Recommended Tools to Defeat Malicious Software

There a whole range of malware removal tools, but the best I've come across are

1. SpyBot Search and Destroy - http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html
2. PC Tools Spyware Doctor - http://www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor/download/
3. SuperAntiSpyware - http://www.superantispyware.com/
4. Lavasoft Ad-Aware - http://lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

Malware is a short for malicous software:
- It can ruin your computer
- cause multiple pop up windows to keep showing
- annoy you in many ways then one
- Steal sensitive data
- change your windows hosts file, direct you to fake sites which look legitimate
- take complete remote control of your computer

Malware and spware come in many forms it can come as, trojan embeded into another file maybe a picture, a worm from p2p networks or a virus from a website you happened to visit.

The best security practices to keep safe:
- Always update your system on time, turn on windows update
- Update your web browser, use firefox instead of IE trust me its million times better and it doesn't eat up resources did i mention its much safer.
- Use a couple of spyware/malware detecting tools one tool can't fix all problems. I use spyware doctor by PC TOOLS its quite good, I also spybot search and destroy and i have antivirus installed
- Use a antivirus i would recommend Norton, Avast or kaspersky
- Use a firewall, software v hardware , for the average user zone alarm should do it, but if your extra paranoid I would suggest installing smoothwall and snort to monitor your traffic fom abnormalities.

Thanks hope you found this information useful.
billy

May I recommend fixing the spelling errors in your tutorials..

Other than an advertisement for your Site.. what else can you say about the above software?

How are they the panacea of Malware removal.. when infact two of them are detection of adware and prevention /removal of some hijackers..

few are really designed as "Full" Malware removal..

Realise the definition of malware.. is Malicious software.. this includes All Trojans, Rootkits, Worms, Virus, hijackers, jokeware..

I have no problem recommending the above software to joe average as a compliment to their existing Av Suite.. but not as standalone preventive tools..

If you were truly interested in giving people advise.. whay not review the applications.. AND Provide links..

You see if a person is a victem of a hijacker.. the chances are attempting to D/l any of the above.. how will they find it.. google.com ..correct?.. what if the first link that looks legit.. is in fact a Malicious program masquerading as one of the above? what then..

The number of Adaware look alikes, not to mention the number of softs that use the the SuperAntiSpy name..



And besides: I would have expected you to have some sort of tutorial on your site regarding your recommended software.....

How about recommending the following..

FireFox 3 (recently released - out of Beta)
and recommend the NoScript add on.. (which blocks the menu on your site.. pity that)
For those that still need Internet Explorer.. - certain banking and commerce sites (not as common no) the IeViews - lite is a good add on.. for those pages that don't seem to want to view correctly in FF..

Hope thats ok bro, thanks for the feedback on my website, ill add tutorials on how to use them programs as soon as i get time

Great post! I have not tried them all but I will check them out. I am trying to find a really good, free, virus/spyware protection program that works well with 64-bit Window Vista. Any ideas?

A bit off topic, but I'm going to venture out and say that briz212 = billy786. :)

I know, I'm such a sleuth!

I honestly would only ever use Spybot and Adaware. The other two programs aren't nearly as good as they purport to be. I've also used Spysweeper to great effect.

If it's a specific type of malware, only a certain type of software can remove it. Virtumonde can really only be removed by VundoFix or Combofix, and even those have a difficult time removing these things. I guess the lesson here is: don't use one piece of software to scan for malware!


Also, Tachyon, what was your first clue?

Quote:

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A bit off topic, but I'm going to venture out and say that briz212 = billy786

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In which case, I hope that he decides to represent the UK rather than the USA in the Bejing Olympics :D

I would recommend A-squared as another tool.

http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/

briz~ I am afraid I cannot look at the moment because I am working on a Win 2000/XP project, and my Vista is only 32bit.

Look at:

1. AVG
2. Avira
3. Avast!

:)

A-Squared is a pretty decent program. I've heard so so things about Avast! and AVG Free is pretty damned good, except 8.0 has A LOT of advertisements.

I am not Billy and I do support the US. I am Briz I been looking at your guys site for years now. Just not a active poster... Anyway I checked out Avast and looks like they do provide a decent 64-bit spyware and virus protection programs for vista. But i think it is only a 30-day trial and you have to pay for it.