Security applications
Stop direct marketers from spying on you
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The Internet is littered with spyware, tiny apps that live on your hard drive and either direct you to advertising sites you don't want or record your Internet surfing activities to download even more advertising. We look at five antispyware products and recommend the best. By Robert Vamosi (May 17, 2004) |
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If spam is your personal nightmare, consider the havoc adware or spyware may wreak. These tiny applications either feed advertising to software already running on your computer or, worse, collect data about your Internet surfing habits, then broadcast that data to marketers worldwide. Often, you don't even realize that you've installed these apps because they either piggyback on free software that serves another purpose (say, the ad-serving app Cydoor, which is included with the Kazaa file-sharing program) or, often, download and install via nefarious Web sites (notice a new default home page or search engine for your Internet Explorer?). The end result is that your browser may default to unusual search-engine sites or produce odd search results, and you may see exponential growth in the number of pop-up ads that litter your desktop while you surf. How can you find out whether your machine is infected? We look at five antispyware apps that will scan your PC and remove these pests. Our favorite spyware killer Once again, Spybot Search and Destroy is our Editors' Choice. It's free--even the periodic file updates--and it offers both basic and advanced modes and includes the widest variety of customization. In our informal tests, Spybot was also the most thorough of the five antispyware products we reviewed. If you're new to the spyware threat, it can't hurt to download a free (no strings attached) copy of Spybot to see whether your system is infected. Equally good options The other apps we reviewed are all equally good; they'll do the job--but they required payment or annual subscriptions, didn't catch everything, or weren't as customizable as Spybot. Running a close second is Ad-aware 6.0 Standard Edition. Ad-aware has been around for years and isn't about to concede ground to the new kids on the block. It continuously updates its look and functionality, and paid versions of Ad-aware offer proactive spyware-blocking and network capabilities. Another familiar name is PestPatrol 4.2, which is also not free but offers a soothing interface and a powerful scanning engine. New to the scene, McAfee AntiSpyware is currently available only as a download from McAfee Security or as a feature within McAfee Internet Security. Like the paid editions of Ad-aware, McAfee's AntiSpyware and Webroot's Spy Sweeper both offer automatic spyware blocking to prevent new spyware from ever taking root on your PC. Whether the app is free or paid, any of these antispyware applications should remove the most dangerous spyware from your PC. Read the full review:
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