SpywareBlaster In Isolation...Good Idea??

I use SpywareBlaster (SWB) and have done for ages. Because it is so 'quiet' it's hard to tell how effective it is at preventing malware installation.

My questions are:

1. Would you guys feel that you had a PC secure from malware infection if you relied on SWB alone?

2. What types of infection might you remain at risk from if you opted for the SWB only security regime?

My ulterior motive for asking these questions is that a friend has just had a new hard drive installed following a catastrophic failure. The guy who put in the drive installed SWB and Norton AV (not the full security suite) and has given assurances that SWB is sufficient on it's own to protect from malware infection.

I suspect that it would be more prudent to have a realtime scanner such as Windows Defender or Ewido installed as a first line of defence.

Any thoughts on this please??

 

Spyware blaster is not designed to "run in the background" and doesn't. It would be wastng its time if it were. Spyware blaster is, in simple terms, a huge database of known rogue websites, cookies and active x files. All the program does is put these known rogue sites and files into your blocked lists within IE and/or Mozilla/Firefox. This will only stop 'known' websites and files.

No. Although it is a very good program and in my view the makers make the best point of blocking spyware before it enters your PC to do damage, if they dont know of a bad website then you are completely unprotected especially if you don't have a virus scanner. Remember that spyware blaster targets a specific type of virus/malware. It wont cover you from .jpg, .exe, .wmv etc. virus's or virus's that come through in your email.

The files ive listed above. You cannot get away now a days without a Virus scanner, unless you are an ultra low profile user of the computer. Even then some get onto CD's floppy disks etc...

Keep your version of Windows up to date they close loop holes and bugs all the time that in some cases cannot be fixed by anyone else.

My personal preference is to have a hardware based firewall, and just use the Windows one that comes with XP SP2.

Be careful what P2P programs you use! Some completely open up your computer to hackers, make sure you know what ports it has opened, with Windows Firewall you can turn them off should you want to.

If SWB did not have a bad website in its database and you visited it then SWB can do no more to remove the spyware, and would recommend Spybot S&D, Ewido or Lavasoft Adaware. Each programs' database is different, one program will detect something another doesnt, have as many as you like.

just another tip make sure your Privacy setting in IE (if you use IE) is set to a minimum of 'Medium High'

 

Thanks for getting back so quickly. You have confirmed what I suspected, but it's very useful to have a second opinion. Cheers. db.

 

Is Spyware Blaster compatible with NOD and KAV?

Thanks,
Jerry

 

It is with NOD32 as i have them both installed but KAV i can't say though i have never read where it isn't here. For all the apps i have installed over the years SWB hasn't had a problem with any of them.


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