Anti spyware Programs are plentiful but they never seem to pick up the magic 100%
This program tries to eliminate that problem by scanning using more then one program.
Now
when i first heard i was sceptical at how this would work so off i went
and set up a virtual PC planted some spyware and let it rip.
This software combines 7 anti spyware and 3 anti-virus programs
- Eset NOD32 antivirus system (trial, expires in 30 days)
- Webroot Spy Sweeper (trial, expires in 7 days)
- PC tools Spyware doctor (demo, will not clean anything)
- Lavasoft AdAware SE (freeware)
- Safer Networking Spybot – Search & Destroy (freeware)
- TrendMicro CWShredder (freeware)
- JavaCool Software SpywareBlaster (freeware)
- McAfee SuperDAT Virusscan
(McAfee Primesupport license required, do NOT use when you’re not a
McAfee customer, since you do not have such a license using the scan is
illegal) - Ewido Micro Scanner (freeware)
- Sunbelt Counter Spy (trial)
- Trend Micro Sys clean
For the test i stuck to only the anti-spyware and only the free versions, namely Adaware,Spybot,Spyware blaster and CWShredder.
The Test
To
begin with I added the 500 spyware programs /cookies along with 50
spyware ‘registry’ entries along with popular false positives such as
sign in cookies etc.
I then let each individual program do its
thing the results while good with CWS picking up all the CWS related
programs and Spyware blaster picking up 487/550 Ad-aware 467/550 and
Spybot 463/550.
So overall picking up a great deal but not all of them.
Upon opening I first un-ticked the ‘automatically remove threats’ box so I could see what it would find.
After
going to the settings and setting an installation path for the third
party applications and selecting the ones I wanted I hit the scan
button and watched it go.
It firstly downloaded the installation
files and auto installed all the selected applications and updated them
to the latest as well as immunising. It then went to the front of the
queue and started to do scans from application one to X, opening
scanning and closing all the applications.
At the end it
generated a report of all the things it found and surprisingly it found
99.9% (not an exact figure) it only missed out 3 of the more obscure
registry entries (note these were picked up when the three commercial ones were active).
Though you couldn’t delete this only quarantine which I found bad.
Conclusion
While
it sounds like a good idea and the results show it is, safe web habits
can do a lot to protect you. This program should be seen as a backup
swat team in a terrorist situation.
There shouldn’t be such a situation but if there is you are backed, especially with the commercial software running also.
In
the tests with only commercial software (standalone) they picked up
almost all of them individually and two together picked them all
(spyware doctor and webroot) though a combination of free and paid for
(1 and 1) picked up all the entries also.
The plus side of this
application is it is fully automated you just relax and let it do it
this thing, therefore ideal for a boot disk / PC repairers but take in
the scans take their time and each application has to be installed. So
if you have resources to spare and travel in the dark side of the net
it is great, but then again so is the 1 free 1 paid combination and if
you’re a surfer who is careful ad-aware etc is more then sufficient,
For
people who do not know much about malware enabling the virus scanner
along with the 1 and 1 combination this app is perfect, for one who
knows his stuff it’s a nice utility.
Pros
Picks up almost all spyware
Easy to use
Cons
Cant delete entries only quarantine
No schedule function
Picks up some false positives (though not more than generally)
Some licensing Issues (see links above)
Some subscriptions needed
Resource Heavy
9/10
Available at http://www.hitmanpro.nl/ alt review at http://www.surfing-safe.com/spyware/hitmanpro.php
Screen Shots
Opening Page
Settings 1
Settings 2
Scan
Reports
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