Free Software Categories

Productivity
Office stuff, Graphics etc
Multimedia
Video, Audio etc
Communications
Email, VOIP etc
Internet
Internet specific Apps
Utilities
System & Misc. Apps
Security
AntiVirus/Spyware, Firewalls etc
NEW! Internet Marketing
Online Marketing, E-commerce

Free Security Software Page 3

Anti Spyware

Spyware is the scourge of the internet. Everybody has heard of viruses but there are still many internet users who are ignorant of the dangers of spyware. Spyware is generally not detected by anti-virus software. Spyware can track your internet browsing, give others access to your personal information by sending it to them over the internet, creating vulnerabilities or ‘backdoors’ for them to gain access to your computer over the internet and poke around or hijack it or cause it to dial numbers that are going to give you a phone bill you won’t easily forget.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that nobody would be interested in your stuff – you do not have to be targeted individually, a lot of these low-lifes just do it for kicks and their victims are purely random.

They do it because they can. You should make sure they can’t do it to you. If you use an internet connection it is in your best interests to protect yourself by regularly scanning your computer for spyware.

There are a number of free programs that will do this for you and here are the two I recommend.

It is unfortunate that given the way things are today it is insufficient to just have an anti-virus program running and rely on that to keep you safe. The bottom line is that you probably need at least two anti-spyware programs (some would even recommend three) to cover all bases. This is the safest method – hopefully if one misses something then the other will pick it up. Let me emphasize that this is not paranoia it is just that, given the state of things, it is unwise to rely entirely on one program (no matter how good it’s supposed to be) to keep your computer free of spyware .

Ad-Aware and SpyBot – Search & Destroy are my favorites . Both programs are good and of course there will be an overlap – just think of it as extra insurance – and hey, they’re both free anyway!

Like anti virus programs anti spyware programs do a lot of their work by searching for code known to be malicious. Therefore, it is essential for you to keep these ‘definitions’ up to date so you are protected against all the latest known threats.

There are a few more programs mentioned in this section that have fairly specialized purposes. All, however, work towards keeping your computer, it’s contents and your personal details safe.

Ad-Aware is a very easy to use program with a nice and simple user interface. It is designed to provide advanced protection from known Data-mining, aggressive advertising, Parasites, Scumware, selected traditional Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, and tracking components.

Ad-Aware also uses new Code Sequence Identification (CSI) technology which means you will be protected from known content, but will also have advanced protection against many of their unknown variants.

Ad-Aware Personal edition is free for non-commercial use.

Download it from: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

Spybot - Search & Destroy, like Ad-Aware, can detect and remove spyware of different kinds from your computer. Spybot-S&D can also clean usage tracks, which may be useful if you share your computer with other users and don't want them to see what you’ve been working on.

You can run Spybot-S&D in two modes. The default is a basic mode (very easy to use) for users who want just the basic features. An advanced mode is available that makes some powerful features available for those who want more control. Both modes are available in the free version at the click of a button.

SpyBot now has ‘Tea Timer’ running in the background to monitor the processes going on in the background and so it can immediately detect known malicious processes wanting to start. It then terminates them giving you some options as to how to deal with this process in the future. You choose to:

Be informed when the process tries to start again
Automatically kill the process
Allow the process to run

You can also delete the file associated with this process. TeaTimer also detects when something wants to change critical registry keys. When detected you can either allow or deny the change.

The developer of Spybot-S&D has made the software free for anyone to use – the primary reason for this being that it is ‘dedicated to the most wonderful girl on earth’. (Read the license I you don’t believe me!) I like that dedication. It’s got heart. All he asks in return is that you say a prayer for him and his girl and wish them some luck – and if you want to give a donation that’s okay too.

Download it from: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

security software index