Wierdness of commercial "anti-spyware"s

[Brain Cell]

Note : the question is in blue in case you don't have time to read the whole issue.


I've been super paranoid about my computer for no reason lately. (my geeky sense has been tingling )

anyways... i always scan my computer with updated Norton , spybot : S&D and adaware , but this time i decided to give other programs a try since , as people say , different anti-spy programs detects different threats. Like if one of them doesn't detects something the other would...

So... i searched google to see whats the best software(s) out there and tried the "free scanning" things (only scanning , no removal untill you register) with these proggys : Xoftspy , noadware , Pestpatrol , spyware nuker and probably others i don't remember.

What really ........es me off is that these programs show almost tottally different results. Some say that im infected with trojans , some say i have adwares running ...etc , and when i try to follow the manual removal i just can't find anything to remove so its probably a false positive ... i don't really know.....

basically my question is .. whats the BEST FREE anti-spyware out there that detects keyloggers and trojans effectivley?

appreciate your help..

[Salem]

> spyware nuker
Well since spybot S&D lists this as a "problem", you've got to decide who you trust?
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/threats/258.html

There is no perfect anti spyware, the same way there is no perfect antivirus software.
You can't just download and install some piece of magic and then hope that you can freely surf all the dodgy websites and open all the dodgy emails and remain safe.

You have to back it up with lots of other things like say
- having a decent firewall or two
- keeping your software up to date with patches
- downloading only the software you need from reputable sources
- deleting any unsolicited files whether sent by email, instant messenger, url link or whatever.

[sean]

Ad-Aware and AVG are both pretty good free tools, but like Salem said, it's all about having a variety of strategies. Be flexible. Think of it like an old fashioned battle. Of course you're going to want to have the best shield by your side, but what kind of idiot just runs at a guy with a sword without taking some form of action to kill the guy first? Get a couple of good tools (not just one - have a couple of AV programs and a couple SpyWare ones too). Toegther, they'll minimize security holes.

[Brain Cell]

ok then can you please name some of these good anti-spywares that doesn't just give you false results like the one i tried?

[ober]

Ad-aware and Spybot S&D are the best ones out there that I know of. Good luck finding something better.

[sean]

I just read your full post, and realized your problem: You're using programs that want you to think your computer if full of crap. It's like that scam when people figured out that most of your facial hair actually grows a couple hours after waking up. So people would shave, grow a fair amount on the way to work, and then run into a shaver salesman outside their office. Then they'd see all the facial hair they missed! Some of these sites that want you to see how much you need their product are even going to throw some fake hair into the mix. Go with the recommendations already given - they're honest.

[The Brain]

i would like to offer www.panicware.com as a possible alternative.. you can get a free spyware scanner and a pop-up blocker at the same place.. as far as firewall protection goes.. you should activate your windows based firewall until you can get something better. (if you aren't sure how to do this.. then just ask)

[Brain Cell]

sean_mackrory :
yup , thats what i thought too. thanks for replying

The Brain :
thanks for the recommendation .

[MisterSako]

go to download.com

download a program called "spybot search and destroy"its free, make sure you update it, it also has othe features like the immunize thing

another one you can get off download.com which seems to be a little more popular than spybot is that new Ad-aware SE whatever. use one of those.. or both if you want to.

[Draco]

As a quick recommendation, I suggest using both. I had adaware for a long time and then got spybot, each catches things the other misses, and it's great having spybot's feature of blocking spyware before it's downloaded.

[Waldo2k2]

spywareblaster from javacool software has slightly better blocking than spybot, use it as well because it updates blocking capabilities more frequently (spybot even recommends having it). I'm pretty satisfied with it.

[Brain Cell]

another one you can get off download.com which seems to be a little more popular than spybot is that new Ad-aware SE whatever. use one of those.. or both if you want to.

well i already said that i use them . But thanks for taking your time to reply to my thread


Trojans can be easy detected manually. What gets me paranoid (always) are keyloggers since they use other applications' exe's to send reports. Like once , a key logger used my norton's ccapp.exe or whatever its called to send reports .

[Driver]

A lot of the decent anti-spyware sites are all connected together in some way: TomCoyote is hosted by AllSecPros, and the people behind AllSecPros run Net_integration, the official support forum for Spybot S&D.

Some anti-spyware solutions, including some of the paid ones, actually give you deliberate false positives in order to goad you into buying them.

I'm an active member in the anti-spyware community myself, and have moderator powers at one or two of them.

Look for the Alliance of Security Analysis Professionals (ASAP) - you're in good hand following advice from them.

Here is a small list of good forums (not all, there are so many of them) where you'll get good recommendations and advice on how to deal with malware:

www.spywareinfo.com
www.tomcoyote.org
www.net-integration.net
www.suggestafix.com

Here's an article about good and rogue spyware removers.

Hope this helps!

Edit: Here's the Alliance of Security Analysis Professionals site. Note that because of the nature of this work, some of the sites come under DDoS attack and thus become unavailable. Usually word passes quickly, so try another one. Many of the same people help out at those forums.