Trojan and Spyware Tool -- Ewido Security Suite (version 3.5)
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I counted the scanners on my computer and found that I actually have five different scanners installed. Three of them are spyware scanners; Spybot, Ad-Aware and Microsoft AntiSpyware. One of them is my virus scanner (one that I have purchased). The final one is Ewido. I installed it mainly because it scans for Trojans. Having five scanners may seem a bit extreme but they are not really that much trouble because all the scanners can be started and run at the same time. I do a scan once a week. When I do it, I launch each program, select the option to perform updates and minimize it. I then do the same thing to each scanner. After performing the updates, I turn off my screensaver clicking on Screen Saver Toggle (reviewed previously), start the scans and leave it alone for about an hour. a screensaver uses system resources which can slow the scans, so I use the Screen Saver Toggle to turn it off easily.
My main purpose behind installing the Ewido scanner is to be able to find Trojan horses. A Trojan horse is a program that infects your computer and allows a hacker to take control of it without you knowing. A Trojan infection allows a third party to remotely access your computer. Technically, a Trojan is not actually a virus so your virus scanner may not detect it. Trojans do not replicate themselves like viruses so you must download them on onto your computer. Typically, they are disguised as something else (which is the basis of the name Trojan). Most people tend to think of Trojans as a virus; however, a virus scanner may catch only some Trojans but not all of them.
I decided to keep Ewido when it found a Trojan on my computer that none of the other scanners found, including my virus scanner. It also scans for spyware. I have found that it often finds spyware cookies for the Firefox web browser that are not picked up by the other scanners. It also has frequent updates to the definition files.
The first two weeks that you use the program, Ewido will have options for real time protection and automatic updates. These options will be disabled after two weeks when the program reverts to the freeware version (which is what I use). The scanner will continue to function identically to the commercial version.
Ewido is compatible with Windows 2000 and XP. The download consists of a single file, ewido-setup.exe, which you double click to install.
posted by George @ 10:04 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
Hi George,
Useful page on Ewido. Downloaded OK and ran. Found a few dodgy cookies. Is it free? Reason I ask is I have AVG (paid for) and thought girsoft would ask for payment.
Alan
Alan,
The Ewido scanner really is free for however long you want to use it. The program installs with real time protection and automatic updates but then after two weeks these functions turn off. However the scanner will continue to work and you can click on the updates button to manually do the updates. I have performing weekly scans since I wrote this review in September of 2005 and I still think it is an excellent program. If you get spyware cookies, I highly recomend SpywareBlaster which I have also reviewed on my site.
George
Ewido is the only software to completely remove Movieland and other like malicious software applications from my computer. Something Norton would not do. I am very impressed with how they keep it updated and it actually removes the stuff that invades real peoples computers. Not like some that have an impressive list of viruses but somehow never seems to remove the one you have!
I downloaded the Ewido software' but it dosen't look like the picture you show of it. ???
The picture is an older version but I think it is still pretty good.
I am running the Ewido scanner. It catches malware very early in the scan and prompts me for action (Remove). Then it continues to scan. Unfortunately, it seems to take forever, and never finishes because it gets interrupted by update reboots and that sort of thing. As I write this, it's been running nearly 700 minutes, and indicates 16.2% completion. At that rate, it's going to take a month to finish the job. Is this normal behaviour?
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