Antispyware
April 28, 2008
As the number of spyware threats have multiplied, a new niche industry of software tools have emerged to combat the infections. This software is formally known as antispyware. It is also known informally as spyware removal software, spyware removal tools and in some cases just called spyware software strangely enough. Antispyware fights spyware in two ways:
- real-time protection
- detection and removal
With real-time protection, the spyware protection works similarly to anti-virus software in that the anti-spyware software scans all incoming network traffic and any other incoming port traffic (usb, SD, etc) for spyware and blocks any threats it detects trying to enter your computer.
The second is detection and removal. This type of spyware combat is the most widely used purpose for antispyware because most users let their computers become deeply infested before they take action. Therefore, these programs inspect the contents of the Windows registry, the operating system files, running processes and installed programs to remove files and entries which match a list of known spyware objects. When the computer is deeply infected, it may take several hours to perform the scan, detect the spyware and effectively remove it.
In conclusion, antispyware takes multiple approaches to combating spyware. What you usually find in the marketplace is a number of free antispyware solutions that only perform 80% of the needed solution. The best antispyware combines both the real-time protection and the detection and removal into one package.
