Steve's Special Review
~~Steve Mills
Stalking the Spies Hiding In Your Computer
New Ad-aware 6 Steps Up the Battle
I hate what they are doing to my Internet!!
- SPAM
- Viruses
- Trojans
- Pop-Ups
- Pop-Unders
- Unwanted Pornographic Ads
- Browser Hijacking
- Ads on my Desktop
- Upgrades that disable old and paid for versions
- Commercial programs like Quicken that leave crap all over the place
and try to sell me something at every turn
Shall I go on? I guess I'm getting old and grumpy - well, I know I'm
getting old - the grumpy part you can decide. I want to go to Comiskey Park,
I don't want to go to U.S. Cellular Field! Of all the things that irritate
me when I sit down to my computer, it's the constant marketing that bothers
me the most. SPAM can be dealt with by judicious use of filters and a good
anti-spam program. Norton does a great job with viruses and Trojans, as long
as you stay up to date. I can delete the garbage that programs like Quicken
leave and reduce the problem. They'll still periodically find ways to sneak
in a sales pitch for some product or service, but I can even live with that.
But, to me, the most heinous of crimes are committed by the purveyors of
spyware. What is spyware? I find this definition adequate and to the point:
Software installed on a computer without the user's knowledge or
consent which watches the habits of the user, gathering information for
retrieval by or transmission to the owner of the spyware.
Shall we call it market research? Some commentators further divide it
into advertising and surveillance categories. However you define it, spyware
is junk on your computer, using your resources and bandwidth for the sole
benefit of some marketing company. At its worst, it causes crashes,
dramatically slows down your computer, steals passwords and hijacks your
browser and replaces the home page. I could go on and, for those that have
an interest, a quick trip to
Google will give you plenty to read.
You need to get this garbage off of your computer - now! I've read that this
stuff mostly comes from file sharing programs and chat rooms. I do neither
and find that seldom a week goes by without something finding its way onto
my computer. I test a lot of software and some of it leaves these little
droppings behind. This is probably as good a time as any to let everyone
know that some of this stuff doesn't go easily - like a tick with its head
buried. Disabling the spyware can affect the operation of the program that
brought it and I've even heard of browsers being disabled after removal.
Take every precaution possible. Set a restore point if you're running XP and
take advantage of all roll back provisions of the program. Most of the time,
there will be no problem, but you've been warned.
For a long time, Ad-aware from
Lavasoft has been the
most popular and, arguably the best, spyware removal tool. For some reason,
unknown to me (but not unknown to Mike Baynes, ABC's expert on
security...see his article last
month for the full story), the regular updates stopped on June 20, 2002.
They received a lot of bad press and disappointed users. Some suggested that
the definitions were so out of date that it could actually harm the
computer. I doubt this, but I do know that the other program I use after
Ad-aware began finding more and more of this junk. This week, they released
version 6.0 and I'm impressed. This review is being written earlier in the
life cycle than I would prefer, but we wanted the readers of ABC to get
early information and I do know Lavasoft has already updated the program to
cure an early, nonfatal, bug. I'm sure readers don't need to be reminded,
but I'm doing so anyway, that new software should be treated like a new car.
Don't drive it too fast before you know if the wheels are going to fall off.
The first thing users of prior versions will notice is the dramatically
improved interface:
Ad-aware 6 is
available in 3 versions. Prior releases had a freeware version and a
commercial version only. The freeware version is called the Standard
Edition. Important new features are:
- Complete control over what is scanned on their computer; from a
total system scan down to a single folder.
- Improved safety, including automatic quarantine and recycle bin
storage of removed components, allows for simple restoration procedures.
- An all new backup archive viewer that allows the user to quickly and
easily review components that have been removed and stored for future
restoration.
- All new and integrated reference file updating capability that will
include the ability to search for new reference files automatically when
Ad-aware is started.
Since I haven't had a chance to review the commercial versions, we'll
rely on their explanation. Ad-aware Plus ($26.95) offers the following:
- Ad-aware Plus Edition is designed to provide continuous protection
from known Datamining, aggressive advertising, Parasites, Scumware,
Keyloggers, selected traditional Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser
hijackers, and tracking components.
- Redundant archival backup capability
- Real-time alerts
- Customizable file size limits
- Non-executable file exclusion
- Kill popups
- Block ActiveX and web installations
Ad-aware Professional ($39.95) appears to be designed primarily for IT
departments and adds the following features:
- Scan mapped drives from one central location.
- Customize your preference and configuration files for remote AND
local scanning
- Have complete flexibility in where you save your log files,
including the ability to store them in remote locations.
- Store and read reference files from any location in your
network. You can also use MULTIPLE reference files for customizable
scanning and troubleshooting.
- Use specially created plug-ins designed to extend the
functionality of the Professional edition for the average to the
most advanced user. Visit our Plug-ins page to obtain more
information about available components.
There are other differences, but this should give you a feel for the 3
versions. From my initial perspective, the freeware version seems perfectly
adequate for manual operation and the Plus version would be nice for
ongoing, real-time protection. Obviously the latter is an additional drain
on computer resources and this must be balanced with the desired level of
protection. My conservative nature tells me to wait on the Plus version
until most latent incompatibilities are ironed out. In any case, go to the
download
page at Lavasoft and grab the Standard version (sometimes called
Personal) and give it a try. You can always upgrade to the next level.
If you've got a fairly large hard drive, this is a program you start and
then go do something else. I have about 30 gigabytes of stuff on my hard
drive and a massive registry. Scanning takes about 30 minutes, depending on
the settings. Really not bad and it seems much faster than prior versions.
Personally, I run a spyware program (actually 2) once a month or so, unless
I'm having strange and sporadic problems. It's surprising how often a
purging of spyware modules can cure unexplained problems.
The other
spyware eradicator I run, as neither one catches everything, is:
Spybot - Search & Destroy
Version: 1.1 release 4
Date: December 28, 2002
Author: PepiMK
Web Site:
http://spybot.eon.net.au
I've covered this in earlier columns, so won't go into detail here.
Search & Destroy has developed a reputation as a geek's program
while Ad-aware is more "consumer". I'm not sure where this came
from. This has been a stable, frequently updated program with a very
usable interface. I developed a deep appreciation during the
Lavasoft hiatus. Both should be on your hard drive.
We'll keep testing Ad-aware this month and try to examine the Plus
version and report back with additional findings. I'm certainly
interested in comments and experiences with this important, new
program. Write me:
steve@millsmail.net
Afterthoughts: As regular readers know, I have a long
standing prejudice against junior versions of software. Of all the
software I currently use on a regular basis, only Adobe Photoshop
Essentials leaves me satisfied and not wishing I owned the big
brother. I get doubly frustrated when I click on a cool option in a
program and something pops up and says - Neat huh? Please send
money to get it. Grrrrrr!!! I absolutely don't begrudge authors
an opportunity to make money off their hard work, but I do resent
demos posing as freeware. I worry as popular freeware programs
gradually morph into commercial products and the program you've come
to rely on is orphaned into obscurity. I think Lavasoft has done a
commendable job in describing what you get at each level, but I feel
there's more of a difference here between the free and paid version
than there was in version 5 and if it progresses as so many have,
you will be forced to buy the commercial version at some point. If
that happens it's not all bad, just another consideration if you
plan to rely on Ad-aware for spyware removal. I could be dead wrong
(wouldn't be the first time), but it's just one of the things I
think about when I put freeware in my working arsenal.
(click
here to see the rest of Steve's reviews this month)
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