New way to deal with spyware!

[hbdragon88]

I just discovered that they have launched a new version of Spywareblaster - and it has support for the newest Firefox browser. Color me protected

Whoa, where have you been? v3.1 was released back in December of last year...that was more than half a year ago...

 

[shadowdude]

Whoa, where have you been? v3.1 was released back in December of last year...that was more than half a year ago...

Yes, but version3.1 didn't support firefox0.9

 

[Paalikles]

I was referring to version 3.2, and the detection updates of July 7th. I ve been around
I have to update my own 3.1 to 3.2 when I get home though, since I am on holiday at the moment...

 

[hbdragon88]

ANOTHER version? Argh. I hate having to update so often...2.6.1 to 3.0 to 3.1 to now 3.2....

 

[Nixnutz]

Update is the name of the game....McAfee updated their virus definitions three times this week......

 

[gonzo_for_civ]

I used to have tons of spyware problems back when ad-aware was in version 5 and updates were few and far between. I used spybot S&D for a while and after adaware 6 came out I figured I would give it a try. After using it for a few months and seeing that the reference files were being updated almost daily I decided to switch back to mainly using 6.0. Recently I decided to buy adaware 6 plus(cost $27) so that I could let others know how well it was working(and because my brother in laws mom kept asking me to fix her computer because her other son kept getting it loaded with spyware and adware from porn sites). Using adwatch almost everything gets blocked(occasionaly something will slip through, but I'm fine scanning every other week or so) and I don't notice any sort of performance hit while keeping it running. Spybot isn't picking up anything that adaware leaves either so I would definately recommend adaware 6 plus or pro if you have the money. If not then I guess you'd have to search around for the best free solution. Also, definately grab yourself an adware blocking hosts file. They aren't hard to find and can block a load of crap at absolutely no cost. The downside is that they usually aren't updated very often where as with spybot or adaware you're updated more than once a week.

 

[hbdragon88]

HOLY CRAP GONZO POSTED!

But is the Plus version of 6.0 really worth it? It does have "Ad Watch" but will it pick up more spyware or something? As far as I see "Ad Watch" is just like Spybot S&D's browser helper and Spyware Blaster's whole purpose, to provide real-time spyware protection.

 

[Titi]

Yes, according to what I read on their site the difference between Ad-aware plus and the free version of Ad-aware 6.0 is the Ad-watch functionality.

 

[GenMarshall]

Personaly, I use 3 Anti-Spyware programs. I use Bazooka Spyware Scanner, Spybot S&D, and Spyware Blaster. After being forced to reinstal windows due to spywares, I have finaly gotten the modivation to install the programs to prevent the nasty programs from getting into my system .

 

[gonzo_for_civ]

Yes it is definately worth it. While you aren't going to catch any additional spyware using plus you don't have to worry about it ever reaching your computer in the first place. It was a tad pricey at $27 but it saves me a ton of time if you consider the amount of web surfing I do. I used to have to clean all the time because system degredation got so bad it was noticable, now I clean it once every week or so to catch the thing or two that get past ad-watch.

Of course I still supplement with spybot S&D because nothing is perfect, but it definately saves me time. I guess time is really the only thing you are going to save plus you don't really have to worry about adware getting on your computer and acting before you can stop it. To me money isn't really a big issue so I got it, spybot's immunize function is something I've used but it really isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Spybot probably cleans a system a little bit better than adaware but immunizing your computer with spybot is about as effective as a chain link fence against mosquitos as far as keeping spyware out. I'm not too sure about the others, but from what I gather their detection rates aren't nearly as high as spybot or adware so I leave them alone, for now.

 

[hbdragon88]

Spyware Guard, a real-time tool against incoming spyware.

 

[Paalikles]

Erm. The cost of your spare time equals your real wage. So time saved is a good thing in two ways - hunting spyware isnt as tiresome as it could be, and the time saved could be spent on other activities

Immunizing with spybot is something I havent found much use for either, though the download blocker works quite well -> in fact people that visit the SF forum might remember my thread about a warning that UGO sites had spyware, and that Spybot's blocker kept them blocked from auto-downloading. I suppose enabling the immunization could be useful somehow, but I am still not sure what it does exactly.

 

[MarineCorps]

Spyware Guard, a real-time tool against incoming spyware.

Hmmmm, looks usefull.

SpywareGuard provides a real-time protection solution against spyware that is a great addition to SpywareBlaster's protection method.

An anti-virus program scans files before you open them and prevents execution if a virus is detected - SpywareGuard does the same thing, but for spyware! And you can easily have an anti-virus program running alongside SpywareGuard.

SpywareGuard now also features Download Protection and Browser Hijacking Protection!

Features Listing: Fast Real-Time Scanning engine - catch and block spyware before it is executed (EXE and CAB files supported) with signature-based scanning for known spyware and heuristic/generic detection capabilities to catch new/mutated spyware
Download Protection - prevent spyware from being download in Internet Explorer
Browser Hijacking Protection - stop browser hijacking activity in real-time
SG LiveUpdate - provides an easy updating solution
Small size - with a small size and small definition sizes, download and updates are quick
Report Capabilities - keep a detailed log of all spyware detected
Spyware files are blocked before being opened or run - they are not simply shut down after they are loaded in memory (and after they have performed their tasks)
It's a free download

And only 913K!

 

[shadowdude]

I thought about using SG but you have to keep it running in the backround all the time and I found it annoying. Since I use firefox instead of IE I really have little use for it anyway!