Spies-R-Us - Update (Ad-aware)

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Product:	Ad-aware
Date:	21/06/01 (67 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's Free and keeps you informed

Disadvantages: None

Do you know what is on your computer? Do you know how it got there? Do you know why it is there? If you can answer “Yes” to each question then you have nothing to worry about but then comes the day that you decide to ‘go on the Internet’ and your three Yes’s will quickly turn to three No’s.

All commercial and many personal web sites use cookies to keep track of who accesses their web sites and these benign sounding handful of bytes will end up on your computer and in the main are harmless. But the cookie has evolved into “Spyware” and as the name implies it spies on your computer, on who you are, where you go and what you buy etc.

“Spyware” is like a computer virus but instead of doing harm to your machine it ferrets around gathering information about you and then sends it back to base with you none the wiser, that is until you pay a visit to http://www.lavasoft.de/aaw/aaware.html and download their free Ad-aware5.5. At some 850KB in size it will take more than a couple of minutes to download but the time is well spent when you see the benefits.

Installation, as is normal these days, is all done at the click of a mouse and once complete the application is ready to use as it is although you can customise it to your particular requirements if you wish and an efficient help file is but a mouse click away.

A typical “Windows” window pops up on running the programme with left hand third displaying the computer ‘tree’ including memory, and register as well as all the drives and is labelled ‘Sections to scan’. The right hand two thirds in a sort of light browny grey, has the obligatory title bar naming the product and three large buttons, Scan now, Backups and Configuration enable the user to use the programme and configure it. A smaller ‘help’ button at the bottom brings up the comprehensive help file with a small duplicate Scan n
ow button next to it.

Usage is straightforward. In the computer tree click on whichever sections you require to be scanned and then click the Scan now button and sit back for a minute or two to await the results. It is almost odds on that the programme will find some “Spyware” on your system and will report its findings in a summary and give you the option of viewing the log of the scan. The bit that should really interest you is the bit that starts, as it did when I scanned my own system, with:
Started folder scan
====================
Now processing drive (C), 0 remaining.
Finished processing Drive(C:\WINDOWS), 388 folders total.

Finished processing Drive(C), 2597 folders total.

Folder scan result:
Folders processed:2597
Suspicious folders found:0

Started file scan
==================
Other file:C:\WINDOWS\COOKIES\jambutty@admonitor[2].txt
Doubleclick file:C:\WINDOWS\COOKIES\jambutty@doubleclick[1].tx t
Doubleclick file:C:\WINDOWS\COOKIES\jambutty@ad.doubleclick[2] .txt
Flyswat file:C:\WINDOWS\COOKIES\jambutty@flycast[1].txt
Other file:C:\WINDOWS\COOKIES\jambutty@valueclick[1].txt
Other file:C:\WINDOWS\COOKIES\jambutty@admonitor[2].txt
Doubleclick file:C:\WINDOWS\COOKIES\jambutty@doubleclick[1].tx t
Doubleclick file:C:\WINDOWS\COOKIES\jambutty@ad.doubleclick[2] .txt
Flyswat file:C:\WINDOWS\COOKIES\jambutty@flycast[1].txt
Other file:C:\WINDOWS\COOKIES\jambutty@valueclick[1].txt

File scan result:
Suspicious files found:10

Scanning finished
==================
Suspicious modules found:0
Suspicious keys found :0
Suspicious folders found:0
Suspicious files found:10
==========================
Spyware components ignored:0
Total spyware components found:10

Clicking on the “Continue” button gives you further options on what to do with the “Spyware”. The help files are quite thorou
gh and not too difficult to understand.

Having found the “Spyware” and eliminated it you don’t want to be plagued by more so you can download Ad-watch which will sit in the background and guard against known applications that contain “Spyware” - Adware, Alexa 1.0-5.0, Aureate v1.0,2.0 and 3.0, Comet Cursor v1.0,v2.0 and v3.0 Cydoor, Doubleclick, DSSAgent, EverAd, Gratisware, OnFlow, SaveNow, Flyswat, Gator, TimeSink v1.0, v2.0 and v5.0, HotBar, Web3000 and Webhancer and prevent them from worming their way onto your computer. Better still get a “Firewall” like ZoneAlarm. But that is another review.

It seems to me that the clever people out there are now incorporating “Spyware” in commercial programmes and probably games as well and even operating systems because the game is up with cookies as programmes like Ad-aware are testimony to. But Ad-ware cannot detect “Spyware” that has been written into an application it can only warn against known software as the list above shows but a Firewall can prevent the “Spyware” incorporated in a bona fide programme from communicating with its base.

Summary: