Anti-adware misses most malware

INTRODUCTION — news about your newsletter

Readers cover the globe

In our Jan. 13 issue, we asked our readers to update their preferences page and let us know what country they're in. This month, more than 10,000 of our 145,000 subscribers entered their location for the first time. An unknown additional number updated an old location to a new one.

More than 60% of our subscribers have now provided a country name on their preferences page. We're impressed with the responsiveness of our fellow Windows users.

Even more exciting is the fact that our readers tell us they reside in 159 countries worldwide. (Compare that with 191 member states of the United Nations.) It helps us get through our day when we realize we're providing Windows Secrets to 45 subscribers in the United Arab Emirates, 106 in Vietnam, and so forth.

We doubt that many readers are fibbing about their locations. We said we'd use the data to help us decide in which cities to give free seminars in 2005 or 2006. So there's no incentive for a reader to pretend to be in some exotic locale.

The bulk of our readers — 93% — are in the world's four largest English-speaking countries: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. That makes sense, since 89% of the world's native speakers of English who use the Internet reside in those four places, according to figures from Global Reach.

This is illustrated by the following chart, comparing the makeup of our readers and all English-speaking Internet users:

Country	Readers	ESI Users
U.S.	78.8%	65.6%
Canada	5.7%	11.8%
U.K.	4.8%	6.8%
Australia	3.7%	5.0%
Other	7.0%	10.8%
	————	————
Total	100.0%	100.0%

[Note: The percentage of ESI users in Canada is actually 6.8% and in the U.K. 11.8%. This error was corrected in our Mar. 24, 2005, issue. — Ed.]

Our readers in the U.S. are slightly more numerous than the worldwide ratios would suggest (about 13 percentage points more numerous). But we expect to add more subscribers across the globe as the word gets around.

We're aware, of course, that 64.8% of the world's 800 million Internet users don't speak English as their primary language. (After English, says Global Reach, the largest native languages of Internet users are Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, and German.) We don't publish the Windows Secrets Newsletter in those other languages yet, but hey — who can predict?

Winners of our travel radios

We promised in our last issue to give away several sets of travel radios with rechargeable batteries and a universal/world recharger. The prizes were awarded to 25 Windows Secrets readers who were randomly selected from among those who specified a valid country name on the preferences page.

At press time, the following are the names of the winners who've e-mailed us back so far to accept their prizes:

Outside U.S./Canada:
Rob van Driesum		Mount Macedon, Australia
Dante Ricarte		Las Piñas City, Philippines
Tim Maddrell		Ashford, England, U.K.
Drew Faulkner		Londonderry, N. Ireland, U.K.

Within U.S./Canada:
Robert Streeter		Fort Wayne, Indiana
Grant Marshall		Nepean, Ontario
Katheryne Mason		Lancaster, Kentucky
Harris Berger		New City, New York
Richard Wayne Fry		Oceanside, California
Dan Riley		Marietta, Georgia
Milt Peterson		Glendale, Arizona
Drew Vactor		Tucson, Arizona
Andrews Montgomery		Kailua Kona, Hawai'i
Jeff Young		Vancouver, B.C.

Our thanks to everyone who helped us get a better understanding of our readership. Stay tuned for more new stuff to come. —Brian Livingston, Editor

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Windows Secrets Newsletter
Issue 46 — 2005.01.27

• Readers cover the globe
• Top Story: Anti-adware misses most malware
• Security Baseline
• Index of Reviews
• The secret life of Windows XP versions
• A look at XP Home and Pro product versions
• XP expands into new markets
• Prevent yourself from becoming an Internet statistic
• "Digital rights management" is turned against users
• Drag and Drop vulnerability still affects "patched" IE
• Dealing with the death of a computer
• January patches included IE patches. Not!
• Windows AntiSpyware beta hoses Media Center
• Special Report: The best way to patch
• Devices rechargeables aren't ideal for
• Surf without a firewall using dial-up?
• Backups: your last line of security defenses
• Wacky Web Week
• Useful Links

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CIRCULATION: over 145,000

TOP STORY — info you need to make Windows work

Anti-adware misses most malware

By Brian Livingston

Now that 80% of home PCs in the U.S. are infected with adware and spyware, according to one study, it turns out that nearly every anti-adware application on the market catches less than half of the bad stuff.

That's the conclusion of a remarkably comprehensive series of anti-adware tests conducted recently by Eric Howes, an instructor at the University of Illinois.

Howes, a well-known researcher among PC security professionals, collected 20 different anti-adware applications. He then infected a fresh install of Windows 2000 SP4 and Office 2000 SP3 with several dozen adware programs in separate stages. Finally, he counted how many active adware components were removed by each anti-adware product.

(Note: I use the single term "adware" in this article to refer to both "adware" and "spyware." Since it's not necessary for a spyware program to "call home" to be disruptive, the distinction between adware and spyware is meaningless. All such programs display ads or generate revenue for the adware maker in some other way. )

Howes's tests were conducted over a period of weeks in October 2004. His results were mentioned at the time in several places, including Slashdot and eWeek.

Unbelievably, however, none of these commentators bothered to print a simple chart showing which anti-adware application did the best job at removing the unwanted components. Even Howes himself hasn't posted such a summary. In a telephone interview, Howes exhibited both modesty and perfectionism, implying that his work wasn't yet done to his satisfaction — despite the fact that his tests are some of the most extensive I've ever seen.

Howes's test results sprawl over six long Web pages, with no overall totals or summary of the figures. It's a daunting body of data, but its bottom line is explosive. Adware seems to be evolving much faster than anti-adware, and the battle is so far being won by the adware side.

For this issue of the Windows Secrets Newsletter, therefore, I've complied Howes's figures into a straightforward chart, shown below. I removed five products that didn't complete all of Howes's tests for a variety of reasons. What's left is a revealing rating, from the top to the bottom of the anti-adware heap.

Each anti-adware application, according to Howe, removed a certain percentage of "critical" adware components. These are executable .exe and .com files, dynamic link library (.dll) files, and Windows Registry entries (autorun commands and the like).

Almost all the anti-adware programs that were tested removed fewer than half of the hundreds of adware components Howes cataloged. The best at removing adware was Giant AntiSpyware, but even that program removed less than two-thirds of a PC's unwanted guests.

Giant AntiSpyware catches 63%, tests say

Howes's tests were conducted before the Microsoft Corp. announced in December that it was purchasing Giant Company Software outright. For that reason, the tests use the version of Giant AntiSpyware that was available in October and not the newer Microsoft beta version that's currently available.

Even so, with Giant's application removing 63% of a PC's adware components, and its nearest competitor, Webroot Spy Sweeper, removing less than 50%, it's clear that Microsoft has a potential winner on its hands.

In the following table, which was reviewed by Howes himself before its publication here, the Adware Fixed column represents the percentage of critical components successfully removed, not just detected, by each product (higher percentages are better). The False Positives column shows the number of benign Windows files that were incorrectly reported by a product as adware (lower numbers are better):

Product	Adware Fixed	False Pos.
Giant AntiSpyware	63%	0
Webroot Spy Sweeper	48%	0
Ad-Aware SE Personal	47%	0
Pest Patrol	41%	10
SpywareStormer	35%	0
Intermute SpySubtract Pro	34%	0
PC Tools Spyware Doctor	33%	0
Spybot Search & Destroy	33%	0
McAfee AntiSpyware	33%	9
Xblock X-Cleaner Deluxe	31%	1
XoftSpy	27%	3
NoAdware	24%	0
Aluria Spyware Eliminator	23%	3
OmniQuad AntiSpy	16%	1
Spyware COP	15%	0
SpyHunter	15%	1
SpyKiller 2005	15%	2

Howes didn't test the anti-adware programs in the above list against a program called CoolWebSearch (CWS). This little bugger mutates every few days, it seems. CWS actually requires a completely separate anti-adware program, CWShredder, which is constantly evolving along with the nuisance. This is explained in more detail later in this article.

The fact that anti-adware products fail to remove all or even most adware components has been an open secret among security professionals for some time. For this reason, tech writers often say, "You should install two different programs and run both of them for maximum protection."

To test this assertion, I compiled Howes's raw data into a new table showing the removal rate of the best app, Giant AntiSpyware, with every other tested product. According to this analysis, combining Webroot Spy Sweeper with Giant AntiSpyware did the most to remove unwanted components. But the combination of the two apps increased Giant's 63% success rate only 7 percentage points, to 70%:

	Giant AntiSpyware plus...	Total Adware Fixed
	Webroot Spy Sweeper	70%
	Ad-Aware SE Personal	69%
	PC Tools Spyware Doctor	68%
	Pest Patrol	67%
	Spybot Search & Destroy	67%
	Spyware Stormer	67%
	Spyware COP	66%
	Aluria Spyware Eliminator	65%
	Intermute SpySubtract Pro	65%
	NoAdware	65%
	XsoftSpy	65%
	McAfee AntiSpyware	64%
	OmniQuad AntiSpy	64%
	SpyHunter	64%
	SpyKiller 2005	64%
	Xblock X-Cleaner Deluxe	64%

Finally, the computer press often recommends that the two anti-adware products that should be used together are Ad-Aware SE Personal and Spybot Search & Destroy. That preference may have become the conventional wisdom because both of these products have low-end, freeware versions. PC World, PC Magazine, and other publications have recommended this combination as recently as June and August, respectively.

Ad-aware and Spybot may have been a great combo back then. But adware apparently moves much faster than these two companies do. According to Howes's data, the two programs together barely removed half the adware components on an infected PC:

	Ad-Aware SE Personal plus...	Total Adware Fixed
	Spybot Search & Destroy	54%

I found no combination of any two anti-adware programs that removed more adware components than Giant AntiSpyware and Webroot Spy Sweeper, based on Howes's data. Removing only 70% of adware, unfortunately, isn't good enough. A much better strategy is to prevent adware from getting into your systems in the first place. I'll cover that next.

How to defend yourself against adware

First, let me make my opinion clear: The installation of adware should be illegal and harshly punished. Adware has exploded because it offers big economic incentives for its sponsors. They'll never adequately inform PC users about their software before it's installed. This troubling aspect of adware will never be wished away.

Only software that a PC user specifically consents to should legally be able to install — and "end-user license agreements" that stretch off the screen should never be counted as consent. (This isn't a knock on "ad-supported software," such as the Opera browser. Such legitimate software is clearly integrated with its advertising and makes it easy to shut off the ads by registering.)

In reality, today's tech-illiterate legislatures will never ban adware — if they could even think of an effective legal approach to do so. We need to engage the battle on a technical level instead.

To understand adware, you first need to know how PCs get it. The ways that Howes obtained the adware he used in his tests provide us with some perfect examples:

Software downloads. For one group of tests, Howes downloaded and installed Grokster, a popular peer-to-peer file-sharing program, from CNET Download.com. Installing Grokster and clicking OK in its subsequent dialog boxes loaded 15 separate adware programs, containing 134 "critical" executable components, by Howes's count. This source of infection would compromise even Windows XP with its new Service Pack 2 (SP2).
Drive-by downloads. To set up another group of tests, Howes used Internet Explorer to visit the following Web locations: 007 Arcade Games (a games site), LyricsDomain (a song lyrics site), and Innovators of Wrestling (yup, a wrestling site). This resulted in 23 different adware programs being installed, carrying 138 components, Howes says. Drive-by downloads such as these are now less of a problem for users who've installed XP SP2.
You can't step into the same river twice. For yet another test, Howes visited the wrestling site again, but on a different date. The makers of adware must have signed a lot of distribution contracts with the site in the interim. Howes says his PC picked up 25 adware programs and 153 components on that one visit alone. (You'll notice that I didn't link to the examples I cited above, and I strongly recommend that you avoid trying any of them.)

It's not enough to say "PC users should be more careful." Computer professionals, instead, have a duty and an obligation to prevent adware from infecting their PCs or anyone else's. Here are some steps to take:

Use Giant AntiSpyware (or install the MS beta), Webroot Spy Sweeper, and CWShredder.
At the moment, this is the short list of programs that appear to remove the largest number of adware components. I recommend that you buy the registered versions of these applications and keep them constantly updated. The few dollars involved are well worth it, compared to the damage that can be done by a rogue program controlling your PC.

Microsoft hasn't yet announced whether its version of the Giant application will cost money or be free after the beta period is over — stay tuned. (Note: The MS beta is incompatible with the MS Media Center Extender and has other 0.9-type issues.)

See Giant AntiSpyware download, Microsoft AntiSpyware beta, Webroot Spy Sweeper, CWShredder.
For prevention, install IE-SPYAD and Spyware Blaster. IE-SPYAD is a list maintained by Eric Howes of approximately 8,900 Web sites that are known to do things like install adware, hijack your browser home page, etc. Merging the list into your Windows Registry puts these sites into IE's Restricted Sites zone. They can't do much of anything to you then. The list, as of this writing, requires manual updating, but Howes hopes to automate the process soon.

Spyware Blaster is freeware by Javacool Software that Howes recommendeds to guard against adware installs. A registration fee of $9.95 USD enables the auto-update feature of the software, which Howes encourages. Javacool also makes a related program, SpywareGuard.

As commercial anti-adware programs develop their own always-on defenses, they may conflict with alternatives such as Spyware Blaster. Check the maker's documentation for possible incompatibilities before installing multiple products.

See IE-SPYAD, Spyware Blaster.
Read up on Eric Howes's site. Aside from Howes's postings about his anti-adware test suite, linked to below, a particularly good read is his analysis of so-called anti-adware programs that are actually Trojan horses. People are so desperate to get rid of the adware that's slowing their systems to a crawl, Howes says, that too often they grasp at anything that promises a fix. See his list of rogue/suspect anti-spyware.
For big problems, consider stronger tools. HijackThis, for example, is a deep-analysis utility that examines the Registry and sectors of hard disks where adware often lurks. It's not a tool for novices, but a serious scalpel for those who are faced with major surgery on their PC. It produces log files that can be analyzed by experts, many of whom help PC users by volunteering their time in online forums. HijackThis quick start
Keep your security baseline updated. In this issue of the Windows Secrets Newsletter, we've begun a regular section on the six elements needed to protect your PC. This section appears below.

It's absolutely absurd that PC users must download, install, and update multiple programs just to keep their machines from silently accumulating crapware from morally-challenged Web sites. It's criminal that the leading ISPs and software giants of the world didn't move earlier to prevent these nuisances from taking over the majority of consumers' PCs.

The underlying reason that adware has compromised the entire Internet is that there's big money to be made. The best analysis of this I've seen is by Benjamin Edelman, a Harvard Law School student. He's documented almost $140 million in recent investments by Silicon Valley venture capitalists in just four of the largest adware makers. See list of adware angels

For those who are interested in deeper research on adware, links to Eric Howes's raw data on his comparative tests are posted on his anti-spyware testing page.

To send us more information about adware, or to send us a tip on any other subject, visit WindowsSecrets.com/contact. You'll receive a gift certificate for a book, CD, or DVD of your choice if you send us a comment that we print.

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THE SECURITY BASELINE — the minimum you need for safe computing

Introducing the Windows Secrets security baseline

Every PC needs the following six components for protection against hacker attacks, both from the Internet and from within your company or home. In each issue, starting today, this new section will summarize the products top-rated by trusted reviewers.

1. Hardware firewall. For wired home and small-office networking, the 8-port Linksys BEFSR81 router ($80 USD) is rated "the best of our testing" by Extreme Tech. For wireless networking, the new Belkin Wireless Pre-N router ($150) is currently highest-rated at CNET.

2. Software firewall. Often called a "personal firewall," ZoneAlarm Pro ($40) is number one according to several testers, including TopTenReviews.com and PC World's Best of 2004.

3. Antivirus. Trend Micro's PC-cillin Internet Security 2005 antivirus suite ($50), which includes a personal firewall, recently won head-to-head comparisons in PC World and CNET.

4. Antispam. Cloudmark Safetybar ($40, formerly SpamNet) is rated a Best Buy by PC World and Editors' Choice by PC Magazine.

5. Anti-adware. Giant AntiSpyware or Microsoft AntiSpyware beta, Webroot Spy Sweeper, CWShredder (use all; free or optional registration). See article above.

6. Update management. Without naming a winner (because update software is highly related to your network's size), a wide-ranging buyer's guide to patch-management software was published in the Oct. 2004 Windows IT Pro magazine.

^

FORWARDING INSTRUCTIONS — news gains value when it's shared

Please share this information with your friends
You're encouraged to refer your friends and colleagues to this free newsletter. Because most e-mail programs don't correctly display a formatted message that's been forwarded, simply call people's attention to the permanent Web address of this issue: WindowsSecrets.com/050127.

INDEX OF REVIEWS — our directory of product shootouts

The Index of Reviews

In this section, we link to respected expert reviews of the best Windows-compatible hardware products available today. (Reviews of software products will be added at a later time.) Only head-to-head ratings of competing products — not individual reviews of single products — are indexed here.

The links below lead to information from U.S. sources. For information from sources in other countries, enter the name of a reviewed product into a search box at one of the following links: Canada / U.K. / Elsewhere

		INEXPENSIVE 5MP DIGITAL CAMERAS Minolta rated best in budget cameras For those searching for less expensive digital cameras, but without sacrificing high quality photo capability, slightly older models are your best bet. CNET reviews four of last year's models to find the best bargain in 5MP cameras. Konica Minolta Dimage G500 (Score: 7.6/10.0) Link to all ratings and full review
		ULTRACOMPACT DIGITAL CAMERAS PC Mag chooses Canon for best balance PC Magazine tests seven high-end, ultracompact cameras to see if form compromises function and picture quality. Canon PowerShot SD300 Digital Elph (Editors' Choice, Score: 4.0/5.0) Link to all ratings and full review
		TRAVEL WI-FI ROUTERS SMC gets Laptop Magazine's highest rating The newest travel Wi-Fi routers make it possible to take a wireless network on the road. Many models, unfortunately, compromise security, speed, and ease. SMC SMCWTK-G Wireless Traveler's Kit (Editors' Choice, Score: 5.0/5.0) Link to all ratings and full review
		SECURE EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES Tom gives WeibeTech the nod The testers at Tom's Hardware Guide gather a broad sample of external hard drives to measure them on performance, security, and connectivity. They rate WeibeTech as the best portable storage option. WiebeTech Combo GB (Best overall) Ximeta NetDisk Mini (Runner-up) Link to all ratings and full review
		PORTABLE VIDEO PLAYER/RECORDERS Showdown leaves two players standing Even though the portable video market is still so new, there is now a recorder/player to fit any need. Laptop magazine compares options and performance of six portable units and finds the MobiNote the best of the bunch. MobiNote DVX-Pod 7010 (Editors' Choice, Score: 4.0/5.0) Archos AV 420 (Editors' Choice, 4.0) Link to all ratings and full review
		EARBUDS / PORTABLE HEADPHONES Etymotic offers big sound, not so big price CNET helps narrow down the options for those who want the best sound for their personal audio. Etymotic tops the list for big-sound but affordable earbuds. Etymotic ER-6 Isolator (Editors' Choice, Score: 8.3/10.0) Shure E3c (Editors' Choice, 8.0) Link to all ratings and full review
		PC TV TUNERS Hauppauge's features earn Best Buy award PC World tests five PC TV tuners for those who want the functionality of a Media Center PC or a TiVo, without the cost. Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150 (PCI, Best Buy, Score: 4.0/5.0) ATI TV Wonder USB 2.0 (USB, Best Buy, 4.5) Link to all ratings and full review
		SUPER PDAS Dell's Axim X50v wins Editors' Choice With a growing handhled market, it's harder than ever to choose a PDA. Laptop Magazine helps by picking Dell's handheld as the most cutting-edge PDA out there. Dell Axim X50v (Editors' Choice, Score: 4.5/5.0) Link to all ratings and full review
		COLOR LASER PRINTERS Laser printers for any size office PC World tests 10 brand new color laser printers, choosing top models for those with either a small-office budget or a healthy corporate budget. Small-office: Dell 3000cn (Small-Office Best Buy, Score: 4.0/5.0) Lexmark C762n (Corporate Best Buy, 3.5) Link to all ratings and full review
		BUDGET MP3 PLAYERS MuVo tops MP3 players for budget-minded For those looking for a simple, lower-priced MP3 player, CNET puts together a list of the best. Creative MuVo TX FM (256MB) (Editors' Choice, Score: 8.3/10.0) Link to all ratings and full review

HERE'S A TIP — you'll get a better newsletter if you choose the paid version

You're reading the free version of the Windows Secrets Newsletter
Subscribers to the paid version receive additional information in each issue. Some of the extras this week are:

Briefing Session. We reveal what the insiders know — and what you need to find out — about Windows:

• The secret life of Windows XP versions
• A look at XP Home and Pro product versions
• XP expands into new markets
Over the Horizon. Beginning this issue, our new in-house expert, Chris Mosby, explains the steps you need to take NOW to block threats that patches aren't yet available for:

• Prevent yourself from becoming an Internet statistic
• "Digital rights management" is turned against users
• Drag and Drop vulnerability still affects "patched" IE
Windows Patch Watch. We tell you which official Windows patches have problems, and how to avoid them:

• Dealing with the death of a computer
• January patches included IE patches. Not!
• Windows AntiSpyware beta hoses Media Center
• Special Report: The best way to patch
This Week's Hot Tips. We give you the latest tricks to make Windows work:

• Devices rechargeables aren't ideal for
• Surf without a firewall using dial-up?
• Backups: your last line of security defenses

Paid subscribers gain access to all past paid newsletter content
Make a contribution to support our research into Windows and you'll immediately be able to read and search through scores of valuable articles. In addition, paid subscribers are entitled to download valuable content that we license for them at least once every calendar quarter.

To upgrade, simply make a contribution of any amount that you choose
If you do this by February 9, 2005, you'll instantly be sent the full, paid version of today's newsletter.

To upgrade to the paid version of Windows Secrets, please visit WindowsSecrets.com/upgrade. Thanks in advance.

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ELECTRONIC BOOKSHELF — new e-books from the editors

Spam-Proof Your E-Mail Address
This 27-page e-book by Brian Livingston gives you step-by-step instructions that can eliminate 97% of the spam that would otherwise clog your e-mail account. You could call it "Livingston's Spam Secrets." The PDF-format e-book is the result of months of experiments and tests we conducted. We now receive little or no spam to the addresses we used as guinea pigs. These tests show that you can actually reduce your volume of spam to practically nothing, not just battle an unstoppable and ever-growing flood. The methods we describe work with Windows, Apple, and Linux and don't require any filters or block lists — but you can use those in addition to the book's techniques, if you wish. More info

WACKY WEB WEEK — playing for you the Internet's greatest bits

The little crocodile that ate Germany
The hottest thing in German music right now is a little ditty sung by a 6-year-old girl about a crocodile.

Joy Gruttman's "Schnappi, Das Kleine Krokodil" (Snappy, the Little Crocodile) is the No. 1 song on the German charts. Her family posted the song on a Web site as a joke. But a radio station in Cologne, Germany, got hold of it and made it a hit.

Gruttman is the youngest recording artist ever to make it into the German Top 10, let alone No. 1. Her hilarious composition is beating out Kylie Minogue and Linkin Park, and is even appearing as remixes in dance clubs. English translation / Play the music video (click the words "Das Schnappi - Video")

USEFUL LINKS — more stuff that's good to know

Is there a future for PCs?
Purveyors of personal computer equipment poured into the 2005 Consumer Electronics Show, which only a few years ago was a desultory TV and radio equipment fair. Here's a look at a few award-winning ideas. (By Brian Livingston, Datamation) More info

CES report and photo gallery
This year's show took the cake for teeming hordes and hot consumer tech. We have complete reporting and snaps of the best new stuff. (By Paul Thurrott, SuperSite for Windows) More info

New CD/DVD technology is a slow burn
There's a new way to print visible information on recordable CDs or DVDs, and it might be just the thing for you if your business stores music, videos, or data on disc. The full story, however, turns out to be an interesting and cautionary tale. (By Brian Livingston, Datamation) More info

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The Windows Secrets Newsletter (formerly Woody's Windows Watch and Brian's Buzz on Windows) is published twice a month, except for breaks in July and December. The newsletter is published on the first and third Thursdays after Patch Tuesday (the 2nd Tuesday of each month, when Microsoft generally releases new Windows patches).

Publisher: The newsletter publisher is WindowsSecrets.com LLC, 300 Queen Anne Ave. N. #456, Seattle, WA 98109 USA. Vendors, please send no unsolicited packages to this address (readers' letters are fine).

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