spyware

noun

spy·ware ˈspī-ˌwer

: software that is installed in a computer or mobile device without the user's knowledge and that transmits information about the user's activities

Jan should scan her computer for viruses, worms, and spyware …—

Kenneth Baldauf and Ralph Stair

Smartphones belonging to more than three dozen journalists, human rights activists, and business executives have been infected with powerful spyware that an Israeli firm sells, purportedly to catch terrorists and criminals, The Washington Post and other publications reported.—

Dan Goodin

Examples of spyware in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

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Instead of relying on social engineering tricks to get users to grant permissions like most banking trojans or spyware, this malware hides inside seemingly legitimate apps and slips past Apple and Google’s security checks. —

Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 13 Feb. 2025 Apple also discovered the vulnerability through Bill Marczak, a senior research fellow at Citizen Lab, which has investigated and exposed numerous commercial spyware and surveillance vendors, such as Israel’s NSO Group. —

Michael Kan, PCMAG, 10 Feb. 2025 Around 90 users of Meta’s chat service WhatsApp are suspected to have been targets of a spyware campaign conducted by an Israeli spyware company called Paragon Solutions, a WhatsApp spokesperson told NBC News. —

Bruna Horvath, NBC News, 31 Jan. 2025 The spyware, which has reportedly been in use since 2017, was developed by a Chinese company specializing in surveillance technology. —

Lars Daniel, Forbes, 13 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for spyware