Quote from the <A HREF="http
/www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-01-20.htm#9" target="_new">LangaList 2003-01-20</A>:
<font color=green>Writing from Australia, Dave Austin suggests this tool:
<i>Fred: Your recent article on spyware and the (apparent) demise of Ad-aware prompted me to tell you of a nifty freeware utility called SpywareBlaster. It operates on a slightly different basis from Ad-aware in that it actually prevents spyware being loaded into your system as opposed to the search and delete method.
The readme explains-
"SpywareBlaster doesn't scan and clean for spyware - it prevents it from ever being installed. How? By setting a "kill bit" for the CLSIDs of spyware ActiveX controls, it prevents the installation of any of them from a webpage. You can run Internet Explorer with Active-X enabled, but you will never even get a "Yes/No" box popped up, asking you to install a spyware Active-X control (Internet Explorer will never download or run it!). All other Active-X controls or plug-ins will work fine. The SpywareBlaster database contains information on these known spyware Active-X controls. Make sure you run the Check For Updates feature frequently to get the latest database! (And make sure you check the new items to protect your system against them!) As a side benefit, setting this "kill bit" will also prevent the spyware Active-X from running, in many cases, if it is already installed on your system."
A wealth of information on many of the spyware items that SpywareBlaster protects against can be accessed here <A HREF="http
/and.doxdesk.com/parasite/" target="_new">http
/and.doxdesk.com/parasite/</A> Best regards, Dave Austin</i>
Thanks, Dave. We'd actually covered SpywareBlaster in a previous issue (see <A HREF="http
/www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-11-25.htm#3" target="_new">http
/www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-11-25.htm#3</A> ). It uses an interesting approach, and is well worth a look.
But no single tool is a panacea: SpywareBlaster will have no effect whatsoever on non-Active-X type spyware tools, for example. Still, as another weapon in your anti-spyware arsenal, it's definitely worth having. The software is free (or rather, supported through voluntary user donations), and is available for download at <A HREF="http
/www.wilderssecurity.com/spywareblaster.html" target="_new">http
/www.wilderssecurity.com/spywareblaster.html</A>
(And by the way, Ad-Aware isn't dead. They're working on a new version. But in doing so, they left their users unprotected for over four months, and to me that's unconscionable--- totally unacceptable for a security product. If you're an Ad-Aware user, I suggest you see what Ad-aware has left you exposed to by running Spybot or PestPatrol [see <A HREF="http
/www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-01-13.htm#3" target="_new">http
/www.langa.com/newsletters/2003/2003-01-13.htm#3</A> ]: I think you'll be dismayed at what you find.)</font color=green>
Bryan
<font color=red>Taking stabs in the dark once again...</font color=red>
<A HREF="http
/forums.btvillarin.com/index.php?act=ST&f=41&t=329" target="_new"><b>My System Rig</b></A>
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