spybot spyware

Spybot - Search & Destroy (often Spybot-S&D) is a malware, spyware and adware removal program which works on Microsoft Windows 95 and later. Like most malware scanners, Spybot-S&D scans the computer hard disk and/or RAM for malicious software. The home of Spybot-S&D!.

Spybot was written by German software engineer Patrick Michael Kolla, and is distributed by Kolla's company Safer Networking Limited. Development began in 2000 when Kolla, still a student, wrote a small program to deal with the Aureate/Radiate and Conducent TimeSink programs, two of the earliest examples of adware.

Spybot - Search & Destroy is currently released as freeware.

Spybot features

Spybot is able to fix problems with tracking cookies, system internals (Registry), Winsock LSPs, ActiveX objects, browser hijackers, BHOs, and is able to protect a user's privacy, to some extent, by deleting usage tracks. Spybot - Search & Destroy - Free Software Downloads and Software. Spybot also includes an "Immunize" feature which can be used to block the installation of spyware before it occurs. Another tool included in Spybot is a file shredder, for the secure deletion of files. Spybot is not intended to replace anti-virus programs, but it does detect some common trojans and keyloggers.

As some programs which ship with attached spyware or adware will refuse to run should the unwelcome co-programs be removed, later versions of Spybot allow it to replace the spyware binaries with inert dummies (designed to fool those programs which insist on the spyware's presence). Are you being monitored? Find out with Spy.

In order to efficiently detect recently created programs, Kolla regularly releases detection updates along with help improvements, new languages, and better heuristics algorithms.