View Full Version : Spy Blaster, has anyone tried this?
Hakuna Makarla
05-02-2005, 07:26 PM
I just down loaded it to my computer as it says it stops spyware from ever entering. I saw ScuBabes post earlier and I got to thinking I would go update and scan my computer, My spybot told me to be double safe and down load this program
(http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/index.html)
JUst wondering if any of you tried it. I would give the link but I do not believe I am suposed to here. tell me what you think and if you have tried it.
Dementia
05-02-2005, 08:22 PM
I just down loaded it to my computer as it says it stops spyware from ever entering. I saw ScuBabes post earlier and I got to thinking I would go update and scan my computer, My spybot told me to be double safe and down load this program
(http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/index.html)
JUst wondering if any of you tried it. I would give the link but I do not believe I am suposed to here. tell me what you think and if you have tried it.
I use Spybot and Adaware, and according to all my techie geek friends, that's the best combo out there. Between the two programs, ya can't fail.
I haven't had a problem since I installed them both and set them up to run daily while I'm sleeping.
If I'm not mistaken spy blaster is the same company is spy bot.
SallySkellington
05-02-2005, 08:36 PM
I have Spybot and Adaware, too. That's what a computer guy at Best Buy told us to use. Works really good.
Hakuna Makarla
05-03-2005, 04:54 AM
spy blaster stops the adware and the spyware from even entering the computer, so it stops it at the door. Its a new one out there so I down loaded it to see. I had 15 problmes on my computer last night, I thought wow now I can acually stop them before they get onto my computer.
JeffG
05-03-2005, 07:14 AM
It is certainly a very good idea to install tools to help prevent or remove spyware, but don't rely on them 100% to keep your system clean. There is so much spyware, adware, or other malware out there that, at least so far, no product has been particularly successful at keeping up with it all.
In addition, there are quite a few differences of opinion out there as to what actually falls into these categories. For instance, there seem to be quite a few people that are exceptionally paranoid about browser cookies, even though they are completely harmless in just about every case. In addition, some users may actually choose to install software that is adware or which collects some data about their activities, simply because they want the functionality of the software and they trust the company to keep the ads reasonable and/or not to abuse any data collected.
My advice would be to pick out at least two anti-spyware tools and run them fairly regularly. It is worthwhile to try out the features to monitor your system continuously to see if they work ok without degrading performance, but unlike anti-virus and firewall software periodic scans are usually sufficient for this type of tool. When running the scans, actually research the items that the tool says it wants to remove to make sure it really is something you don't want on your system.
The most important weapon against spyware, though, is simply knowing what you are doing. Don't download and install software unless you know what it is and that it comes from a trusted source. Make sure you have your browser set never to download and install software automatically, particularly if you are using IE. Don't open email attachments unless it is something that you were expecting or if the text of the email explains the attachment and was clearly written by the person sending it.
While it is useful to use various tools, ultimately the best way to keep your computer clean is to simply use care and common sense.
-Jeff
Bill Catherall
05-03-2005, 09:44 AM
If you're running WinXP I highly recommend running Windows AntiSpyware (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=321cd7a2-6a57-4c57-a8bd-dbf62eda9671&displaylang=en). Unlike Spybot and Adaware it's always on and runs in the background. I'm not saying Spybot and Adaware are ineffective. It's just another level of security.
Hakuna Makarla
05-03-2005, 10:00 AM
Oh my, I never knew I could have microsoft spyware for wondows xp, Thanks bill, should I go now and delete them all and down load this instead? thanks so much
Bill Catherall
05-03-2005, 10:24 AM
No need to delete. Just install Windows AntiSpyware.
I have been using Windows AntiSpyware since January and it has worked wonders for me. I would recommend it, and during the beta period, the price is right!
Hakuna Makarla
05-03-2005, 10:47 AM
whats the cost ? is there a fee for doing this microsoft spyware?
Bill Catherall
05-03-2005, 12:33 PM
whats the cost ? is there a fee for doing this microsoft spyware?
It's free, and it's antispyware. ;)
JeffG
05-06-2005, 08:36 AM
It's free, and it's antispyware. ;)
That's correct. All the Microsoft spyware is built in to the OS... :)
-Jeff
Opus1guy
05-06-2005, 04:52 PM
Will Windows Anti-Spyware eliminate those pesky Windows Security Updates?
;)
Andrew
05-06-2005, 06:11 PM
There are only two things that will eliminate Windows Updates.
OS X and Linux.
sriggins
05-07-2005, 02:11 PM
I have Spybot and Adaware, too. That's what a computer guy at Best Buy told us to use. Works really good.
I have a Mac - What is Spyware? :P
JeffG
05-07-2005, 02:46 PM
I have a Mac - What is Spyware? :P
Something that is going to bite you really hard if you are under the illusion your system is immune to it...
-Jeff
Hakuna Makarla
05-07-2005, 04:11 PM
I have a Mac - What is Spyware? :P
ha hya ha you guys acually think you are safe? oh man your in a fantasy land now~ They have found hackers are now getting into your machines to!
sriggins
05-07-2005, 04:25 PM
ha hya ha you guys acually think you are safe? oh man your in a fantasy land now~ They have found hackers are now getting into your machines to!
Heh show me an example of this really happening. We're more secure simply because most hackers don't care about us, and no we're not oblivious to social engineering (like tricking someone into launching an application) but by far we're much more secure than windows.
Even Safari tells a user if something they downloaded contains an application, not IS an application, but CONTAINS one - Much better than most browsers.
Being Unix based any vulnerabilities we have are found much faster as we're not a closed box like Windows is.
And having written software for Macs since oh, 1984, I can tell you I've had one virus, in 1992 and that is it. I got that one from a CD-ROM Sony burned for us (before the days when consumer cd-burners existed)
Not bad considering I've owned 15 Macs and used them daily for 21 years :)
Hakuna Makarla
05-07-2005, 04:26 PM
Last week on the news many systems were hacked ( Mac's) the hackers did get in. The spoke of not being safe any longer. So I saw it in the news.
sriggins
05-07-2005, 04:27 PM
Something that is going to bite you really hard if you are under the illusion your system is immune to it...
-Jeff
Oh we're not immune, it's just never happened. And any smart user keeps their data backed up and offline. Heck my 300gb Firewire 800 drive goes with me in encrypted fashion so they can burn my house down and I'll still have my data :)
sriggins
05-07-2005, 04:29 PM
Last week on the news many systems were hacked ( Mac's) the hackers did get in. The spoke of not being safe any longer. So I saw it in the news.
I'd like to see the story and the data. We once had a news story around that we'd been hacked - It was put out by a anti-virus company. So until I see hard proof of it happening, and I read 54 RSS feeds daily........
sriggins
05-07-2005, 04:41 PM
I'd like to see the story and the data. We once had a news story around that we'd been hacked - It was put out by a anti-virus company. So until I see hard proof of it happening, and I read 54 RSS feeds daily........
This is probably what you saw:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/05/05/apple_mega_patch/
Which is related to panther (these fixes had already been applied to Tiger)
While they were all indeed flaws, only the TIFF one allowed someone to execute code and there are no known cases of those being used to hack a system.
The real difference here is that most systems affected, like say Apache or what not are turned OFF by default and less than 1% of Mac users ever turn them on. On top of that, Apple's mail doesn't execute Applescripts willy nilly like Outlook ran ActiveX components.
No software is perfect, but the fact that we get these patches before anyone takes advantage of them is good and like I originally said, we've never had any spyware written because it is really hard to do on our OS.