" Product Adware Fixed False Pos.
Giant AntiSpyware 63% 0
Webroot Spy Sweeper 48% 0
Ad-Aware SE Personal 47% 0
Pest Patrol 41% 10
SpywareStormer 35% 0
Intermute SpySubtract Pro 34% 0
PC Tools Spyware Doctor 33% 0
Spybot Search & Destroy 33% 0
McAfee AntiSpyware 33% 9
Xblock X-Cleaner Deluxe 31% 1
XoftSpy 27% 3
NoAdware 24% 0
Aluria Spyware Eliminator 23% 3
OmniQuad AntiSpy 16% 1
Spyware COP 15% 0
SpyHunter 15% 1
SpyKiller 2005 15% 2
Howes didn't test the anti-adware programs in the above list against a
program called CoolWebSearch (CWS). This little bugger mutates every
few days, it seems. CWS actually requires a completely separate
anti-adware program, CWShredder, which is constantly evolving along
with the nuisance. This is explained in more detail later in this
article.
The fact that anti-adware products fail to remove all or even most
adware components has been an open secret among security professionals
for some time. For this reason, tech writers often say, "You should
install two different programs and run both of them for maximum
protection."
To test this assertion, I compiled Howes's raw data into a new table
showing the removal rate of the best app, Giant AntiSpyware, with every
other tested product. According to this analysis, combining Webroot Spy
Sweeper with Giant AntiSpyware did the most to remove unwanted
components. But the combination of the two apps increased Giant's 63%
success rate only 7 percentage points, to 70%:
Giant AntiSpyware plus... Total Adware Fixed
Webroot Spy Sweeper 70%
Ad-Aware SE Personal 69%
PC Tools Spyware Doctor 68%
Pest Patrol 67%
Spybot Search & Destroy 67%
Spyware Stormer 67%
Spyware COP 66%
Aluria Spyware Eliminator 65%
Intermute SpySubtract Pro 65%
NoAdware 65%
XsoftSpy 65%
McAfee AntiSpyware 64%
OmniQuad AntiSpy 64%
SpyHunter 64%
SpyKiller 2005 64%
Xblock X-Cleaner Deluxe 64%
Finally, the computer press often recommends that the two anti-adware
products that should be used together are Ad-Aware SE Personal and
Spybot Search & Destroy. That preference may have become the
conventional wisdom because both of these products have low-end,
freeware versions. PC World, PC Magazine, and other publications have
recommended this combination as recently as June and August,
respectively.
Ad-aware and Spybot may have been a great combo back then. But adware
apparently moves much faster than these two companies do. According to
Howes's data, the two programs together barely removed half the adware
components on an infected PC:
Ad-Aware SE Personal plus... Total Adware Fixed
Spybot Search & Destroy 54%
I found no combination of any two anti-adware programs that removed
more adware components than Giant AntiSpyware and Webroot Spy Sweeper,
based on Howes's data. Removing only 70% of adware, unfortunately,
isn't good enough. A much better strategy is to prevent adware from
getting into your systems in the first place...."
From Brian Livingston's newsletter of January 27, 2005, location
referenced in the previous post.
Shneor
