Surveys conducted by Pew Internet & American Life Project (PIP) show spyware and other harmful programs are changing Internet users' online habits, according to report by ChinaByte.com on July 8.

The survey results show that 90 percent of the respondents changed their habits in net surfing for fear of falling victim to vicious software. The surveys show that their worries differ with individual experience.

One fourth of the Internet users have seen new programs or their icons, which they did not install, appear on their computers. One fifth of them had seen their homepages inexplicably changed. These two phenomenon are both common infections by vicious software.

The computers of 68 percent of the surveyed had problems since last year, among them are spyware, virus infection, yet 60 percent of the users with computer problems cannot tell the reason.

The surveys show, 81 percent of the Internet users say they no longer open unrequested attachment in e-mails.

48 percent of them say, for fear of spyware, they no longer visit websites that might deceit the viewers.

One fourth of them say in order to prevent harmful software into their computers, they no longer download music or visual documents from P2P networks.

18 percent of them say they have started to use other Internet browsers to avoid software attacks.

"Familiarity breeds contempt when it comes to spyware. The more internet users know about these programs, the more they want to sound the alarm and take steps to protect themselves," said Susannah Fox, PIP's Associate Director.

By People's Daily Online