Spyware's Real, but is Anti-Spyware a Fraud?
We've heard this controversial opinion recently: "Spyware is
real, but these antispyware tools are a fraud and should be part
of antivirus tools."
Well, I understand the viewpoint, but there's a bit more to it ;-)
Sunbelt looked at this space back in the early days, and figured
we would pass on the area because we thought it was only a matter
of time before Symantec et al came out with something.
Well, in the end, the AV guys didn't get it. McAfee's product
is a poor showing in virtually all the tests, and Symantec,
while boasting of new technology, doesn't have anything shipping
and we doubt what they will be shipping will be anything near
the current state of the art. Microsoft which already owns AV
code and will come out with it end 2005, acquired additional
specialized AS-technology on top of their very good AV-code. You
have to assume they did some homework before they came to that
decision.
The truth is, it's incredibly hard work to get rid of spyware.
We have a bunch of researchers, a whole posse of coders working
on this stuff, PLUS the benefit of the entire Microsoft AS
research team. Yet although we have been acing many lab tests, we
are still lucky to get more than 90% removal. Spyware is NOT the
same as viruses made by pimple-faced hackers trying to prove
their dubious manhood. There are hundreds of millions of dollars
to be made in spyware/adware as opposed to viruses. Here's some
proof of that:
http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050221ED-Spyware
On top of all that, all the antispyware vendors get legal
notices. So what happens? You get things like Lavasoft recently
mysteriously dropping detection of WhenU. Why? Who knows,
probably a legal threat scared them. See this link:
http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050221ED-Legal
The reality is, the AV guys have a huge amount of catching up
to do. And they have a different mindset, they look at this as
a signature problem. The spyware battles loom epic--the scale of
what one has to tackle is far beyond what the AV guys can do at
the moment. They have no idea how hard this really is.
In short, you need a dedicated, centralized antispyware solution
if you REALLY want to get rid of this malware in your network.
CounterSpy Enterprise was recently compared to the few other
enterprise tools out there and came out as Number One. There is
a link to the review on the CounterSpy page:
http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050221ED-CSE
WebCast: Spyware in the Enterprise: Problem & Solution
When: February 24, 2005
9:00AM - 10:00AM Pacific Time (US & Canada)
12:00PM - 1:00PM Eastern Time (US & Canada)
"In 2003, Gartner warned clients that spyware would be the next
wave of costly attacks against PCs and spyware did hit in a big
way in 2004," says John Pescatore, analyst with Garter, Inc.
"Many of our clients report that spyware is the cause of 30 per
cent of their helpdesk calls and often requires in-person IT
support to remove the spyware or re-image the PC. Gartner
believes that spyware prevention must be integrated with anti-virus and personal firewall protections to be effective in the
long run," he adds.
You're invited to this complimentary seminar, covering the
business topic of spyware in the enterprise-delivered via web
conferencing from Microsoft Office Live Meeting and Sunbelt
Software. All you need is a web browser and a phone. We hope
you'll join us. To register please visit:
http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050221ED-WebCast
Make 10 Amazon Bucks If You Qualify
Survey.com are currently conducting a survey among workstation
users and purchasers about their experience with workstations
from major vendors (esp. HP and IBM). If you are workstation
user, OR are involved in purchasing/recommending workstations at
your company - this is a survey for you! To thank you for
completing the survey, the first 100 qualified respondents will
receive a $10 Amazon.com certificate. Survey open to US and UK
residents only. Click here to take the survey:
http://www.w2knews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050221ED-Survey
Quote Of The Week:
"There is only one satisfying way to boot a computer."
-- J. H. Goldfuss
Warm regards,
Stu Sjouwerman
(email me with feedback: [email protected])
This issue of W2Knews™ contains: