Spybot Search & Destroy is among the trailblazing anti-spyware programs. It has been around since 2002. It has free and frequent updates of definition files. It has some excellent features not available in Ad-Aware or Windows Defender. Best of all, it was created and is maintained by a humble German programmer named Patrick M. Kolla who dedicates his software to a woman whom he calls the "Most Wonderful Girl on Earth."
Scanning, Real-Time Protection and Immunization
Spyware Search & Destroy is superb at discovering spyware, malware, adware, trojans, dialers and browser hijackers on your system (don't worry if you don't know what all of those are, as long as you know that they're bad). In my experience, only Ad-Aware finds more spyware. But it has two features that the free version of Ad-Aware doesn't: Real-time protection and Immunization.
Immunization is a unique feature to Spybot. It puts a layer between Internet Explorer and Internet sites that blocks known threats from even showing up in web pages. These threats include bad ActiveX controls embedded in the web page, downloadable programs and the worst tracking cookies that collect your browsing habits as you surf from site to site.
Real-time protection is provided by a component called "TeaTimer." It continuously monitors your system for known malicious programs and prevents them from running if detected. TeaTimer also alerts you if any program attempts to change key parts of your system configuration (registry) and prompts you to accept or deny the changes.
This latter feature is one that can be a bit intimidating to the average Windows user. My best advice is to look at the name of the program making the change. If you recognize the program and trust it, allow the change. Otherwise, deny the change.
Not Intimidated by Spyware Lawyers
A recent trend spyware peddlers have embraced is filing lawsuits against anti-spyware software. They will claim that their pop-up ad laden, keylogging, browser-hijacking, surf-tracking software isn't actually spyware.
Furthermore, they claim, their "customer" agreed to allow the spyware-like behavior when they visited their website. Since their business model relies on their customers agreeing to spyware-like behaviors, they say they will sue for damages.
This has actually worked.
Patrick M. Kolla, maker of Spyware Search & Destroy, however, lives in Germany under a whole different set of laws.
In fact, his sway seems to work in the opposite direction. He was responsible for getting Apple to do an about-face on a new iTunes feature that was being a little too aggressive in collecting data on your music choices.
Software with a Heart
The hard-working guy behind the software puts the heart in it. He dedicates the software to the "most wonderful girl in the world" who goes by Sandra Klass. IMDB shows an actress with that name, though I'm not sure it's her. Isn't young programmer love great?