MUST-HAVE SOFTWARE

Spybot-Search and Destroy

by Roger Barnette

Are your movements being tracked across the Internet?   Maybe.   If you do not have an adequate defense against spyware, you cannot know for certain.   Most commercial and many private websites commonly use cookies and a technology called web bugs to mark visitors for analysis of your web-browsing experience.   This circumstance is made worse by the open manner in which Microsoft Internet Explorer operates.   The product I recommend to complement my antivirus software is Spybot-Search & Destroy.

The best site to download it from is Download.com, and product details are available at: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/home/index.html.

To get the best utilization of this product, be sure to turn on the ancillary product called, “Tea Timer”.   Tea Timer monitors changes to the system registry, and requires a manual “approve” or “deny” decision for any such changes.   If you haven’t initiated an install or other change, always choose “deny” to make certain that programs that you didn’t install are never installed in the first place.

Of course a pre-emptive strike just the first part of a solution.   Spybot also actively monitors against malicious software with its immunization feature, and passively with their “Search for problems” feature.   If you run the passive search weekly or monthly, that is usually adequate for defense.

What I like best about this product, is that it puts me in charge of any changes that are installed onto my computer.   It is an easy product to install, but we will help out if you need it.   Please call on us if we may be of service.