Antispyware Software Resources

Anti-Spyware, Anti-malware, and Safe Scripting Software

Note: This list contains software I have actually downloaded, evaluated, found useful and recommend.

Free AV for personal use

AdAware - by LavaSoft, a very good removal tool for unwanted adware and cookies. Free and commercial versions. I have only used the free version.

Adblock - by Michael Gundlach, an extension for Chrome and Safari browsers. List-based ad and malware drop site filtering. Very customizable, you can in fact select and identify any web page element (even Facebook ads)  to clean up your pages nicely. 

ADS Spy - by Merijn Bellekom, this program lists Alternate Data Streams (ADS) on Windows OSs with NTFS file systems. Browser hijackers sometimes store trojan executables or meta-information about their files on this stream, which is hidden when using Windows Explorer.

AutoRuns for Windows v9.51 - from SysInternals, shows you every executable your Windows system will run during system bootup or login, in the order Windows processes them and including the executables in your startup folder. This is the most comprehensive display I've found. Use in conjunction with ProcessLibrary.com to determine whether an executable is necessary, useful, or malicious. BHOList - a gem by Merijn Bellekom, this tool identifies all thes browser helper objects installed on your system.

CCleaner v2.21.940 - from Piriform, Ltd. is a multi-featured system optimization and privacy tool. Use it to clean up browsers (Firefox, Opera and IE), applications (Acrobat, MS Office, Open Office), Windows Explorer, and various System files. It's also a reasonably intuitive Registry scanner and cleaner (to the extent that *anything* related to the Registry is intuitive). There's so much here you really have to download it to appreciate all it can do.

CookieWall - AnalogX's cookie manager lets you keep cookies you want, "one-time allow" a cookie, block cookies you don't want, and even browse the contents of a cookie. Freeware.

Crap Cleaner cleans out the garbage and also removes malicious files which may be hiding in your temp folders.

Ghostery - Very powerful browser extension identifies web bugs, ad networks, widgets on visited web pages. Provides detailed information about what ads collect, what privacy policy they these and ability to block  Available for all popular browsers and iOS mobile devices.

HijackThis! - This utility by Merijn was at one time the nmap of spyware detection.It identifies changes from default IE and registry settings, installed BHOs and DPFs, and more. Trend Micro now supports this utility (developer page)

IE-SPYAD - Adds domain names of known disreputable advertisers to the Restricted sites zone of Internet Explorer. Depending on your firewall, you may be able to import or convert the text list into a blocked list service.

Malware Bytes AntiMalware(a.k.a., MBAM) is a fast, effective malware detection and removal software. The commercial version adds unlocks realtime protection, scheduled scanning, and scheduled updating.

Also from Malware Bytes Corporation:

StartUP Lite - allows you to speed up your system startup by allowing you to disable or remove unnecessary startup entries from your computer.

FileASSASIN - delete locked files that are on your computer. Malware often locks files to prevent removal, but this software lets you delete any locked file (use gently:-).

RegASSASIN - remove registry keys by resetting the keys permissions and then deleting it. Only use this if you understand Windows Registry and be certain to backup your Registry before you modify keys.

NoScript - read my blog post on this excellent utility here.

NSAuditor free utilities - NSA Software offers three anti-spy utilities: BHOscanner, IE Cache Explorer, and Registry Auditor. These can be helpful in identifying suspicious browser helper objects, registry keys and silently installed files.

PUI - UR I.T. Mate Group's Program Unistaller Information shows the uninstall string information from the System Registry, identifies programs that cannot be uninstalled, and detects certain spyware by its uninstall behavior. Freeware.

Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI) is a software patch advisor. PSI checks software you have installed, identifies which have not been patched, and which of these make your system vulnerable to attack. Since many attacks and malware installations result from improperly patched systems, this is a must-have antimalware utility. Run it frequently.

Spyware Terminator - by Crawler LLC, provides real-time protection, full and quick scans (under 1 minute), spyware removal/quarantine, and integration with WinClamAV, a freeware antivirus software. It also provides host intrusion prevention by building a list of installed, spyware-free programs and only allowing these and known-to-be-safe applications to execute. Beginner, advanced and expert settings make this a very interesting and tweakable antispyware package. I especially like the file analysis utility. On my test system, ran without interference or conflict with AVG 7.5 Professional antivirus (I used this instead of WinClamAV on one PC) and other antispyware software (SpywareGuard).

SpyBot and Search and Destroy v1.6.2 scans for and removes spyware. The intuitive reports identify the pest and the components affected. Spybot allows selective removal, provides logging, backup and recovery mechanisms (system restore points), and free updates to the pest database and software. Version 1.4 is a nice improvement over earlier versions. Spybot S & D can run resident with other free and commercial antispyware in a non-intefering manner.

Also from Safer Networking Ltd.:

RunAlyzer - an autostart and configuration manager to find where Windows looks for programs or services at startup Use it to locate and remove places where hijackers, spyware and other malware hide.

FileAlyzer - analyze file properties and to interpret common file contents such as resources structures (like text, graphics, HTML, media and PE).

RegAlizer - improved regedit tool browse and change the registry. Some interesting features include support for exotic value types over background and regular expression search to better bookmarks, and ability to display .reg files in the accustomed style as well as a history view.

Spyware Blaster 4.2 - by Javacool Software provides resident active protection against unintentional downloads and installation of malicious ActiveX controls, and adware. 'Blaster blocks browser hijacking and can restrict actions of spyware and tracking sites in Internet Explorer and Mozilla/Firefox. Javacool provides automatic updates for a small fee of $9.95, and is well worth the investment.

Windows Startup Repair Tool a Windows Vista recovery tool that can correct problemsthat prevent Windows from starting correctly (missing or damaged system files). Startup Repair comes on the is located on Windows Vista installation disc. Find it on the System Recovery Options menu. You may also be able to restore your Windows OS to a previous, stable installation that is saved on your PC by using Windows Restore. Other Startup repair alternatives are described here. Follow these instructions if you are experiencing problems when your PC or laptop tries to obtain an IP address (e.g., if you get errors when you use IPCONFIG.EXE to release or renew the IP address), you may be able to restore damaged or corrupted WinSock2 registry values.

WinPatrol 2009 - freeware protects your computer from Adware, Spyware, Worms, Trojans Horses, Browser Helper Objects and other Mysteryware. The WinPatrol console has lots of nice diagnostic and "forensic" utilities.

Comments

[rc helicopter reviews]

Impressive blog!
-Arron