Antispyware products put to a test
There is no doubt that spyware is a problem, but when a vendor of anti-spyware software claims 87% of pcs have on average 34 pieces of spyware per machine installed…… you do have to wonder. And when they claim that in part on FREE anti-spyware software…..
“Security analysts blame this increasing infection rate on the adoption of free anti-spyware programs that use outdated technology and don’t provide immediate threat definitions to combat against new and emerging threats. To guard against new spyware programs, home computer users must use an anti-spyware program with frequent definition updates and engines that are capable of removing the toughest spyware from deep within the operating system. Unfortunately, users who only install free anti-spyware programs do not get access to frequently updated definitions and versions.”
Security Fix writer Brian Krebs decided to put a few tools to the test, including that of the company that released the report that the above snipet comes from. (Webroot) Apparently (for starters) tracking cookies were used to make up the # of infections per pc number above. Well, truth is, most web browsers mac/linux/windows probably have a tracking cookie from SOMEPLACE that SOME company considers to be spyware. (Unless they reject cookies entirely) I remember seeing one antispyware tool complain about doubleclick cookies.
Anyway, Brian tested out a couple of free tools against Webroot’s Spysweeper. (Windows defender, ad-aware and spywareblaster were tested.) They were all tested against spycar which is …
Spycar is a suite of tools designed to mimic spyware-like behavior, but in a benign form. Intelguardians created Spycar so anyone could test the behavior-based defenses of an anti-spyware tool.
The bottom line is none of the tools prevented all the attacks. It does sound as though SpySweeper did perform better than the other tools in some areas. SpywareBlaster and Ad-Aware didn’t prevent any of the attacks, although with regards to Ad-Aware he notes…
(in hindsight, including it was kind of a silly thing to do because the free program doesn’t come with real-time detection — just on-demand scanning. In fairness, it found all of Spycar’s registry changes in a subsequent on-demand scan.)
It would be interesting to see how Spybot-Search and destroy would have fared in the real time detection, but… given that these were attacks instead of specific spyware… I really wonder.
Windows Defender prevented one registry change attempt, but allowed others and sat idly as internet option tabs vanished as the spycar ran through it’s tricks. (Defender also let spycar change the hosts file…)
Spysweeper did come out on top in the frequency of updates area (which in anti-spyware software is the key these days.) With 13 updates in the last month compared to 7 for Defender and Ad-aware and 2 for spywareblaster. (Again I wonder about spybot s&d…)
One comment on the article mentions pctools product Spyware Doctor as being very good, obviously not free, but very good. That reminds me there are a few pctools tests that I’ve been meaning to get around to looking at. Thanks for your testing Brian…
Popularity: 2% [?]
Related Posts - Malwarebytes Anti-malware I'm usually a bit leery of new antispyware products. I do a first look at the rogue antispyware lists and just try to be as cautious as possible when moving away from the tools that I've tried and tested. I downloaded malwarebytes anti-malware very reluctantly to clean up a machine......
- The Great Cyberwar It went un-noticed by most people for a few years. After all, the ones that were affected were just those that were "asking for it". Where to start. Let's see, back in the day there were some that sent out messages to other peoples computers and even when people tried......
- Can I have more than One Antivirus Program? This is a question I see quite a bit... in fact I just saw this questoin while browsing the web. Generally it's NOT a good idea to have more than one antivirus program. Given the low level system access that antivirus software needs to have it can interfere with correctly......
Related Websites - Search Engine Marketing 101 Search Engines are one of the most popular methods of finding information in the 21st century. Gone are the days of opening an encyclopedia to find the answer to a question or skimming the yellow pages to locate a local specialist. Search engines are helping us tackle every conceivable problem......
- Secret Strategies For PPC Marketing That Can Get You No Cost Traffic Many folks claim to have the best pay per click advertising strategies. They may tell you you can use a certain keyword and make millions. Or they may try and tell you that their secret software can make you rich from PPC web traffic. I have investigated, researched and tested......
- Using Morningstar’s FREE Instant X-Ray Tool to Evaluate your Portfolio Despite having my Series 6 and 63, I am not an investment expert, by any means, nor do I pretend to be. Luckily, there are free tools out there for people like me to allow me (and maybe you lol) to analyze your portfolio and investments. I personally use......
Similar Posts
- Microsoft to bundle anti-spyware with vista
- US-CERT talks spyware
- Malwarebytes Anti-malware
- Can I have more than One Antivirus Program?
- Would you trust antispyware that installed adware?