Rogue/Suspect Anti-Spyware Products & Web Sites

[Eric]

Awww and I was thinking he meant free like all the other fun things in life... j/k...
BTW I can confirm that SpyHunter DOES work but it adds some of it's own sponsor(I think) adware/spyware.

[Stuff2Do]

haha, you use spyhunter? you fall for one of there scams, i thought spybot s&d was fake, i tryed it on a comp i was gonna format before it went on my other comp, and it was ok, so i used that since

[Eric]

I don't use SpyHunter but I've tried it just to see how it is. It wasn't as good as others like SpySweeper, Ad-Aware SE, Spybot S n' D or Pest Patrol CE..

[Stuff2Do]

i just use spybot s&d, i trust it, and its free n legal

[antioco2003]

Black helicopters hover over MS anti-spyware play

"With Microsoft's acquisition of anti-spyware maker Giant Software, the company seems well-poised to enter the anti-spyware and anti-virus marketplace. At the very least, in combination with its well-publicized secure computing initiative, and the security upgrades in Windows XP Service Pack 2, Microsoft appears to be taking security more seriously ...

Or, the company may simply be using its new anti-spyware technology as a ruse for rooting out and eventually destroying unlicensed copies of its operating system.

Early last month Microsoft announced that it would permit downloads of a beta version of its anti-spyware software from its website. However, users attempting to download the software are informed that "[t]his download is available to customers running genuine Microsoft Windows. Please click Continue to begin Windows validation." The website then uploads an executable file called "GenuineCheck.exe" to the users computer.

The executable presumably scans the OS for the license key, and generates a key code that the user is directed to send to Microsoft. If the key code is for an unlicensed version of the OS, the user is directed to purchase the software online, and is denied the opportunity to download the anti-spyware software.

While I am extremely sympathetic to the needs of software companies to fight the multi-billion dollar problem of copyright infringement, I think it is a bad idea to use security as the hook to do so. The same issue came up when Microsoft denied Service Pack 2 to some unlicensed Windows XP users. This can be the electronic equivalent of automatically disengaging the brakes on stolen cars - sure it will reduce automobile theft (and the sale of stolen vehicles), but at the cost of making everyone less safe."

The rest of the article:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/18/ms_anti_spyware/

[Stuff2Do]

hehe, i read that article allready, i always read theregister, lol

[geekerati]

Great post, alot of good programs and websites there. I used Spybot S & D for a long time, but it seemed for awhile that they weren't updating the dat files. There would be weeks of inactivity, so I switched to Ad-aware. Now I've heard that Spybot updates its reference files all the time. I think they are both really good. I just upgraded mine to the pro version.

Thank you ..:: Digital Update ::..

[Stuff2Do]

spybot always has updates for me

[Anonymous]

Originally Posted by Stuff2Do

Who Has Got

Ad-Adware

The Real One Is Meant To Be Ad-Ware


i just use pybot [sic] s&d

im actually gonna go update it now

No, the true product is Lavasoft's Ad-Aware. Adware is the malicious software.
Spybot is good, but doesn't use definitions, and so is failable. I'd personally suggest using Ad-aware and Spybot, plus of course a good firewall that checks outbound connections. The firewall alone can prevent all individual programs 'calling home', and using firefox instead of IE means no dodgy cookies.

[antioco2003]

The list has been updated:

http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm