At nine short chapters, this book is written in a simplistic manner. Chapter 1 provides a brief yet sufficient review of the history and evolution of spyware and adware. Chapters 2 and 3 illustrate how spyware and adware can be installed on computers without user knowledge.

Chapters 4, 5, and 7 are concerned with the capabilities of spyware and adware once they are installed, from stealing data via various types of keylogging, to annoying advertisements, to tracking user activities. (For future editions, chapter 5 could use a table that summarizes the characteristics of the various types of advertisements--for example, size changing, content hiding, and content changing.) Chapter 6 briefly describes how (potentially unwanted) advertisements are implemented, as well as countermeasures. The book ends with chapters 8, “Tracking Users,” and 9, “Conclusion.”

Given that there has been relatively little research conducted on the topic, and that this book is based on a course the author taught at the University of Calgary, I am disappointed that Aycock does not include suggestions for future research.