General consensus of Wilders veterans re:Spyware Terminator

I know that Spywarewarrior.com de-listed the program from the rogue list, but is it really worth loading? Every fifth post on this forum seems to recommend Spyware Terminator.

Spyware Terminator had that association with Crawler.com and though it might be the best free anti-malware program that resides in start-up, their old associations are still worrisome.

What if the company behind Comet Cursor suddenly started issuing a great anti-spyware program that was in vogue. Wouldn't you be wondering if there was a catch and wonder if one day an update would install a new dll file that was problematic?

PCworld has the program on their download site, but add this at the bottom:

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/userreviews/fid,64132/userreviews.html

There's also a nice little debate going over at Fileforum.betanews:

http://fileforum.betanews.com/review/1139394850/1/view


They seem to love it over at Download.com. The reviews are glowing:


http://www.download.com/Spyware-Terminator/3640-8022_4-10620735.html


Now if you look at Malware-test.com, they have Spyware Terminator rated below AVG and Avast for malware detection (Bitdefender 10 rated the highest with NOD32 and Kaspersky coming in 2nd and 3rd, respectively). Surprisingly, McAfee, Superantispyware and Spy Sweeper did very poorly.

http://www.malware-test.com/antispyware.html


If you look at their anti-virus testing, it differs greatly from AV-comparatives.org:

http://www.malware-test.com/antivirus.html


After doing this research, I'm still not sure. On the one hand, if a former packager of adware can't put out a good anti-malware program, then who can?! On the other hand, Avast seems to do a better job, so why not just load Avast and take care of two problems with one program?

I'd be interested to know what the frequent and longtime posters of Wilders have to say.

 

Spyware Terminator is good if u want free realtime protection.

otherwise, u can use better scanners like SUPERAntiSpyware and AVG AntiSpyware for ondemand scanning.

 

Search for that on forum, and you will find a lot of information about that...

Don't trust on http://www.malware-test.com

 

Its perfectly safe. They are out of the malware business. They are now making Spyware Terminator to help keep people safe. I have it and it blocked 180websolutions and CWS. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!

 

I still dont trust spyware terminator.
how do you know that they will stay good?
what if they think we will go back to the old ways and instead of giving you update to protect against spyware it installs spyware instead?
lodore

 

ST has some quality features but the standout feature is its realtime shield which rivals similar protection of most paid anti-spyware programs. I have CounterSpy and Ashampoo's (A-squared clone) antispyware programs but use the realtime protection of ST instead.

ST's drawbacks include the ClamAV and HIPS components which provide little protection compared to the protection offered by other free programs. ClamAV is not in the same ballpark as Antivir, Avast or AVG in offering viable virus protection. But ClamAV is an Open Source project so I don't think ST has to pay anything to add it to their AS product. It is essentially just window dressing.

The ST HIPS also take a backseat to many free HIPS programs. Prosecurity and SSM provide a lot more protection. I do not believe this was always the case as ST's HIPS was supposedly tested by some respected techies in some of ST's earlier program versions a few months back. And the general conclusion was that the HIPS component provided good protection. For some reason the HIPS features don't test as well now. I am not sure if ST changed OEM's or what happened. But ST's HIPS component of the most recent versions is HIPS in name only. Just more window dressing, kinda like the ClamAV.

There are also a fair amount of false positives from an ST spyware scan. I believe that I come across a FP somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 my scans using their product. So I I have decided not to scan with ST anymore. Free on-demand scanners provide much more protection as well as many fewer false positives. FWIW- I normally use SuperAntiSpyware free and AVG Anti-Spyware free to scan as they seem to do a great job updating their databases and have nice detection rates. I also fire-up my old CounterSpy every now and again to do a scan. ST just is not in the same league as those three app's in detecting/removing spyware.

Finally there is still the ST association with Crawler. I realize that there has been some talk of ST trying to distance itself from its crawler affilliation. But here is the current Spyware Terminator contact info from the ST website:

"Contact InformationCRAWLER, LLC
999 YAMATO RD STE 100
BOCA RATON, FL 33431-4478
===============================
Telephone: 1-561-989-7400
Facsimile: 1-561-989-7401
===============================
contact@crawler.com"

All in all, ST gets some major points for its realtime shield protection. Of all the anti-spyware products I have used only SpySweeper provides a higher level of security. And the ST realtime shield is on par with AVG AS's active guard protection provided in its paid version. The ST realtime shield is ahead of similar protection components provided by paid programs CounterSpy and Ashampoo (as stated above, an A-squared clone).

ST falls way short in the other features of its product: antivirus, HIPS and spyware scanning. There are other free products that can provide superior protection in those areas. But the ST realtime shield, being rare in a free product, allows users more flexibility in using free apps in conjuntion with the ST realtime shield to build a viable, yet inexpensive, layered protection for their system. Seriously, a free set-up of ST realtime shield, AVG and SuperAntiSpyware on demand scanners, SSM or Prosecurity (among others) HIPS program would probably rival ANY paid anti-spyware program.

 

I switched to ST after my Spy Sweeper subscription expired. I like that it's free and runs light. The realtime protection seems adequate but I take additional measures such as running Blockpost in Outpost firewall with an antispy/adware list to block the bad IPs. For manual scanning I trust Superantispyware free edition and AVG Antispyware free online scanner.

 

Hello,
Don't use it, see no reason to use it, would not use it.
If you must, go with AVG AS or SAS.
Mrk

 

I do not use nor trust this app. Maybe it's thier past that bothers me,could be wrong but i believe there are better choices out there.I'm happy and feel very secure with the set up i now have.

 

I have used Spyware Terminator in the past and would not have any qualms about useing it again. There is nothing wrong with this program.

 

I'm not a Wilder's veteran, nor especially knowledgeable, but have been using this program for several months.
Some comprehensive past debate on some of these issues here https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=156433&page=2
(see post 28 on this page for privacy policy from the "horses' mouth".)
A lot of Wilder's members will have read this thread.

There are almost certainly better AS applications around. There appear to better HIPS applications around, judging from reviews/opinions. Personally I believe there is no better freeware resident antispyware available. It's blocked nasties from installing on my PC more than once, and preventing them getting in is, IMO, what it's mainly about.
There may be better scanners around; I keep a few on hand, like SAS, just in case. SAS,A2, AVG (AS) Spybot and AdAware haven't found anything except FP's and the odd tracking cookie since I installed ST.
The program has been a bit buggy for some; very buggy for a few. Not for me, and I believe, for the majority. If you visit the ST Forums, you'll read about frequent updates and a willingness to try and resolve any issues reported. It's an active and supportive forum.
Now maybe I'm a bit biased. Fair enough. But any bias has come from using the program, engaging in the forums, having a squeaky clean PC-despite using a p2p- (which BTW, at Castlecops they said was near impossible) and last (and least important but still nice), receiving unsolicited gifts from them just for being a bit helpful (or prolific) on the forum.
So for you naysayers who say "It's got a shonky reputation"' "It's connected with spyware", "I don't trust it" or "what's to stop them selling my personal information",
Get a bloody life.

 

so do anyone think spyware terminator better than avg antispyware for real time protection, close to the same, or not as good? also does anyone think spyware terminator needed if using prosecurity free or system safety monitor free?

 

Well it is either associated with spyware or it isn't. And it's silly to believe it is not associated with spyware unless a person is incredibly naive. Heck, Spyware Terminator and Crawler have the same contact address which means they pretty much sleep in the same bed. And I don't know of any credible person that believes Crawler is not associated with spyware, especially because of Crawler's Ibis connection.

It's probably more correct for those who trust ST to state that a company associated with Spyware can produce a trusted anti-spyware program. I don't entirely buy all that and just use its realtime shield. And I would be surprised if it did not purposely ignore tracking cookies from Crawler and/or Ibis. Plus the overall performance of ST has continuously diminished at each version release. As soon as its realtime shield starts to take a performance hit ST will be off my computer quicker anyone can say ST kool-aid.

 

I got that little bugger on one of my PCs a few years ago. Not sure how it got installed though. Must have been by going to an ad-laden website.

 

QFT

I'd rather fork over $29 for SAS w/ lifetime updates than install ST simply because it offers free real-time protection. At least with SAS you're supporting a company that listens to it's customer base and continues to refine the program. Nick is an active member on this forum and is always contributing in one way or another. SAS real-time does not lag your computer in any way, and the (almost) daily definition updates are a big plus.

malware-test.com is not a trustworty review site. In fact their testing methods are downright rediculous.

 

Spyware Terminator has been clean so far.
There are better scanners available.SAS,AVG AS,and A-Squared are better scanners IMO.

 

Winpooch also highly suggests ClamAV for the same reasons i presume.


Never tried ST but you can see from the posts above there are those who detest it's past/present connections, and those who seem to feel as long as it works without issue is ok.

I can't comment either way since i never tried it but i did read a heated debate once some time ago at Spyware Warrior Forum between ST's author and some forum security specialists who took him to task really hard over it's shady link with Crawler. Needless to say that debate led up to it's being Rogue Listed back then.

 

Because then someone would sew them for lying. I find it a great program.

ST has fixed every problem I have EVER posted, you cannot say ST doesn't listen. Nick is an active member at this forum, ST isn't... Most anti-virus or anti-spyware vendors aren't because they have their own forums... Just because they don't post here is NOT a reason to not use the program. And if you post an issue on ST board they will do everything in their power to fix it. ST releases many versions and beta's continuously improving the program... I know SUPER has made new releases but ST has made ALOT more. Most programs today do have daily updates (Including ST), and ST doesn't lag my computer at a rate that I have noticed.

I do not mean to say SUPER Anti-Spyware sucks, it is a great program... I have it myself as well as ST and many other security programs. Your post just made no sense because Spyware Terminator does everything in your post, except for free... And I know SUPER may have better detection rates then ST.... But the realtime and HIPS and ST makes up for that, plus the many beta's always improving the program... And new stable versions are all available through auto-update.

I agree, though they may have a life... Arguing with those points is stupid.

A reason to use it would be excellent malware protection. So you can cross that middle part out.

This is from a person with 22,000 posts... And not one of them is spam! 22,000! Lol... Yes this was my final point.

 

I used Spyware Terminator a couple of months back and thought it was a decent program. I felt its real-time protection was fairly good, especially with HIPS enabled. However, I found that its scanning capabilities were less than average. I quit using it after a new version came out that seemed to have somewhat of a memory leak - started using too many resources. So, uninstalled it and went back to using SSM, which is much more powerful and uses a lot less resources. As far as any connection with spyware, I found nothing amiss while having ST installed on my computer. I do feel if a person wants a good AS scanner, SAS is very good and doesn't seem to find all the false positives that I've seen with AVG AS. That's my experience, anyway.

 

You're obviously pro-ST and doing your part by defending it. My point is that everything in ST is inferior to other reputable applications out there. Simply beacuse it's free is not a good reason to use it. Their shady alliance with Crawler is yet another reason most folks continue to avoid it. There are better alternatives.

 

I do like the program and have no reason to not like it... But doing my part? That sounds like you think I'm getting paid for posting my opinions on it. Which is not true.

Wait isn't that the case with every product? Why use Kerio while Comodo has this (Put Example Here) and passes all leaktests, why use AVG while Kaspersky does everything better (Detection, better firewall, better removal)... Why use Kaspersky while NOD32 has better heuristics, why use Emsisoft A-Squared as an anti-trojan when according to www.av-comparatives.org anti-trojan test AVG Anti-Spyware is the best, why use SUPER anti-spyware when it's on virtually no legitimate tests that actually test it fairly against others... And finally why use Spyware Terminator when it's HIPS isn't the best, it's detection isn't the best and it's realtime isn't the best... The answer is... Because no product has the best of everything, and having one program is alot better then having 3 (1 hips program, one for scanning and one for realtime). Despite that it's not the best.

So lets pay for all security programs, assuming we want COMPLETE security (the 2nd or 3rd anti-spyware everyone has is going to assume to be free like SUPER free, or adaware or spybot)
Option 1: 40-60$ for an IE security suite. 20-30$ for a dedicated anti-spyware, 20$+ for a dedicated HIPS or a Sandbox program
Or 30-50$ for anti-virus. 20$ + for firewall, 20-30$ for a dedicated anti-spyware, and 20$ for dedicated HIPS or Sandbox program

Or 30-50$ for an anti-virus. free or paid firewall... and ST (anti-spyware, and HIPS)

Yes I know I was exaggerating.

Thanks Tips. But once again I say... They declared that they are done the spyware/adware business... And that ST is a clean program... If they went back on that word...Well alot of bad crap would happen that they would regret.

 

ST is free and thats the best thing you can say about it, when something is free you will always see some people defending it without really having much else than "I have used it for a long time and never got infected" for proff.

Like EliteKiller said: "Simply because it's free is not a good reason to use it", especially with a vendor with this rep, there are other free options out there.

 

Actually, since "not getting infected" is what the program is about, I would think that was fairly adequate.
Doesn't prove anything, of course, just gives an indication that it does the job intended.
There are plenty of free programs that don't; you don't read about many people defending them.

 

Yes, i agree that it doesn't prove anything.

 

Not getting infected does not necessarily mean your anti-malware program is doing its job; it typically means that you're cautious about what you do when you sit in front of the computer.