Security Tools

Spybot - S&D (Search and Destroy) is an adware and spyware detection and removal tool. This includes removal of certain advertising components, that may gather statistics as well as detection of various keylogging and other spy utilities. In addition, it also securely removes PC and Internet usage tracks, including browser history, temporary pages, cookies (with option to keep selected) and more. The program offers an attractive outlook-style interface that is easy to use and multi-lingual. Spybot - S&D allows you to exclude selected cookies, programs or extensions from being reported, allowing you to prevent false positive messages for items that you dont want to be alerted of every time. It can even scan your download directory for files that have been downloaded, but not yet installed, allowing you to detect unwanted programs before you even install them. SpyBot produces a detailed and easy to understand report before it deletes any files and allows you to deselect any item that you do not want to be processed. In addition, a recovery feature allows you to restore your settings if needed.

Access Manager provides fast, easy and secure storage for all your passwords. You can organize passwords into types and categories for easy access and keep notes, web site links and e-mail addresses with each password. Email addresses or web site URLs can be automatically launched from within the program. The program is easy to use and uses a clean MS Outlook style interface and can be protected with a master password. Also included is an option to generate random passwords, search functions, printing of password lists and more. Very nice! Free for personal use.

ThreatFire (formerly CyberHawk) provides behavior-based security monitoring to protect you from malicious programs such as Trojans, viruses, malware and other threats without relying on any signature updates. It can (should) be used along with your regular anti-virus program or firewall, adding an additional level of security to your system. The program works by continuously analyzing the behavior of processes and programs on your system and immediately alerts you if it detects any suspicious actions - you can then decide whether to allow or block the activity. ThreatFire comes ready-to-use and does not require any difficult configuration, however it also offers flexible rule settings that allow advanced users to customize the protection.

Secunia PSI (Personal Software Inspector) scans your computer for seriously outdated software products that have been discontinued or require critical security updates from the vendor. The program can recognize almost 30,000 software products and gathers update information from a variety of online sources, a user community and in-house research. Once the scan is completed, Secunia PSI will present you with a list of issues that were detected, along with download links to updated version, additional online information and other details. Advanced users can chose to ignore certain programs or exclude paths from the system scan. Secunia PSI can scan your computer on a daily basis and automatically alert you if new issues are detected.

XP-AntiSpy is a small utility to quickly disable some built-in update and authentication features in WindowsXP that may rise security or privacy concerns in some people. For example, there is a service running in the background which is called Automatic Updates... that may sound useful to most people, but suspicious to others. You can disable all these features manually by going through your configuration, find the settings for each etc. However with XP-AntiSpy there is no need to do this, since it will show you all of them at once and let you choose which ones to disable. Not only will it save you a lot of time disabling them - it will also allow you to quickly re-enable them if you change your mind.

SaveIt! allows you to password protect any program or document. You can also restrict access based on the windows user account and disable password protection temporarily. When a user attempts to open a password protected application or document, he is automatically prompted for the password (protected files are marked with a special icon in Windows Explorer). SaveIt! is also available from the Windows Explorer SendTo menu, allowing you to quickly protect a file with just a few clicks.

PhishGuard is a software/service that helps you detect and block phishing or spoofing attempts, usually designed to lure you into providing personal or credit card information to fake online sites. The program integrates into Internet Explorer and warns you whenever you visit a site that is known to be a scam. It uses an online community database that you can easily submit suspicious links or emails to, by using a simple drop icon on your desktop. A Pro version with additional features is available for purchase.

ScriptSentry acts as an intermediate between your computer and the Windows Scripting Host, thereby allowing you to control which scripts are executed or not. Among other uses, this can be useful to prevent malicious scripts that are often distributed as disguised email attachments (e.g the infamous Iloveyou "virus", Melissa and many others). The program can be configured in detail and offers advanced options for users that know what they are doing as well as easy to select options for novice users. The program supports a large list of script types, including VBS, JS, HTA and many others. You can also choose to associate .DOC and XLS documents with ScriptSentry, thereby controlling the risk of malicious scripts embedded in these files.

RootkitRevealer scans your computer and lists Registry and file system API discrepancies that may indicate the presence of a user-mode or kernel-mode rootkit. It can detect most popular tootkits that attempt to hide their files and registry keys, this includes AFX, Vanquish, HackerDefender and others. An advanced user should examine all discrepancies and determine the likelihood that they indicate the presence of a rootkit.

ICEWatch is an add-on for BlackICE users. It enhances the viewing capabilities for the BlackICE attack-list.csv and offers a better display that can be sorted and searched, as well as host lookup functions, copy IP address and more. In addition the program can be set to sound an alarm every time an entry is added to the log file (based on a severity level).

myWIFIzone enables you to prevent freeloaders from using your WIFI network to surf the web without having to fiddle with your WIFI access point configuration. It can be installed on any machine on the network, from where it runs a DHCP server that automatically responds to any intruder requests and takes control of the connection. If an outsider attempts to use your web connectivity, he will be shown an `Access Not Available` screen and you will be notified from the system tray. You can also choose to allow requests and maintain a list of allowed IP and MAC addresses. myWIFIzone supports WEP and WPA.

The TrilogyEC Professional Edition is a secure Instant Messenger that uses 256 bit AES encryption to protect your chat conversations and file transfers. It works on a peer-to-peer basic, and connects directly to the IP address of your buddy, with no intermediate network to route through. You can collaborate with up to 5 people simultaneously. The messenger offers a built-in address book and buddy list, password protection, and 2 security levels to choose from. The program is not designed to `meet new friends`, but for secure and direct communication between two IP addresses - all parties must have TrilogyEC installed. TrilogyEC does not require any registration or sign up.

IMAware scans your computer for a variety of popular instant messaging programs, including ICQ, Skype, Trillian, Gaim, Yahoo Messenger and others. The program is intended for parents and business that want to know what instant messengers are installed on their computers.

TRACE! By Workshare works with Microsoft Office documents, and can help you identify potential document security risks due to personal information, hidden data and other risky content that may still be contained in your documents. Office documents include a wide range of additional information in regards to the creator, the work flow, authors, changes and more, which can be very useful, but may not be desirable to be included in a document that is sent to a third party. TRACE can scan a given folder or document and report on any additional information that it finds, along with a risk level that it assigns to each criteria. Unfortunately, the program cannot remove the data for you, but it can warn you if you are about to share a document that contains additional data. You can then use MS Office features to remove the data that you do not want to share.

a-squared Anti-Dialer scans your computer for applications that appear to have dialing capabilities, enabling you to find unwanted or malicious dialer programs that can use your phone connection to dial expensive toll numbers. You have the option to exclude legitimate dialers (e.g your ISP`s dialer) from the scan and quarantine any others that you are not sure about. In addition to scanning, the program also includes real-time protection that will alert immediately you when a new dialer is installed.

Random Labs enables you to create lists of strong passwords, using True Random Numbers or Cryptographically Secure Pseudo-Random Numbers. The program offers a choice of random numbers generated by a server based on atmospheric noise (free registration required to access the server), Microsoft CryptoAPI, CryptMT or a local pool, generated from files of your choice. You can choose the length and complexity of the password(s) and the program will display additional information, letting you know how long it would (in theory) take to crack the password. The generated passwords can then be copied to the clipboard. In addition to password generation, the program can also generate random lottery numbers.

System Protect enables you to protect important programs, documents and files from accidental or unauthorized deletion. It automatically protects all Windows system files and allows you to specify a list of custom files and folders that you want to protect as well. The program will intercept any attempted deletion or modification and either prompt you for authorization or automatically deny the action (depending on your settings). You can also disable the protection mode temporarily, which is useful when you are installing new software or system updates.

Windows Vulnerability Scanner scans your system and checks for any known Windows vulnerabilities that can be fixed by applying the necessary patches and security updates from Microsoft. The program creates a HTML report with links to further information and to download the update(s).