Stealth Spyware?

All this coversation about the recent Malware incident between ad-aware and Radlight got me into thinking something that could be totally off the wall or actually have meaning.  Since this fight could turn ugly would companies who use spyware start to turn to something I like to call...

Stealth Spyware or even Spyware Viruses  (Possably encrypted) components that actually changes itself or is encrypted enough to hide from your Virus/Anti-spyware remover programs.  Won't that be interesting to fight off.  Even a combination of the two.  

And why not?  There are stealth viruses that hide from Anti-virus software.

Here is another idea I have thought of based on Stealth Spyware

Stealth Viruses that actually look for spyware on your computer and changes it.... I mean people get Anti-spyware software after they relize the potential dangers of spyware right?  It might be that they have spyware on their computer before they download the program and then get rid of it but what if a virus changed that spyware component to be hidden before you download such an anti-spyware program.  Then you did you scan and it shows up nothing but the virus had already changed it.  Even if you did get rid of the virus the changed spyware is still lurking and targeting information to the mothership.

Am I choke full of bolognia or do I have a valid point?  I know nothing about programming so I would like some opinions about this possable to come new threat.

 

As far as this goes, yes it is quite possible (look at the Brilliant Digital threat - downloading new components all the time), and I would guess something like this will happen soon.

To combat it? Anti-spyware vendors will have to add in heuristics to their software, or some other technology to detect the mutations.

Is it very likely to become widespread? I would guess NOT - probably because, since it is such virus-like activity, any company that would get involved with something like that would end up getting in legal trouble (and since these companies are skirting the edge in many cases anyway, and are trying to make money, I doubt that strategy will become very widespread). Virus makers, on the other hand, are not selling their viruses to be distributed for money (and thus, use these sort of scary techniques).

We might see a little more of this, and I'm guessing these spyware programs might start changing their file names - but as far as the files changing themselves - they'd probably get targeted by an Anti-Virus company, and that's the LAST thing theses "stealth" spyware companies want to happen.

-javacool