, as well as the disclosure of their other confidential information.2
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