Anti-spyware

Viruses are one of the more obvious threats to computer users on the Internet, but there are some programs that are arguably just as much of a nuisance, and more likely to end up infecting your system – spyware and adware.

Unlike viruses, these programs might not destroy your data, but they can be intrusive in other ways, slowing down your PC, popping up unsolicited adverts when you’re surfing the net, and in some cases sending data that identifies you personally to companies that want to build up consumer profiles, so they can bombard you
with even more junk.

While everyone recognises the need to have anti-virus software, when it comes to protection from ads, many people don’t go much beyond turning on pop-up blocking in their browser.

These days, that’s not nearly enough and it’s surprisingly easy for your system to become infected. You can even do it unwittingly by installing ‘free’ software from the Internet that buries a clause about ad software deep in the conditions you agreed to.

When you do have to clear up an infection, you’ll find plenty of anti-spyware products available, claiming to resolve the problems, or prevent you from being infected in the first place. But how well do they really work? Can they remove the most persistent problems, and are they simple to use without being intrusive? We’ve put 12 through their paces, to find the best way to keep your system clean.

What is spyware?

Spyware is a fairly broad category, and when you start to look at it in depth, it’s easy to see why the task facing removal programs can be complicated. If a program installs itself on your computer without permission, and tells someone else what you look at online, they can display ‘appropriate’ adverts; or if a website hijacks your browser so you go to a different home page, or search using their search engine,
that’s clearly malicious.

What about that animated cursor, or pack of smileys or screensavers you downloaded? Some ‘free’ software is ‘advertising supported’, which means it installs components – often called adware – that pop up adverts on your screen. For the
developers, it might make more money than the shareware model, but it’s annoying. You might have agreed to it happening – buried in the terms you agreed to will be a clause giving your consent. So if you’ve done that, can another program disable the advertising program? Or is it a legitimate application? Writers will doubtless claim it’s a user’s fault for clicking on agreements – but some of the ones we’ve seen simply say you agree to terms on a named website – hardly a model of transparency. But it’s this ambiguity that leads to many spyware applications warning you that you may be breaching other licences by cleaning your system.

The industry also needs to get to grips with naming; some of the most widely known pieces of spyware appear with different names depending on which tool you use to scan your computer, while others may report each Registry entry as a separate infection, rather than all caused by the same one.

The Anti Spyware Coalition is drawing up an agreed definition of spyware, which will help the first of those problems, and hopefully will follow that up with a naming scheme, such as that used for viruses, making it easier to compare packages.

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