Snoopware

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What Does Snoopware Mean?

Snoopware is a term for specific types of malware that
monitor activity on smart devices. Snoopware may silently collect data on voice
or messaging, or manipulate controls or do other sorts of workbehind the scenes, for example, that could damage systems or change user settings.

Techopedia Explains Snoopware

The term snoopware is often applied to systems that
specifically target smartphones. In the days before smartphones, the word
spyware was often used to talk about malware that provided this kind of
monitoring of laptop or desktop environments. For example, modern snoopware may
monitor phone calls or text messages on a smartphone, or turn the camera or
microphone on or off, or otherwise manipulate the user’s smartphone.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology Expert

Margaret is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.

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