In order to better understand where spyware is going, or more importantly, where it’s evolved from, we actually need to wind the clock back a lot further than may be first imagined; in fact, over fifteen years. If we look at the embryonic stages of the anti-virus industry, around sixteen years ago there were the first boot-sector viruses. It has taken this time for viruses as we’ve traditionally known them to evolve towards the more commercially viable, or intellectual-property-theft status that we now associate with contemporary viruses, a fact not realized by many. This whitepaper goes in-depth to discuss the history of spyware and its evolving future.