Turning their attention back to spyware, the Duo explain the many forms taken by the menace and its close relative, adware. Steve was attacked recently by a bit of malware that hijacked his browser, taking him away from the site he meant to be surfing and to another page entirely. Others install icons for various sites (often porn sites) on your desktop, or deliver pop-ups you don't want to see. Most deliver an additional "present" in the form of software that tracks where you go online and reports your doings back to who knows who.
With spyware and adware taking so many forms, is it any wonder that no one program's shown itself to be capable of vanquishing it all? Angela's solution is to run two or even three of these packages, which, fortunately, are often free.
Like Angela, Steve's a big fan of a program called Spybot Search and Destroy, which not only does an excellent job of rooting out the cooties but can also, if set properly, eliminate many pesky online ads. The only drawback to Spybot, in fact, is that it's rather hard to set the program to run automatically--and regular checkups are essential to effective spyware warfare.
Angela uses not only Spybot but also a program called Webroot Spy Sweeper, which has a free trial period (but after that will cost you $30 for a year's subscription). She reports that it catches more malware than the other two programs she runs, and that it's terrific about monitoring system changes such as odd bookmark alterations (which can be a sign of system infection). It is, however, a bit piggy with system resources, and she feels that it pesters her a lot.
The third program running on Angela's computer, Lavasoft's Ad-Aware SE, targets a slightly different set of offenders, but does a good job of catching them. The program's definitions are also kept scrupulously up-to-date, which is as much an issue for anti-spyware packages as for antivirus programs. And, the Duo note, all these programs should be downloaded only from reputable sources such as PCWorld.com; it seems that some nefarious folks have taken to infecting the programs with the very spyware they're meant to fight. Uncivilized.
For additional reviews of the latest spyware-stoppers, check out PC World's Security Infocenter.
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