While spyware isn't as destructive to data as other forms of malware, spyware can cumulatively add up to more of a productivity drain, given that users don’t rush to report it or get it fixed. Respondents reported living with the problem for an average of 18 work hours, with those hours spent dealing with minor annoyances such as closing pop-ups, fighting Web redirects, application slowdowns or freeze-ups, and self-remediation.

Average time spent per spyware incident:

• Users "living with it" before repair: 18 hours
• PC support labor hours to repair: 2.8 hours