Immunizations Increased?

[jonathanbean]

It has been a year or more since I used Spybot and now I'm back after flirting with other antispyware programs.

The last time I installed it, Spybot claimed 2,000 or so immunizations and Spywareblaster another 1700 (I'm working from memory). When I installed Spybot this past week, the number of immunizations was up to 15,000!

Question 1: Do other anti-spyware programs include immunizations in their "shields?"

Question 2: Do I really need spywareblaster now? How many more does it add? Any other passive programs to pile on for protection?

[Zenobia]

Any other passive programs to pile on for protection?

Yes,some are mentioned here:
http://forums.spybot.info/showthread.php?t=279

[jonathanbean]

First, thanks! I'll check these all out.

On Spyware Guard:

The last program date I found was 8/03.

It mentions Internet Explorer but not Firefox on the main page.

Does Spybot do the same thing (or will it in 1.5?).

IE-SpyAD has moved and seems IE oriented.

I have downloaded spywareblaster and will check the rest.

[jonathanbean]

According to another site:

"1st, as far as Spybot's Immunizations go, Spybot has the capability of immunizing your computer against a number of infestations that frequent the internet. Once you have all the latest Spybot updates, look over to the left for a button labelled Immunize. Clicking that button will tell you how many immunizations are enabled and how many remain. Click OK, then click the green + sign (Immunize). Your computer should now be protected against 15,528 (currently) bad products from getting on your computer. FYI, SpywareBlaster adds another 7.092 items to that database. Nothing runs in the background as a result of these immunizations."

Can't vouch for the accuracy but nothing to lose with spywareblaster.

FYI: I read up and HOSTs file protection won't work with my LAN ISP in effect (DSL). Oh, well.

[Zenobia]

You're welcome.
No,SpywareGuard hasn't been updated in awhile,but it's still considered to be useful.Please see:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showt...248#post905248

Please see here regarding SpywareGuard and Firefox.
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=56389

Yes,IE-Spyad is IE oriented,it will have no effect on Firefox,Opera,etc.Scroll down a little here for compatibility:
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/uiuc/resource.htm#IESPYAD

[Zenobia]

There has been mention of there maybe being a bad download blocker for Firefox in the next Spybot version.Please see here:
http://forums.spybot.info/showpost.p...43&postcount=4

[md usa spybot fan]

jonathanbean:

Spybot's immunization routine adds entries to the system registry that are used by Internet Explorer. This:

1. Blocks the execution of selected ActiveX scripts.
2. Blocks the storing of cookies from some sites.
3. Places sites in the restricted zone.
   
   1. By domain (name).
   2. By range (IP Address)

Enabling protection SpywareBlaster adds entries to the system registry that are used by Internet Explorer. This:

1. Blocks the execution of selected ActiveX scripts.
2. Blocks the storing of cookies from some sites.
3. Places sites in the restricted zone by domain (name).

Spybot's immunization counts can be deceiving because many of the same protective registry entries are placed in multiple registry hives. SpywareBlaster also adds cooking blocking entries to two registry hives which gives the appearance that the number of items protected against is higher. (but to a lesser degree than with Spybot).

The actual number of items protected against:

Spybot as of 2007-01-26 updates.
SpywareBlaster as of 2007-01-20 updates (does not include today's update).

.................. Restricted .. Restricted
........................ zone ........ zone .... ActiveX ..... Cookies
................... by domain .... by range .... blocked ..... blocked

Spybot ................. 2778 .......... 70 ........ 970 ......... 139
SpywareBlaster ......... 3050 ........... 0 ....... 3701 ......... 209
Both together .......... 4828 .......... 70 ....... 3883 ......... 306

Question 2: Do I really need spywareblaster now? How many more does it add?

The answer is using both together adds quite a bit more protection.

Using SpywareBlaster in addition to Spybot adds the following (as of yesterday):

.................. Restricted .. Restricted
........................ zone ........ zone .... ActiveX ..... Cookies
................... by domain .... by range .... blocked ..... blocked

........................ 2050 ........... 0 ....... 2913 ......... 167

[jonathanbean]

Alas, I am among the masses who have not only switched to Firefox but deactivated IE! So, if Spybot immunizations are for IE only, I will add them (probably not too many MB?) but they won't do me much good. Then again, I'm not complaining that Firefox is safer but how safe?

Spywareguard is NOT browser-dependent, right? So, it should catch anything coming across the Internet, even if I use Firefox??

FYI: I ask these questions because I'm sick of MS's junk and I am going back to Spybot, in part because I can see all the "must be free" IT professionals at schools going to WD (they also insist on IE for some reason, I don't know why but I ignore them).

[md usa spybot fan]

Alas, I am among the masses who have not only switched to Firefox but deactivated IE!

Are you on Windows XP? If so, how do you handle Windows updates?

[jonathanbean]

I have a link on the desktop to Windows Update (manual).