best spyware removing software?

[kevinf2090]

i am just wondering if there are better ones out there now. i usually just use spybot search and destroy or adaware. which one is the better out of those two. is there anything better now that's free?

 

[compman25]

superantispyware

 

[Iron Woode]

there is a free but crippled version of PCTools Spyware Doctor. Its better than spybot or the free Adaware, but it does have limitations. Its part of Googlepack.

I just went to my nearest Futureshop and bought Spyware Doctor 2008 which was on sale for $20.00.

 

[ChAoTiCpInOy]

Windows Defender

 

[xgsound]

I've also found Superantispyware to be safe and effective. There's no one good answer because Spyware is such a moving target. Here's a link to some other info at Castlecops for Smitfraud, trojans and such. http://wiki.castlecops.com/Mal...d_Prevention:_Overview Use highjack this with much caution, that is, check out items before applying a fix because it shows many essential files. When in doubt, scan only and check out the items to fix in depth.


Jim

 

[jaqie]

I actually stopped using all of the antispyware programs after a few years of Opera and a nice big fat urlfilter.ini blocking most malware sites, because all the antispyware programs I ran never found a g.d. thing. Now, I just run CCleaner, AVG free, and Opera with that nice big fat urlfilter.ini

On the flip side, I have found that if I do install and run Firefox, even with the adblock plus plugin and subscribing to quite a few of the available lists, I get spyware on the system...so I just don't run FF. *shrugs indifference*

 

[George P Burdell]

Wasn't there a consolidated thread about this somewhere?

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: jaqie
I actually stopped using all of the antispyware programs after a few years of Opera and a nice big fat urlfilter.ini blocking most malware sites, because all the antispyware programs I ran never found a g.d. thing. Now, I just run CCleaner, AVG free, and Opera with that nice big fat urlfilter.ini

On the flip side, I have found that if I do install and run Firefox, even with the adblock plus plugin and subscribing to quite a few of the available lists, I get spyware on the system...so I just don't run FF. *shrugs indifference*

Now try a non-Administrator user account (step #1 there).


Oh, and I think the best spyware-removing software might be DBAN :evil:

 

[jaqie]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Now try a non-Administrator user account (step #1 there).

I tried LUA with XP, been there done that. too much trouble when my chosen apps and computer habits have kept me malware and virus free for... oh, going on ten years now. It is a great idea for most folks, but not me.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: jaqie

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Now try a non-Administrator user account (step #1 there).

I tried LUA with XP, been there done that. too much trouble when my chosen apps and computer habits have kept me malware and virus free for... oh, going on ten years now. It is a great idea for most folks, but not me.

Out of curiosity, what kinds of spyware was being installed when you were using FireFox? Are we talking, like, tracking cookies, or are we talking serious stuff like bogus fake antispyware apps sneaking in? What attack vector do you figure was being used, a vuln in FF itself, or an exploit of an add-on, or ???

 

[jaqie]

Mostly nothing serious, mostly just cookies from all sorts of crap sites, though the biggest problem I had was popunders. Happened with both FF3 beta (minefield) with adblock plus subscribed to the US (and a few other) blocklists, and the same with 2.x... not technically spyware, mostly.
I don't remember the few actual spyware things spybot did find, but nothing was too difficult to get rid of, but there were a few now and then that would hit me when I used FF. It has been quite a while since I actively used firefox on anything except a temporary install, so I really can't remember all too clearly exactly what they were, sorry. The urlfilter.ini I use in opera is probably the largest part of it, and I can email it to you if you wish to see.

I don't know nor care what attack method/vector was used to get through FF, to be honest, I just knew it was happening. I only ever install adblock plus when using FF, so no other addins were there. I know there are a lot available, it just never interested me.

I am actually getting a new video module for my "new to me" laptop, and I can run a sacrificial install on that a while (after a drive image XML backup) as a honeypot... if you are interested in the results, PM me, and I will do so and then send you results via a PM. I am installing the latest spybot now, if you want the results after I upgrade to the latest beta detection rules, I can get them to you as well.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: jaqie
Mostly nothing serious, mostly just cookies from all sorts of crap sites, though the biggest problem I had was popunders. Happened with both FF3 beta (minefield) with adblock plus subscribed to the US (and a few other) blocklists, and the same with 2.x... not technically spyware, mostly.
I don't remember the few actual spyware things spybot did find, but nothing was too difficult to get rid of, but there were a few now and then that would hit me when I used FF. It has been quite a while since I actively used firefox on anything except a temporary install, so I really can't remember all too clearly exactly what they were, sorry. The urlfilter.ini I use in opera is probably the largest part of it, and I can email it to you if you wish to see.

Not really. The bad guys create new malicious domains at a breakneck pace, as I found when I was doing SiteAdvisor reviewing for a while, so if I understand the function of the urlfilter.ini correctly, it's never going to provide complete coverage because it's a reactive approach. Also, if/when one of your "OK" websites gets compromised... yeah.

I don't know nor care what attack method/vector was used to get through FF, to be honest, I just knew it was happening. I only ever install adblock plus when using FF, so no other addins were there. I know there are a lot available, it just never interested me.

I am actually getting a new video module for my "new to me" laptop, and I can run a sacrificial install on that a while (after a drive image XML backup) as a honeypot... if you are interested in the results, PM me, and I will do so and then send you results via a PM. I am installing the latest spybot now, if you want the results after I upgrade to the latest beta detection rules, I can get them to you as well.

I'd be interested in hearing, although it may boil down to what one defines as "spyware." I usually use IE7 with third-party cookies arbitrarily blocked (Internet Options > Privacy > Advanced), and never see anything that Spybot S&D considers "spyware" (not even tracking cookies) even after actively hunting malware on very, very nasty sites (using LUA + SRP + Protected Mode). So that's been my experience... nothing beats LUA as a baseline security measure, and having used it for years on everything from Win2000 to Vista, I personally find it's worth the slight "overhead" involved

 

[jaqie]

Sure. here is what was promised (well the first part anyway).
http://foxtecha.com/images/spybot_results.jpg
I took a full screen shot and did not crop because I feel lazy today, it's my birthday
This is after... oh, 6 months of doing what I said in my first post, running no antispyware at all except CCleaner once or twice since I installed, and I fully updated spybot including the beta detection rules before running it. Yes, I realize I need to restart for AVG

~edit~
Opera 9 at secunia
I'd say opera 9 also has a pretty dang good track record, unlike Firefox.
firefox 2.0.X at secunia

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: jaqie
Sure. here is what was promised (well the first part anyway).
http://foxtecha.com/images/spybot_results.jpg
I took a full screen shot and did not crop because I feel lazy today, it's my birthday
This is after... oh, 6 months of doing what I said in my first post, running no antispyware at all except CCleaner once or twice since I installed, and I fully updated spybot including the beta detection rules before running it. Yes, I realize I need to restart for AVG

~edit~
Opera 9 at secunia
I'd say opera 9 also has a pretty dang good track record, unlike Firefox.
firefox 2.0.X at secunia

The Secunia vuln record might just indicate that the security researchers aren't paying much attention to Opera because it's not very popular, however There's always more vulns to find. Which is why I prefer to mitigate them ahead of time (LUA + SRP) instead of waiting to see who'll find them first, the good guys or the bad guys, regardless of what browser it happens to be.

 

[jaqie]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Opera because it's not very popular, however

It isn't? have you stopped to consider what browser is on your cellphone?
Check. Chances are, it's opera.

 

[bigsnyder]

I am sorry if this was already mentioned, but what is "FF" ? Is that a reference to Firefox?

 

[jaqie]

Yes, almost always.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: jaqie

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Opera because it's not very popular, however

It isn't? have you stopped to consider what browser is on your cellphone?
Check. Chances are, it's opera.

If there's a browser on my cellphone, I'll eat my hat And I don't even have a hat!

This :camera:, btw, is the Spybot S&D scan result on my Vista64/IE7 system's malware research account, which as the name implies, is used for hunting malware and exploits, rather than avoiding them. Just in case anyone's curious... yeah, you can secure Windows. If you want to.

 

[compman25]

Originally posted by: jaqie

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Opera because it's not very popular, however

It isn't? have you stopped to consider what browser is on your cellphone?
Check. Chances are, it's opera.

Hmm, I have a blackjack, curve and a centro, not one of them has Opera.

 

[jaqie]

Has or shows that it has? opera embedded tends to hide that it is opera.
If your phone can browse web pages, chances are fair, that's opera doing it (not the computer-phone hybrids, the smaller less expensive ones). There are a few other embedded browsers, but that is how opera has made it's money for years.
http://www.news.com/2100-1023-961831.html is a good example (note the date).
Another short blurb on opera coming built-in on cellphones:
http://www.about-nokia.com/nok...cell-phone-browser.php
There are many, many more blurbs about opera being the default on many phones, just do a bit of googling.

 

[mechBgon]

As you like it. My website's visitor stats show Opera users outnumbered more than 10 to 1 by FireFox users, and even more than that by IE users.

 

[jaqie]

I'm not talking about PC version. I know quite well that PC opera users account for about 1% of browsers... Im talking about the cells.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: jaqie
I'm not talking about PC version. I know quite well that PC opera users account for about 1% of browsers... Im talking about the cells.

I realize you're talking about the cell-phone version

 

[jaqie]

*shrug* OK. Ive not been able to find stats anywhere on this, despite an hour plus of googling, but I did find lots of refs to phones coming prepackaged with a non-branded version of opera mini. Do you have proof otherwise? If so I really would would like to see it - I don't have qualms with being proven wrong, unlike most people seem to, but so far I can only find evidence that opera is there but hidden on a large amounts of cellphones.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: jaqie
*shrug* OK. Ive not been able to find stats anywhere on this, despite an hour plus of googling, but I did find lots of refs to phones coming prepackaged with a non-branded version of opera mini. Do you have proof otherwise? If so I really would would like to see it - I don't have qualms with being proven wrong, unlike most people seem to, but so far I can only find evidence that opera is there but hidden on a large amounts of cellphones.

Maybe it is. How that would be relevant to the PC version in a thread discussing spyware and anti-spyware countermeasures on Windows PCs, in the Software For Windows forum, I'm not sure.

:beer: