Spyware Blaster

Im confused as to how this program works? Is it a full blown real-time AS? Can it complement Avira Premium? What about Avira free? How does it compare with other AS like SAS or MBAM?

 

Spyware Blaster PREVENTS you from visiting bad sites, or getting bad cookies. It is not an antispyware, but more of a preventative measure.

 

I see so how does it prevent you from visiting bad sites? Does it do a similar job to a webshield?

 

I believe that SpywareBlaster:

1. adds a list of known malicious web sites to the "restricted" zone, which can be viewed at Control Panel/Internet Options/Security/Restricted Sites. This prevents these sites from infecting your PC (or at least greatly reduces that possibility).
2. sets the "kill bit" on dangerous activeX controls in the Windows registry, which prevents those controls from being installed in the browser by a malicious website.
3. blocks tracking cookies in Firefox.

SpywareBlaster is not a "resident" antimal-ware program. It only needs to be run when updates are available (roughly once a month) to add new entries to the sites and activeX lists. By the way, Spybot S&D has a similar "immunize" feature which blocks dangerous sites via the HOSTS file. I recommend using in conjunction with SpywareBlaster.

 

If immunize is similar to spyware blaster why would I need both? What are the advantages of running both these programs?

Do I need either of these programs if I have a good resident AV/AS + SAS/MBAM + Firewall + HIPS?

 

You wouldn't need both, but since they each work via different techniques, nothing wrong with having both. The Hosts file is a way of re-directing known malicious URLs to nowhere, basically, in a process known as loopback. Such URL's are therefore blocked from loading into the browser.
SpywareBlaster does it via the registry.
Neither should cause any system load or slowdown.
They are both quite different to how the AV/AS FW work.
You may not need them, but they will possibly offer extra protection when it's needed.

 

Cool, I think I now understand what these products are about. Thanks for all the info guys!