By David A. Vise
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 6, 2004; Page E01

America Online plans to announce today that it will soon begin providing automated anti-spyware software to its subscribers, joining EarthLink as the only major Internet services to offer enhanced security against programs that secretly track the Internet habits of millions of computer users.

Hiding within computers, spyware gleans information that can be sold to third parties for moneymaking purposes. The data range from targeted advertising, which is legal, to identity theft, which is not. Recent studies also have linked spyware -- which often is surreptitiously placed on the computers of Internet users and can be difficult to remove -- to slowed computer performance, software glitches and problems with Internet connections.

Spyware may find its way onto computers when users swap music online, visit certain Web sites or merely search the Internet for information. It is a wide-ranging term, referring to relatively benign software that records which ads have been served to your computer to more nefarious programs capable of logging keystrokes or capturing screen images to monitor Internet behavior.

"This is the biggest undiagnosed problem on the Internet," said EarthLink spokesman Jerry Grasso.

AOL officials agree. Their new anti-spyware program will automatically run weekly, giving users of the nation's biggest Internet service a list and a description of spyware programs on their computers and the ability to disable them.

"Spyware is an electronic stalker that secretly watches the online activities of millions of Americans every day," said David Gang, executive vice president of AOL products. "Because spyware hides in the background and quietly attaches itself to other programs, most computer users don't even realize they have it on their machines."

EarthLink, which began offering anti-spyware protection to its subscribers in October, has embarked on a new program to make all computer users more aware of the dangers of spyware. EarthLink's new product, dubbed "Spyware Audit," should be available for downloading free within a few weeks from the company's Web site. It will provide users with a description and list of spyware on their computers.

However, the spyware audit will not provide users with a way to disable programs they discover. For that, EarthLink officials said, users will need to obtain an anti-spyware program. Some, such as the no-frills version of Lavasoft's Ad-Aware program, are free. Others can be purchased separately or are included in an Internet provider's offerings.

A new version of MSN that will be released Thursday does not have a separate anti-spyware package but includes spyware scanning and cleansing as part of its anti-virus program, a spokeswoman for MSN said yesterday.

With the new anti-spyware devices, computer users typically will see a list of programs that have been placed on their computers and are given the choice about whether they want to keep or disable the programs. In many cases, disabling is a better option than removing the nettlesome programs since they frequently attach themselves to other software users may want to retain.

Matt Cobb, vice president of products for EarthLink, predicted spyware eventually will exceed computer viruses as a problem online, since viruses are malicious, but spyware -- a category that includes "adware" enabling marketers to know more about the demographics and habits of computer users -- is often driven by the quest for profits.

"This is a large threat and an emerging threat," said Jeff Kimball, AOL's vice president of products.