Most organizations rely on a combination of a firewall, antivirus solutions, and spyware/adware removal programs to protect their systems from spyware. These solutions have proved to give good protection, especially if organization is using two different spyware/adware removal programs [no spyware/adware removal program has ability to detect and safely remove all spyware/adware, but combining two anor more different programs is a guarantee that in combination these programs will detect and remove over 98.8% of adware/spyware]. However, the security weaknesses that expose system applications to spyware can involve vulnerabilities that these applications cannot address, or impose an administrative load that renders these solutions impractical. In these cases, usually additional special spyware/adware removal tools are needed, but they are usually published and distributed free along with main spyware/adware removal application.

Firewalls

A firewall, which is designed to prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network, is one of the most fundamental security tools for any organization. Although a firewall can effectively enforce a network security policy, a firewall cannot totally protect you against spyware, since the spyware problem originates within the network, in the use of the Internet.

In addition, many spyware applications use port 80 to transmit information back to their host sites. Firewalls cannot distinguish spyware-related traffic from other harmless HTTP traffic. Traditional firewalls also don’t protect users who are outside the network, like telecommuters, business travelers, etc. On the other hand, many firewalls (such as Zone Labs’ ZoneAlarm or Symantec Antivirus and Internet security) do have program control and can block all incoming/outgoing Internet traffic from specified programs. Moreover, when program is trying to use Internet connection for the first time, user is notified and can choose weather he wants to allow that connection or not.

In many cases, employees discovered spyware/adware applications in this way because their firewalls reported attempts to connect to the Internet by applications that they did not install or knew anything about. In those cases, firewalls can be a good protection – even though spyware/adware will remain on users’ computer, spyware/adware applications will not be able to use Internet connection (they will be blocked by firewall) and no information gathered by it will not leave users machine.

Antivirus applications

Antivirus software is a vital component of an organization’s (or individual) total security strategy, and in some cases it can protect against spyware/adware. Antivirus software does not typically include spyware/adware signatures, since spyware/adware is not in the same category as viruses, but recently almost all major companies started including them in databases to. One good example is Symantec AntiVirus which contains signatures from adware/spyware applications.

Spyware/Adware removal applications

Spyware/Adware removal applications are another vital component of an organization’s (or individual) security strategy, and in most cases they can protect against spyware/adware. They are designed in similar way as antivirus applications. The only difference is that file signatures included are those from spyware/adware and similar applications, and not viruses. Just as it is with antivirus applications, all spyware/adware removal applications include update feature and even real time monitoring (for example Lavasoft’s AdAware, H-Desk’s Disspy or eTrust’s PestPatrol) which is a guarantee that your computer will be protected well.