Webroot Spy Sweeper 2.6

Version 2.6 of Webroot's Spy Sweeper is a standalone program designed to remove spyware that has been installed on systems as a result of browsing the web. Spy Sweeper supports local hard disks, networked and removable drives.

Available since March and costing £19.50 a seat for 100 seats, the software runs under Windows 98, ME, NT, 2000 Professional, XP Professional and Home. We installed it on various desktops and laptops that had been used for a long time without anti-spyware, and it was quite enlightening to see the amount of spyware that had accumulated.

We initially had a boxed copy of Spy Sweeper containing version 2.0 of the software, but using the automatic update feature, we upgraded first to version 2.2 and finally to version 2.6 when it became available on Webroot's web site. This upgrade feature is active for 12 months.

The options screen allows users to configure and schedule Spy Sweeper activity and to define which cookies/spyware to keep or remove, which is convenient for regularly visited web sites that may require a logon sequence.

Users can configure three Spy Sweeper shields. The first stops spyware hijacking the page that Internet Explorer defaults to when started. Spy Sweeper can be set to restore this with or without notifying the user. The second actively detects tracking cookies and can be set to remove them automatically. The third alerts the user when spyware is detected running in memory. Although the program can be installed without administrator rights, configuration of the options can be password protected.

After running a sweep, Spy Sweeper quarantines any spyware found and shows the number of memory items, registry items and files/ folders inspected. It also shows the number of spyware items found as well as the number and location on the user's system of any traces found. Users can obtain more details on any spyware detected by selecting the item and clicking on "more details", which redirects the user to Webroot's web site and shows additional information about the selected spyware.

However, we would also like to see Spy Sweeper link spyware to the web sites from which the spyware came. And we found that the program box could not be resized to occupy a full screen, which meant that if large amounts of spyware were found we had to use the scroll bars a lot if we wanted to view all of the items.

By deleting cookies and flushing the cache through the internet options in the Windows control panel, we removed a lot of the offending spyware, but some items had to be removed by Spy Sweeper.

If the internet connection is active, users can choose to update the program to a newer version, upload a newer set of spyware definitions, check the latest spyware news provided by Webroot, or report spyware that Spy Sweeper is not detecting, by filling in a Malicious Software Report Form on Webroot's web site.

There are quite a few freeware anti-spyware programs available, such as Lavasoft's AdAware, but many firms prefer to pay for an anti-spyware program to access support services and more advanced features.

Webroot has announced it is about to release an enterprise version that uses the desktop engine. The new edition will be designed to sit on a gateway and filter spyware before it reaches client systems.

Price: £19.50 a seat for 100 seats

Contact: Webroot 01494 657 729

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