Tuesday, 30 October 2012

Malware removing tools


  • Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a surprisingly effective anti-malware tool given that it hasn't received any major updates in the past few years. Sure, the scans are a bit faster and the installation is definitely smoother, but overall the product remains unaltered.The Malwarebytes Free edition offers users the option of installing a trial version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Pro.

CNET  review on Malwarebytes
The bottom line: A lack of recent substantive updates haven't prevented Malwarebytes Anti-Malware from staying on top of the on-demand malware-killing mountain.

Review:
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a surprisingly effective anti-malware tool given that it hasn't received any major updates in the past few years. Sure, the scans are a bit faster and the installation is definitely smoother, but overall the product remains unaltered.

Installation
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, or MBAM as it's often abbreviated, has a rapid installation process that simultaneously loads the program onto your computer and updates its detection engine when you run the installer. The whole process took under 5 minutes on our computer.

Interface
MBAM is no paragon of design aesthetics, but it is usable. It opens directly to its Scanner tab, and offers eight other tabs in a horizontal row. Few options per tab keep down the clutter.

What it lacks in visual pop it makes up for in utility. The rest of the tabs let you access the updater, quarantine, scan logs, the ignore list, program settings, and the FileAssassin tool for deleting locked files. The About tab tells you relevant program information, such as version number, while the Protection tab provides access to the real-time protection features. If you're in the freeware version, Protection provides a near-instantaneous, one-click path to upgrade to the trial.

However useful MBAM is, the text-heavy interface clearly identifies it as a tool for power users, although there are more complicated malware removal tools out there. Considering that the program's major function is to scan, and that's generally a one-click process, we'd like to see a more accessible interface in the future.

Features and support
Malwarebytes' primary feature is to scan your computer for the bad guys, and on that level it's quite successful. It offers a quick scan, a full scan, and a flash scan to analyze memory and autorun objects. It comes with Malwarebytes' proprietary Chameleon technology, which lets the program install on many infected computers even when the malware blocks other detection tools.

MBAM supports multiple drive scanning including networked drives, context menu options including a scan-on-demand function for individual files, and the FileAssassin option under the More Tools section for removing locked files.

In the premium version, the Protection controls block zero-day infections from malicious sites and files, along with the scheduler. We'd prefer one or the other be available in the free version, since many full security suites offer both in their paid versions.

MBAM has built its reputation as one of the pre-eminent malware removers over the years on a nearly entirely word-of-mouth campaign. Extra features are lacking, historically. This is only marginally more than a one-function wonder, but it's so good at what it does that it's practically required for you to have it.

Performance
Malwarebytes is a relatively speedy malware remover, with the quick scan taking about 7 minutes and 30 seconds to finish even with other high-resource programs running. The heuristics engine proved on multiple computers during empirical testing that it was capable of determining the difference between false positives and dangerous apps.

Surprisingly, the premium Protection component didn't slow down startup times, even when it's configured to start with Windows.

Conclusions
Overall, though, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a responsive malware remover that does what it says it will, and with a minimum of fuss. The cost of the premium upgrade is a bit steep given what the free version can do, but it's a fair price if you feel more comfortable paying for your computer security.Malwarebytes - Eliminate malware - Download Video Previews:



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Publisher's Description

From Malwarebytes:

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware combines powerful new technologies designed to seek out, destroy, and prevent malware infections.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is an easy-to-use anti-malware application available in both a Free and PRO version. The Free version is well-known for its detection and removal capabilities, and the PRO version uses advanced protection technologies to proactively stop malware infections. Additionally, Malwarebytes offers a host of extra utilities as well as an approachable forum community to help you combat any piece of malware that exists in the wild.


What's new in this version: Version 1.65 includes:

New Features:1. Implemented comprehensive API's for controlling settings and configuration for Business customers
2. Added ability to import/export settings for Business Customers
3. "Exit" option now removed from the tray when 'limitedusermode' is enabled for Business customers
4. Future versions will be able to upgrade without requiring a reboot after installation
5. Protection module now controllable for the entire mac... See all new features



Quick Specs
Version:1.65
File size:10.18MB
Date added:October 17, 2012
Price:Free; paid upgrade available; $24.95 to buy (Buy it now)
Operating system:Windows XP/2003/Vista/Server
2008/7

  • Ad-Aware Free Antivirus +
The bottom line: The new owners of Lavasoft have revamped Ad-Aware to the point where it has almost nothing in common with its predecessors besides function.It's a good reboot, but it's not out of the woods yet.

Review:
While the name Ad-Aware remains the same as it has for the past 13 years, everything from the user interface to the code powering Ad-Aware 10 is entirely new.Ad-Aware gets a face-lift
More so than any recent version of Ad-Aware, the suite is usable, lightweight, and worthy of your attention.

Installation
The installation is straightforward, although it still does opt you in by default to the Ad-Aware browser toolbar for Internet Explorer and Firefox. A software installation ought to get your program installed as quickly as possible, with as little requirement for input from the person installing it. Ad-Aware's installation was zippy and generally painless.

Unlike nearly all of its competitors, it does not require you to register to use the free version or the trials of the paid upgrades. What it does do similarly to its competitors on install is good, though: it automatically downloads new virus definition files and runs a quick scan. A reboot is unfortunately required; that's an occupational hazard for security suites like this one that have deep hooks into the Windows OS.


The new Home landing screen for Ad-Aware 10. It doesn't look much like the old one.(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

Interface
A big reason that the new Ad-Aware stands a good chance of surviving is because it's finally a usable product again. Gone is the tripartite vertical sectioning, replaced instead with a more traditional layout. Not unlike the major interface change that Avast introduced for its fifth version, the interface's quirkiness has been replaced by usability. The interface is divided into three horizontal sections: the top contains navigation to Home, Info, and Options; the second shows you a large, protection status icon with links to dive deeper into recent protection on the right; and the majority of the interface offers additional protection tools such as gaming mode, firewall, and safe browsing.

The interface is multithreaded, which means that using text "breadcrumbs" you can easily find your way back through the interface the way you came, or directly to the Home screen.

Even though tools are categorized into Basic and Advanced, they all have buttons on the main screen for quick toggling. More advanced configuration options are still available, but as with most of the competition, they've been buried one level down to avoid confusing beginners and to keep visual clutter to a minimum. Click the name of any feature and a pop-up provides a brief explanation of what it does. Click the gear icon next to it to dive into config options.

Features and support
Ad-Aware's features have been improved as well. It offers the same level of core protection against malware across the board, in free and paid products. Nag screens have been removed, a silent/gaming mode has been added, and Ad-Aware now gives advanced heuristics and rootkit protection to people using the free version.


The old Ad-Aware 9.5.(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

Ad-Aware's antivirus engine is powered by Vipre, a well-known security suite that's more popular in Europe than North America. Vipre has never set the security world on fire for its results, but it is a good, solid, middle-of-the-road engine that will detect many, and in some cases most, of the threats you'll face on a regular basis.

The toolbar's been streamlined, stripped of most extraneous features, and offers a search engine powered by upstart Google competitor Blekko. It also detects bad URLs and blocks you from loading them, so it has a legitimate security purpose.

Assouline also said that people can expect to see new features land in Ad-Aware regularly, as the program has adopted an aggressive release cycle not unlike Chrome and Firefox. He cautioned, though, that it was not the six-week cycle that those browsers have.

The differences between the paid versions and the free versions have shrunk, as more features have been front-loaded into the free version. Ad-Aware Personal Security 10 adds reputation and anti-malware filtering for $12 per year. Ad-Aware Pro Security offers e-mail phishing protection, USB guards, a two-way firewall, and network protection at $36 per year. If you don't care about the lack of spam filters or parental controls, or the lack of reputation-based protection, and you trust Ad-Aware -- always a key point -- $36 could be quite a deal. Considering what's offered, it's very nearly priced to disrupt the market.

One interesting problem we encountered was the program updates were pushed out in separate installation files. Unlike most competitors, which offer in-place downloads so that the suite updates without having to run an installer, an offered software update opened a Web site and asked for approval to start downloading.


The new Ad-Aware completed its Quick Scan noticeably faster than its predecessor.(Credit: Screenshot by Seth Rosenblatt/CNET)

It's an extra step that's unusual because it leaves the installation of the new security suite version up to the individual, and that could potentially create security risks.

Performance
3 When it comes to threat scanning, our tests on a real-world computer found that the Ad-Aware Pro Security 10 averaged 4 minutes, 23 seconds over three clean installs for its first scan, a competitive score.
The new Ad-Aware is off to a good start when it comes to performance. The suite's impact on system performance was slightly better than average.
Ad-Aware's lowish impact on computer boot time and shut down time, and average impact on in-use tests, were marred by exceptionally slow scan tests. Nevertheless, these scores were better than we were expecting for a completely new security suite.

Conclusion
The new Ad-Aware is an enormous turn for this longtime player in the Windows security field. Lavasoft's plans to update the suite more regularly than its competition bodes well for keeping people safe independent of traditional annual update schedules. If you trust the Lavasoft and Ad-Aware names, Ad-Aware 10 is worth a close look. However, it's got some important gaps that must be filled, and until we can see the impact of the Ad-Aware engine with the Vipre engine, it will be challenging to honestly evaluate the suite.

If Ad-Aware's reboot takes the way that Webroot's has, then we could be watching the rebirth of yet another aggressive competitor in the field, and at the end of the day that bodes best for your computer security.Ad-Aware Anniversary Edition:





Publisher's Description

From Lavasoft:

Ad-Aware Free Antivirus + provides core protection against Internet threats. Featuring real-time anti-malware protection, advanced Genocode detection technology, rootkit protection, a scheduler, the product gives you the power to protect yourself online. Ad-Aware Free Antivirus + is a complete malware protection that now combines Lavasoft's pioneer technology for anti-spyware with traditional anti-virus protection.


What's new in this version:

Bug fixes
Better multi-language support
Improved browsing protection
Simplified installation process
Revamped activation flow
Faster automatic definition updates
Updated notification screens

Download now

Quick Specs
Version:10.3.45.3935
File size:5.22MB
Date added:September 25, 2012
Price:Free; paid upgrade available
Operating system:Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7

  • Spybot - Search & Destroy
Spybot Search & Destroy is a free antispyware utility that targets adware, malicious code, and other threats. It also cleans security tracks, shreds files, and tweaks the Registry. The optional TeaTimer feature protects the Registry from real-time attacks. Spybot isn't a replacement for a full antivirus program, though it does detect and remove some threats. It's a constantly updated, on-demand adware and malware scanner you can run regularly to sweep your system. Spybot S&D is free for personal use.

Spybot's Setup screen let us choose which components to install, including skins, languages, and integration with Security Center. A pop-up message warned against removing ad robots lest their associated apps stop working, but we were more interested in what the average user experiences when running Spybot, so we just left things as they were downloaded.

Before it scans your system, Spybot asks to back up your registry -- let it. It only takes a minute or two. Even though the risk is low, Spybot has the power to delete what you let it delete, and a backup can save your bacon if something goes wrong. When we finished the setup process, Spybot asked if we wanted to read the tutorial or the help manual or start using the program. We opted for the extensive manual, which covers everything from basic options to settings for visually impaired users. Spybot's been around since the days of Windows 95, with many updates, so users have abundant resources: tutorials, FAQs, how-tos, forums, and so on.

It sounds like a long path to running Spybot, but in fact it's a quick and easy process. The main tool, Search & Destroy, has three buttons: Check for Problems, Recovery, and Updates (Spybot's menu also offers Recovery and Immunize features). The program offered a Hint of the Day while it scanned, though our initial scan took a lot longer than the tool tip took to read. Spybot found adware burrowed into our test PC. We had to run Spybot again as an Administrator and reboot to clean it all. But that's thorough cleaning and fine with us. Security-minded users should definitely try Spybot Search & Destroy.Spybot - Search & Destroy:


Publisher's Description

From Safer-Networking:



Spybot - Search & Destroy can detect and remove a multitude of adware files and modules from your computer. Spybot also can clean program and Web-usage tracks from your system, which is especially useful if you share your computer. Modules chosen for removal can be sent directly to the included file shredder, ensuring complete elimination from your system. For advanced users, it allows you to fix Registry inconsistencies related to adware and to malicious program installations. The handy online-update feature ensures that Spybot always has the most current and complete listings of adware, dialers, and other uninvited system residents.
What's new in this version: Version 1.6.2 features support for the latest Opera releases, support for Google Chrome, and improved support for fast user switching while Spybot is running.

Quick Specs
Version:1.6.2
File size:15.65MB
Date added:January 26, 2009
Price:Free


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