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The CRYPT Mag

Search and Destroy - Spybot

> The current onslaught against Internet users, especially for Windows users is reaching fever pitch. Hardly a day goes past without another security warning or another virus alarm. The latest is the security flaw in Internet Explorer where it will allow software to download from an infected website.

> I’d recommend everyone avoid IE, but I don’t have any faith that folk would listen. Opera, Netscape and Mozilla are far superior browsers as far as I can see, but IE is the dominant one.

> I wrote about Search and Destroy some time ago in the magazine, and it with great pleasure I can say that it has been updated in a major way.

> The new version is 1.3 and has some handy new features.

> For those that didn’t read the Crypt when I last wrote about it, or can’t remember, Search and Destroy is similar to Ad-Aware. It checks your drive for spyware. It is a very handy tool, and can help prevent problems from arising by removing the spyware, tracking cookies from your system.

When you download the latest version and install it, you’ll meet the new features straight away. It first backs up your registry.

The initial GUI for Search and Destroy hasn’t changed all that much. You have the sidebar with the options for recovery (restore a backup), immunise (ensure S&D knows what you already have), update (necessary) and donations so you can help the author stay alive and programming.

The program is very intuitive and no computer security knowledge is expected. S&D gently leads you through the minefield of keeping your drive healthy.

When you install, S&D will ask you to immunise your system, this is because it needs to know what you already have.

S&D can now block downloads of known bad software!!

It stays resident and starts with the computer. You can tell because you end up with a little icon in your taskbar with a padlock on it.

S&D still does its usual efficient check of your drives, and will ferret out all those nasties.

S&D will also allow you to wipe your log files on the computer. If it has any additional information about the file, it will display it, allowing you to make a decision to remove the file. Any spyware is automatically selected, usage logs are not, but are selectable.

It will also remove any offending files for you, or warn if it can’t. Thankfully, it will also explain if it can’t and suggest the remedy.

This program should be on everyone’s drives.

Go on, keep safe on the Internet and use this program.

By Ian Urie.

© RIYAN Productions

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