NWA-PCUG Newsletter Article, March 2009
a-squared Free 4.0 Anti-Malware Protects Computers From Malware
By Ira Wilsker, APCUG Director;
Columnist, The Examiner, Beaumont, TX; Radio & TV Show Host

Iwilsker@apcug.net
(click to email author)

WEBSITES:
http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free (Free version)
http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/stick/ (Free version for USB stick)
http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/antimalware/ (commercial version)
http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/compare (compare versions)
http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/ax/ (Free online malware scan)
http://www.malwarebytes.org
http://www.gt500.org/malwarebytes/database.jsp (Malwarebytes latest database)

I am frequently called upon to clean computers infested with malware. I routinely carry a USB flash drive with me that contains a variety of virus scanners and anti-malware programs that I can use to detect and remove any malware that I find on the computer. The primary utility that I have been using is Malwarebytes’ excellent Anti-Malware (free version), available at http://www.malwarebytes.org. The main program file along with the latest signature update database (http://www.gt500.org/malwarebytes/database.jsp) has been quite capable of detecting and removing the malware that I find on infected computers. I have trusted, and still trust, Malwarebytes to verify that my computer is free of malware, and that nothing has slipped through the layered security on my computers. Recently, I have been playing with a competitive program that has impressed me very favorably, a-squared Free 4.0 Anti-Malware (http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free). In addition to having it now installed on all of my computers, its desktop icon now residing in honor adjacent to my oft-used Malwarebytes icon, I have also installed a version of it on my USB flash drive that I use to clean computers (http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/stick/).

a-squared Free 4.0 is a very popular product of the Austrian security software company EMSI Software GmbH, which also produces other popular and effective computer security products, including a commercial ($39.95) version of a-squared Anti-Malware. The a-squared Anti-Malware versions, both free and commercial, are very popular, with the website currently reporting 4,878,671 registered users as I type this. The primary differences between the free version and the commercial version of the utility is the ability of the commercial version to perform more comprehensive background scanning, automated updates, scheduled automated scans, management of running services (software), and personal technical support. Both products are integrated with the European antivirus scanner, Ikarus, which is well capable of detecting and neutralizing virus infections along with a-squared’s ability to detect and remove almost all known variants of the spyware that is currently endemic, and threatening us. Daily updates are available for both products, with manual updating for the free version, and automatic updating for the paid version.

According to the website, at the time I am typing this, a-squared Anti-Malware can detect and remove a massive amount of threats, including 1,047,314 Trojans ; 1,031,640 viruses; 99,270 worms; 62,331 types of spyware, 53,174 dialers, and 305,287 traces. At present, this means that it can detect and remove 2,599,016 pieces of malware. It is not unusual for each daily update to include 500 to 1000 new digital signatures, including those of dialers, worms, Trojans, cookie threats, other forms of spyware, and traces (tracks) of malware. I am a stickler for a clean computer, and personally use a sophisticated layered defense against malware. I automatically update my primary security software every hour, and my secondary software daily. I perform a virus and spyware scan with my primary security software weekly, followed by a scan with recently updated Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. I always thought that my computer was squeaky clean until I scanned it with a-squared Free 4.0 Anti-Malware. The a-squared detected 77 items of low to medium threat that were missed by Malwarebytes, including some hacker software I use forensically, some low threat tracking cookies, and several traces or tracks from spyware, but no active or significant threats. I was favorably impressed with what it found and quarantined. Now, I update the software daily, and use the a-squared Free 4.0 Anti-Malware scan on a weekly basis. The quick scan with a-squared takes a few minutes longer than the quick scan with Malwarebytes, but appears to detect more threats. A smart scan or a deep scan do a more thorough job by scanning more content (and takes much longer), and a custom scan is available to manually scan desired targets.

For those who want to perform a free online scan for malware, EMSI Software offers a free online malware scan at http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/ax/ which can detect and remove malware from the system, but does not include the “Background Guard” which is the memory resident component of the downloaded and installed software.

The quality and efficacy of the a-squared Anti-Malware has been acknowledged by the media and third-party testing services. In November, 2008, PC Security Labs tested the product, and gave it a top score with a 99.84% detection rate, with no “false alarms”, and awarded it its highest 5-star “Excellent” rating. In October, 2008, SSUpdater tested 30 well known Anti-Malware products against a universe of 800,025 malware samples, and stated that a-squared Anti-Malware had the best rate of detection. PC Magazine said, "Near-Perfect Protection: It blocked every single one of the samples the moment each one tried to execute, scoring a perfect 10 of 10 points." Popular download sites, including Tucows, Security Software Zone, ZDnet, Softpedia, and Major Geeks have given the a-squared Anti-Malware their highest ratings.

I am currently running the free version of a-squared Anti-Malware 4.0 on all of my computers, using its memory resident “Background Guard” as another layer in my protective barrier against cyber threats; it does not appear to degrade my performance when run on top of my other security software. a-squared is now firmly entrenched both on my computers, and on my USB flash drive that I use to clean other computers. The free version is adequate for most detection and removal purposes, but the commercial version, with its additional protective capabilities may also be a good choice. With products such as these, there is no reason why any PC user should have to tolerate a malware infected and degraded computer.

Click here to return to top



==================================================================