barnacle

The term derives from the name of a crustacean that attaches itself to whales and boats, among other things. Like its marine counterpart, the computer barnacle can be difficult to eradicate. According to PC Mechanic, barnacles often use confusing uninstall wizards. Another tactic that a barnacle may use is to require the user to fill out an online form to uninstall. Because the host system is quite likely to be clogged with spyware, there may not be sufficient resources available to allow them to do so.

Computer barnacles, like other spyware, can seriously affect computer performance. Unlike most spyware, however, they may also cause damage. Some barnacles interfere with the Winsock code that handles input/output requests for Internet applications in Windows operating systems. Winsock runs between a program (such as a browser) and the program that uses TCP/IP. Removal of this type of barnacle may corrupt Internet protocols and degrade network performance, in which case the user must reinstall the TCP/IP stack.

The term barnacle is closely related to drive-by download, which is programming downloaded without user consent and often without the user's knowledge that any download has occurred.

Read more about barnacle: - Read all about spyware detection and prevention in our Learning Guide. - PC Mechanic has more information about barnacles in their spyware guide.

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