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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There’s a spyware scandal in Italy, where 44-year-old IT consultant called Nunzio Samuele Calamucci is accused of abusing his access to Interior Ministry systems that his company had been tasked with maintaining. —

Thomas Brewster, Forbes, 5 Nov. 2024 The White House’s scrutiny of the contract marks the first test of the Biden administration’s executive order restricting the government’s use of spyware. —

Vas Panagiotopoulos, WIRED, 21 Oct. 2024 This designation is well deserved: Pegasus is a spyware tool popular with repressive governments looking to surveil activists, journalists, and political opponents. —

Marietje Schaake, Foreign Affairs, 26 Sep. 2024 This, however, plays into insignificance against spyware, which has increased by a shocking 101%. —

Davey Winder, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for spyware