What is spybot? What does it do?

Question

ive been wondering lately. What does spybot search and destroy really do? Does it remove Trojans, malware and other things like that? Is it like your own firewall? Please give me a description of what spybot can really do.

Answer 1

Spybot is a powerful anti-malware app. It removes most types of spyware, adware, bots, and other malware which finds its way onto your system. It also includes active protection, to prevent such things getting installed in the frist place.

Finally, it has a bunch of other tools built in which are useful for advanced users.

Answer 2

Spybot - Search & Destroy (often Spybot-S&D) is a popular 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.

Spybot-S&D can fix problems with system internals (Registry), Winsock LSPs, ActiveX objects, browser hijackers and BHOs, and can to some extent protect a user's privacy by deleting usage tracks like tracking cookies. Spybot also includes an "Immunize" feature to block the installation of spyware before it occurs e.g. by modifying the hosts file. 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.

Spybot-S&D also recently added an anti-rootkit function. [2]

The TeaTimer module can be optionally enabled, providing a level of active, real-time protection from undesirable registry changes and the like.

Some programs ship with attached spyware or adware and refuse to run when the undesired co-programs are removed; newer versions of Spybot replace the spyware binaries with inert dummies (designed to fool programs which require the spyware's presence).

In order to efficiently detect recently created programs, detection updates are released weekly along with other improvements such as added languages and better heuristics algorithms. These updates are downloaded from within the software from a variety of mirrors and are then automatically installed.

Spybot-S&D is available for all versions of Windows from Windows 95, and offers more than two dozen different languages and several skins to users. Instructions are available on the website to enable users to design their own skins.

Hope that helps !!!

Cheers !!!

Answer 3

if you are looking for information about program "Spybot Search and Destroy", it is popular antispyware. you can find review and features here:

http://www.2-spyware.com/review-spybot-s...

however, if you don't have this program installed and you've noticed a running process called "spybot", be carefull. it it spyware and can be removed by these instructions:

http://www.2-spyware.com/remove-spybot.h...

you may ask why are they called almost the same. it is to trick people, because if you find a file that is called like your security program, you won't think it's malicious. there are more parasites named similar like antispyware or antivirus. for example there is a great antispyware "spyware doctor" and a parasite called "system doctor".

Answer 4

it is actually  a  t ool  to remove spyware

Answer 5

Spybot - Search & Destroy detects and removes spyware.Spywares silently tracks your surfing behaviour to create a marketing profile for you that is transmitted without your knowledge to the compilers and sold to advertising companies.

It can not act like a firewall. there is no rule implemenatation.

To continiously protect your system from spyware, you have to update the definition file continiously and scan regularly.

SYSADMININDIA

http://www.sysadminindia.com

Answer 6

This can explain to you better http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spybot

Answer 7

Spybot is a free anti-spyware tool that that contains many features to

immunize your computer against some spyware.

http://www.safer-networking.org/

It modifies Internet Explorer to block a lot of the bad stuff known to Spybot.

There is a second layer of protection for IE that blocks anything that should come through by different aspects.

Spybot Resident a tool which check permanently running application to protect your system.

Spybot Resident TeaTimer is a tool which perpetually monitors the processes called/initiated and immediately detects known malicious processes.

It giving you some options how to deal with this process in the future:

You can set TeaTimer to be informed when the process tries to start again automatically kill the process or generally allow the process to run

There is also an option to delete the file associated with this process.

In addition, TeaTimer detects, when something wants to change some critical registry keys. TeaTimer can protect you against such changes again giving you an option: You can either Allow or Deny the change.

Spybot host file locking is a tool which locks the hosts file to prevent unauthorized changes.

Locking the hosts file will prevent most hosts hijackers (even unknown) from doing harm;

Locking the IE settings will prevent other users of your computer to change your preferences.

Spybot ActiveX is a tool to display a list of installed ActiveX applications it will display a green checkmark in front of ActiveX applications known as legitimate,

and a red sign in front if applications known as illegitimate

Spybot process list is a tool displays a list of all currently running processes,

including some information about them. It also allows you to kill some processes

Spybot System startup tool lists all programs that are started at Windows startup.

If those items are in the database coming with Spybot, it will display some more information about them.

It also allows you to disable (and enable) items, as well as delete them, change them or insert new items.

Spybot system internal is a registry cleaner that fix error in windows registry.