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

The lawsuit alleges that NSO’s spyware, known as Pegasus, and other malware have caused Apple monetary and property damages, and violated the human rights of Apple users along the way. January 3, 2022 – Apple becomes the world’s first company valued at $3 trillion. —Cnn.com, The Mercury News, 21 Mar. 2024

Meta’s WhatsApp has scored a major legal victory against the Israeli spyware vendor NSO Group. —Alexandra Sternlicht, Fortune, 1 Mar. 2024

Even if high-profile firms like NSO Group were put out of business—admittedly an unlikely outcome—this would still not shut down the spyware market. —Vas Panagiotopoulos, WIRED, 24 Jan. 2024

In early 2010, Tung installed spyware on a computer that belonged to his then-wife, Sophie Meneut, and discovered her affair with Cantor, according to the decision in Tung’s appeal that overturned his conviction. —Tim Stelloh, NBC News, 4 Jan. 2024

Apple, for instance, released a security patch in September intended to fix vulnerabilities that allowed NSO Group to install its Pegasus spyware on targets’ phones. —Chris Velazco, Washington Post, 6 Mar. 2024

In 2021, the US government said NSO Group’s spyware had been used against roughly a dozen State Department employees serving in Africa. —Brian Fung, CNN, 5 Mar. 2024

The agency's announcement specifies that these restrictions cover people either involved in using spyware against activists, dissidents, journalists, and other marginalized or vulnerable communities or people who have helped or made money off that misuse. —Rob Pegoraro, PCMAG, 6 Feb. 2024

The natural comparison to be made here is to Grindr, the gay dating app whose popularity, spyware features, and obvious blackmail potential were swiftly recognized to be an intolerable civic and national-security threat. —The Editors, National Review, 12 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1994, in the meaning defined above