Bonzi Buddy

Bonzi Buddy, the classic purple monkey, also known as Bonzi was a malicious spyware program developed by Bonzi Software. It was a program that affected many people during the 2000s and its goal is to make it easier for people of all ages to use the Internet. When BonziBuddy is first started it will ask for 3 applications in order to start bonziBuddy. When the app is opened, the purple ape named Bonzi or the green parrot named Peedy will ask the user to enter a "nickname" in order to "recognize it"; then, it will ask for data (Name and surname, Age, Address, Email to register the user at Bonzi.com (if you do not want to register, the character will remember when the program starts again that you must register). In most of cases, it must be taken into account that it is spyware, which will never try to manipulate the computer.

Criticism and controversy

Bonzi Buddy was classified as a spyware virus because it collects various information from the people who registered it as mentioned before.

Also, several people complained about this program, stating that it was annoying and useless.

BonziBuddy used to appear in a pop-up or advertisement, on unreliable or little-known pages. Such as: pages that do not include "http" nor "https", pages of erotic content, pages of pirated movies, among others. The pop-up featured the well-known purple monkey and phrases around it such as "I can talk!" or "I can Search!". The pop-up also had a fake option to close the pop-up, which sent you to the malicious page.

Consequences after installation

Bonzi Buddy secretly monitors, records and transmits activity. The possible symptoms are the most common in this type of programs: slow system performance, system crashes, commercial ads, changing the browser's home page, and so on. It can also cause high CPU usage or slow internet connection due to the used bandwidth.