Anti-Spyware

So if you have an anti-virus program, do you really need an anti-spyware program too? The answer is a resounding yes!! I have almost absolute faith in VIPRE, my anti-virus of choice, but I rely on a couple of anti-spyware programs in addition to that.

As good as most of the anti-virus programs are, it is always a good idea to have a backup to cover the things that might be missed. Anti-spyware programs look at your PC differently than your anti-virus program does, and can find things that might have been 'overlooked' as non-threatening.

While viruses are generally considered destructive in nature, spyware (which is included in the "malware" category) is primarily concerned with gathering information about a user and transmitting that information back to a concealed host system. The information is then used for a variety of things, depending on what information the spyware program was designed to seek, but uaually for identity theft.

The "Adware" category of malware generally tracks the surfing habits of the victim in order to gather lists of websites for advertising purposes. This generally involve the use of "tracking cookies" which record website addresses for an advertiser and then forward those cookies to a central server, where they are used to target advertising as the user surfs.

Banner ads and "pop-up" advertising are the most frequent types of ads, and while annoying, do not normally cause any harm. (However, if the advertising sites have been hacked, and the ads themselves are infected with more serious malware, it can present a serious threat to your computer's security.) It can be embarrassing, however if a racy advertisement pops up when surfing a family oriented website. Many anti-virus programs and most anti-spyware programs detect and allow you to remove tracking cookies.

Some email services, such as Gmail, provide free service from an advertising-supported model. They peruse your email messages, extracting keywords that can then be used to target ads within the service. They may or may not forward that information to servers for storage and later use. This type of ad-service does not leave cookies on your PC.

Another kind of spyware, "keyloggers," record a user's keystrokes in a text file and send that text file, along with other information about the PC, back to a central server. The primary purpose of this type of spyware is to gather user account information, such as credit card information, banking information such as account and PIN numbers, email account information and passwords, and whatever else a user types. The information is used for identity theft and may be sold many times by the thieves.

Keyloggers can be very hard to detect and may be either software based, or an actual piece of hardware attached to the computer. The hardware-based keyloggers would usually be found in an office environment (placed there to monitor employee's surfing) or on publicly accessible computers. it is important when using public computers to not access personally sensitive information or websites. Most anti-spyware programs will detect software-based keyloggers.

The most dangerous spyware are of the "Trojan Horse" variety, because they appear to be harmless, but actually provide a "back door' into the computer for other malicious software, such as viruses, keyloggers and other malware, without the user being aware. Free online games and screen savers are prime carriers of this type of malware, as are most "free" browser toolbars. "Free" on the Internet doesn't always mean "free from malware."

Many times you will suddenly see a pop-up ad on your screen saying, "You are infected!!," and offer to run a "FREE" scan to find the malware. Too late! You are already infected! As of late this "scareware" scam has been popping up with screens that claim the FBI (see the photo here) or Homeland Security has (see the photo here) locked up your computer to prevent "damage," or is blocked because of some "violation of the law" and you need to pay a fee to clean it up. But paying the fee will not remove the malware. These malware programs are sometimes labelled the "moneypak" viruses because that is their preferred method of payment.

Another type of program that is becoming very popular among the hacker community is called "Ransomware" and indicates it will not go away until you have "ransom'ed" your computer's freedom. The program encrypts your files, preventing them from being accessed. But even if you pay the outrageous fee they ask, you will still be infected and have just lost your money, and maybe compromised your credit card! The best way to prevent this kind of issue is to back up your data files to an external device periodically and then remove the device from the system so the malware cannot encryt those files.

It turns out that 'spyware' can be just as malicious and dangerous as 'viruses.' How do you protect yourself against these threats? The best option is proactive protection - have high quality anti-virus and anti-spyware software installed already, and keep it up to date, so that if and when you get infected, you can be protected, or at least have the tools to remove the offending software. Some of the best anti-spyware programs are free, but have paid versions as well.

The free versions require some work on your part, most notably keeping them up to date and running periodic scans. The paid versions auto-update and can be set to auto-scan as well, and provide some form of real-time protection. I do not recommend a paid malware programs if you are running an antivirus program because they both do a virus scan and this can slow your pc to a crawl as they interfere with each other. A manual version needs to be run by the user, but it will not interfere with your antivirus program.

My Anti-spyware program of choice is Malwarebytes. Their software is excellent and finds virtually all the malware out today during their deep scan process. The technical support and development groups are very good at providing assistance, as I can attest, having worked with them on several occasions at my day job. They have my heartiest recommendation, and their paid version is well worth the investment. You can download the free version at that link also. (See the Malwarebytes how-to-run-it video coming soon.)

One of the best things about Malwarebytes is that it can be downloaded, installed, updated and run in "Safe Mode," and still works perfectly! (In case you get infected before you get around to installing it!)

Here is a list of some other Anti-spyware programs worth considering:

SuperAntiSpyware - Very powerful, finds and fixes almost everything.

Ad-Aware - Been around a while, but still does the job

Spybot - Another mature product, works very well

Combofix - Also installs and runs in safe mode, use this in combination with Malwarebytes for especially nasty infections. NOTE: Combofix does not run on Windows 10!, It only works on older versions (XP/Vista/7/8/8.1) I