As Eric Howes updates us at BBR security forum on the FTC's dog and pony show, businesses are finding that it's not just an annoyance, but a real productivity hit - and potential legal minefield - when spyware infests their network and systems. Although Eric's view of what will come of the hearings is justifiably pessimistic to date, we can expect more pressure from big hitters to influence legislation and public policy.

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Florida Cardiology P.A., which provides heart-disease diagnosis and treatment in six locations around Orlando, has 88 PCs. IT administrator Nick Butler discovered earlier this year that virtually every computer had been infected with some type of spyware. It created a serious drag on productivity, with some systems taking more than 12 minutes to start and others unable to properly connect to the Internet.

Since Florida Cardiology handles personal medical information, the presence of spyware scared Butler. "No one knows for sure what this stuff is doing," he says. "What if one of these things is keystroke logging or captures patient information? That's an unacceptable risk"

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For the story, see

»www.informationweek.com/story/sh···19200218