ICUType

The NYTimes reports that keylogging is the new phishing. Trojans that rely on infection rather than deception, this growing form of "crimeware" silently copies the keystrokes of computer users and sends that information over the Internet -- often overseas -- to their masters. The programs -- installed from downloads or sometimes merely by websurfing -- filter your data for bank passwords and other financial information. Security specialists are calling them "the wave of the future."

Meanwhile, Microsoft has announced that the next version of Windows will track Web sites visited by users. Windows Live Family Safety Settings, which also includes net filtering features, is intended to let parents monitor their kids' surfing, but then who knows what other uses could be found for the software.

Not that criminals and Microsoft are alone, of course. News of the government's attempts to get at Google search data has lots of people thinking about whether innocuous searches could get them in hot water. According to a NYTimes story, one woman felt it necessary to confess to her boyfriend that she searched for the term "rent boy" after seeing the unfamiliar term in a news story. Another observer noted:

When you're researching something ... and you look up the word "circumcision," you're going to end up with all kinds of pictures of naked children," he said. "And that can be misconstrued.

God knows what the government would think if you are foolish enough to blog about such things!