Beginner's Guide to Securing Your Computer

Something Far More Important Than Spyware...

About a month ago, a little boy named Brendan went in for outpatient surgery. The procedure resulted in grave complications and on Tuesday, his mother was told that he has perhaps two weeks to get a heart transplant. The average wait time is 30 days.

A new website has been put on the net at http://www.SaveBrendan.com. At the website you can read his story, see photos, and learn different ways you can help. And if you would like to help, even two minutes of your time will make a big difference. A rally is planned for Tuesday at the John Hancock building in Chicago and we have to generate as much exposure as possible in the next 24 hours. The event will be televised, and local politicians and celebrities will be volunteering. At the end of the day, those who present a completed organ donation card will receive a dozen of the 6,703 roses on display (one for every person who died last year waiting for a transplant).

Could you email or tell others about the website and ask them to do the same?

Not only will this publicity campaign potentially help Brendan, it will help many others. Those who make the decision for themselves spare their families the responsibility of having to decide for them, especially in a situation where shock and grief makes decisions difficult to make. Because of this, past campaigns like this one have resulted in many additional organ donations, saving countless lives.

Thank you for your support. We will be back to covering spyware soon.

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The Absolutely, Positively Best Way To Get Rid of Spyware

An Entertaining and Insightful Peek Into The Anti-Spyware Industry

So you’ve found this site (and most likely a few others) and after all the reading, you may still be left wondering … what is the “best” anti-spyware program? What exactly should I be running on my computer to get it (and keep it) running like new?

After over 18 months of continuous testing of different anti-spyware programs, I feel compelled to deliver some bad news: There is no such thing as a perfect spyware remover. There is no “magic bullet”.

With that out of the way, here’s the good news: You can get your computer running well again with just a modest amount of effort. I’m going to show you how while I spare you of product pitches and other marketing BS. And maybe you’ll be modestly entertained along the way. Let’s get started.

The Reality of the Anti-Spyware Industry

Before you make any decisions and buy any software, there are a couple of things you need to know.

First, there are different camps in the anti-spyware business. First, there are the people who write spyware programs (“the bad guys”). Then, of course, there are the people who write anti-spyware programs (“the good guys”).

Second, the good guys aren’t always so good. In the beginning of the spyware wars, there was just AdAware and Spybot, the two best programs at the time. Both of them were volunteer efforts led by people who took offense at the invasive software that spied on people’s surfing habits and slowed their computers down. But they were soon joined by other companies who saw the profit potential in this market. Some of these companies (like Webroot, Aluria, and PC Tools) produced great products and invested their profits in R&D.; Other companies (who will remain unnamed) sold software that ran the range from “doesn’t work” to “actively lies about what you have installed so you’ll buy it”. Sadly, there are dozens and dozens of these companies still operating (despite the FTC shutting some of them down). And some of them have really, really great marketing.

Third, the bad guys are getting smart. Really smart. Spyware is their livelihood, and they have every intent of making every dime they can from this business. They pay programmers to write sneakier software. They hire the best marketers to put a new face on their companies. And they hire the best lawyers to shut people (like me) who name names.

(Speaking of, I’ve been on the receiving end of legal action more from the “good guys” than the “bad guys”. I’ve learned that everyone will use every means at their disposal to prevent the truth from getting out, if it isn’t in their best interest.)

Finally, and here’s where it gets really tricky, you need to know that there is a lot of behind-closed-doors discussions between the good guys and the bad guys. Sometimes they actively work together. Sometimes they just conveniently look the other way. But believe me, the bottom line is that both camps have a lot to gain and a lot to lose.

What Does This Mean?

It means three things:

1. You may pay good money for a slick looking product that does nothing.
2. You have to be careful who you give your money to. You might not get it back.
3. You can’t rely on a single program to protect your computer.

The first two should be obvious by now. But the third is worth some more discussion.

Why You Can’t Rely on a Single Spyware Remover

I’ve run hundreds of tests and one thing I’ve learned: no program removes 100% of spyware.

A simple solution would be to run multiple anti-spyware programs. But realistically, you can’t run too many. First, you may end up paying for those programs, which is kind of a waste. Second, the cure might leave you worse off than the illness.

Why? Well, one reason why spyware is so bad is because it slows down your PC. All of those programs each consume a little bit of memory, a little bit of CPU, a little bit of bandwidth. Running spyware programs does exactly the same thing. The difference is that an anti-spyware program will consume far more CPU, bandwidth, and memory than just about any spyware invader. The technical term for this is “resource contention”. You can actually slow your computer down to a crawl by running just a few spyware removers at once.

I’ve found the magic number is two. Two good programs are all you need. I recommend you pick one commercial product, and one free product.

Why Choose a Commercial Product?

For-profit companies generally do a much better job of writing spyware removal programs. There are many reasons (chief among them being that for-profit companies can afford to hire armies of spyware researchers) but some people will argue with me until they’re blue in the face, so I will just leave it as an empirical statement: after running hundreds of tests, commercial products do a lot better than free ones.

Another indisputable point in favor of commercial companies however, is that they can provide you with real customer support. Not just a forum manned with rude (and sometimes clueless) developers. A real phone # with a real person on the other end. Some of us really like having that option available.

The Down Side of Commercial Products

For-profit companies are legally obligated to maximize shareholder return (ie: make money). This can lead to some interesting conflicts of interest. I have first-hand knowledge that “back room” agreements take place all the time between the spyware makers and the spyware removers. The problem is that these agreements are difficult to prove and not usually discussed. For example, if a software program you’re running suddenly stops detecting a certain spyware program, will you really notice? Probably not. And it could end up putting thousands of dollars a month in the pockets of the vendor. Ethics aside, it does happen and it’s probably happening at ___(insert favorite anti-spyware company name here) ___.

Why Choose a Non-Commercial Product

For the very opposite reason, you might find yourself in the freeware camp. Now I know you aren’t one of those who naively claim that corporate software companies are all evil and that the free software products are hands-down better than commercial versions. But those people are all over the net, and from the hours they must spend posting, you might think that there are more of them than there really are. But in reality, there’s a few bad apples out there in the freeware camp, just like there are in the commercial camp.

So here’s the real deal: Non-commercial companies are generally free from the commercial ties to spyware companies.

"Generally" is the operative word here. Case in point, earlier this year (2005) it was announced that Aluria (an anti-spyware company) and WhenU (a spyware company) had forged a partnership and that Aluria would no longer remove WhenU. This was cited as the worst sort of evil by the fundamentalist freeware camp. Yet when it later came out that Lavasoft (makers of AdAware, the symbol of all that is good and holy among the anti-corporate netheads) had come to a similar agreement, there wasn’t quite the same uproar.

Despite this, I more or less agree that it’s not a bad idea to run an freeware anti-spyware program on your computer.

What Stinks About Non-Commercial Software

Two things detract from non-commercial products:

1. They just don’t work as well – companies that give their software away for free depend on volunteer work, which generally isn’t available in the same quantity as paid development.
2. Poor Support – If you run into a problem, you’re on your own. Support costs money.

So What Should I Do Already?

If you’ve read this far, then my recommendations will make a lot of sense to you:

First, use two spyware removers. Using just one will probably leave you with gaps in coverage, while running three provides little extra protection and will just slow your computer down.

Second, make one of those programs a commercial product. Not only will you get better (although not perfect) protection, you’ll get customer support in case anything goes wrong. Good products are sold by Aluria, PC Tools, and Webroot – click here for our latest testing results.

Third, make one of those programs a non-commercial product. You’ll have some reassurance that commercial ties aren’t compromising your protection and perhaps the satisfaction of putting a smile on a developer’s face somewhere. There are three primary options: Microsoft Antispyware, Lavasoft AdAware, and Spybot S&D;. Hands down, you should use Microsoft Antispyware – it’s a much better product that the other two. And even though Microsoft isn’t a non-profit, the program is free and it’s very good.

Major download sites get tough on spyware

Some of the largest names on the Internet have come together to crack down on the spread of adware and spyware through piggybacking hidden software along with legitimate downloads.

The companies, which include Yahoo!, AOL, Verizon and CNet Networks - which operates the large downloads.com software library - have agreed to establish industry standards for monitoring and enforcing good behaviour on sites which offer downloadable software.

A new code of practice maintained by the Truste independent online trust body will mean that sites that offer downloads will have to state clearly if the download contains adware or trackware. In addition, the site must inform the user of the types of advertising that will be displayed, any personal information that will be tracked and collected. The site should also warn of any change in the user settings. Finally, the user must have to opt in with their permission before the download can begin.

Once the software is installed, the publisher must offer an easy uninstall procedure with clear instructions. Any ads have to be labelled with the name of the adware program. Any publisher who wants to take part in the programme will have to maintain separate advertising inventory for users of certified applications.

It is thought unlikely that the spyware companies are going to be leaping for joy at these new guidelines. To enforce compliance, the major portals involved in the Trusted Download Program will publish a 'whitelist' of certified applications. Any application that is not on the whitelist risks being ..errr..blacklisted by the portals that will severely restrict their reach.

However, many spyware applications will not go through legitimate high profile sources as they propagate p2p networks, warez and pornography sites. The portals can claim they have banished spyware from their own servers even if it continues to flourish elsewhere.

Truste says the programme is expected to launch in beta form early in the New Year.

New Reviews Underway...

We just took a trip to CompUSA and came back with a ton of new products, including Cosmi's Spyware Killer Pro and a stack of DVD Copying utilities. Look for more reviews in the next two weeks!

Anti-Spyware Group Pushes Guidelines

by Wendy Davis, Friday, Oct 28, 2005 6:01 AM EST

MORE THAN SIX MONTHS AFTER it formed, an anti-spyware group headed by the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Anti-Spyware Coalition, released guidelines Thursday designed to assess how to evaluate spyware and other potentially unwanted software programs. The group's guidelines carry no legal weight, but might be influential with some members--like Aluria and Lavasoft--that manufacture anti-spyware removal software.

The proposed standards don't spell out whether any particular product should be classified as harmful, but instead provide various risk factors--a laundry list of traits of software programs, with each trait assessed for its degree of risk.

"The risk factors have general weights (high, medium, and low) that help show the relative impact to the user," states the document. "Although all behaviors can be problematic if unauthorized, certain ones tend to have a greater impact and are treated with more severity than others."

When programs serve pop-up ads, one of the key indicators of potential harm is whether the pop-ups "are clearly attributed to the source program," according to the guidelines.

The guidelines also look at factors that could indicate whether consumers have consented to the programs. For instance, in the case of bundled programs, one factor is whether consumers have opted-in to receive the bundled software (considered a high indication of consent) or whether consumers' only notification about bundled software came in an end-user license agreement (considered a low indication of consumer consent).

Similarly, the easier a program is to remove, the more likely it is that the consumer has consented to the program, according to the guidelines.

The organization is accepting comments on the guidelines through Nov. 27.

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