[Ham-Computers] Top 5 spyware programs

[jeff]

On Sat, 2006-07-15 at 11:34 -0500, Brian K. Gaskamp wrote:
> Just curious as to what some of you use or don't use and why.

Spybot - lots of updates, great w/ Ad-Aware, resident component can save
entire systems

Ad-Aware - constant updates, the target of much malware animosity, which
must mean they're on the right track :)

Zone Alarm (firewall) - so a lot of stuff doesn't get in to begin with,
also scans for outgoing traffic, which a lot of others don't

Crap Cleaner - cleans the trashcan and much more

Hijack This - a very comprehensive (therefore dangerous) program that
will get into your registry and tell you *everything* that wants to run.
After a while and a few visits to their excellent forum, you'll
recognize what you're looking at.


I use these as a suite, which seems to be the only way to get rid of
most of this sort of junk.  Each has its strengths.  They're all free,
btw.


Here are some others that aren't immediately apparent:

Windows Explorer - if all else fails, look through the directory
structure.  Things will become evident.

External firewall - the more layers, the better

the internet - if you don't know what it is, someone else will

antivirus - Symantec eradicated a pest for us as part of our regular
agreement with them.  The latest version is slow because of all it does.

functional gray matter - this is your best weapon.  Unfortunately it's
also the hardest to find - especially when you have to go around
cleaning up after people who don't have any.

education - you won't know about it unless you try to learn.  Stop
opening every damn email that comes your way.

email client - Outlook is a virus magnet.  Use any of the freeware
alternatives - Evolution(linux), Thunderbird, Eudora, etc.  Use plain
text - HTML mail invites problems.

Pocketknife Peek - an Outlook add-in (freeware) that lets you examine a
message, HTML, and headers w/o opening the message.  If you're stuck
with Outlook, you need this.

OS - linux, Mac, DOS(!) aren't as popular with the virus writers because
they aren't as popular with the public, hence they're safer (for now).
They're also more stable.

live CD - a cd that will boot into an OS regardless of what's on the
hard drive.  I'm aware of Windows (search for Bart's PE or Ultimate Boot
Disk) and tons of linux (Knoppix =free) variations.  Also gets data off
dead systems.