Lessons & Conclusions (taken
from spyware.com)
If any lessons or conclusions can be drawn from tests on anti-spyware software at all, they are
quite general:
- Anti-Virus software will not protect you!
- Spyware and adware can prove quite difficult to remove, even for dedicated
anti-spyware scanners.
In the second and third group of tests, for example, one of the installed
programs prevented the anti-spyware scanners from running on reboot, a common
method used by anti-spyware scanners to remove stubborn spyware and adware
that is currently in memory on a PC. As a result, some spyware and adware was
not removed by the anti-spyware scanners during reboot that otherwise might
have.
- No single anti-spyware scanner removes everything. Even the
best-performing anti-spyware scanner in these tests missed fully one quarter
of the "critical" files and Registry entries.
- It is better to use two or more anti-spyware scanners in combination, as
one will often detect and remove things that others do not.
- Where possible, users should become familiar with the use of
HijackThis! in
order to remove stubborn spyware and adware that standard anti-spyware
scanners fail to remove. Less experienced users should know how to get help
from the expert volunteers who provide free HijackThis! log advice and
analysis at
major
anti-spyware forums.
- Prevention is always preferable to scanning and removal, and users should
securely
configure their PCs and install
anti-malware protection to prevent the installation of spyware and adware
in the first place.
- Moreover, users should learn to practice safe computing habits, which
include avoiding web sites and programs of unknown or dubious provenance and
carefully reading
End User License Agreements and
Privacy Policies.
Updated 09/16/2005
|
