Be Wary of Rogue Anti Spyware.

The worst examples allow unauthorized spyware installs on your computer, often in the form of programs posing as actual spyware REMOVAL programs.

The term 'Rogue' anti spyware is applied to programs that are mostly ineffective in nature, those that report spyware when none exists (called false positives), or use high pressure sales tactics (including advertising via email spam).
The worst offenders are associated with known distributors of spyware and actually install spyware themselves, some of them charging you for the installation!.

There are hundreds of rogue anti spyware programs listed on various watch-dog websites that fall into the above categories.

Here are just three examples, to give you an idea of the varying degrees and methods of deception employed:

Spyware Blaster exploits the name of a known and trusted application- 'SpywareBlaster' by JavaCool.
The homepage has scarce detail on the actual programs workings, and the company itself. Also no trial version is available; something that most reputable anti spyware vendors provide.

Spyware Slayer has a 'free' scan, but first asks for your name and email address. Their privacy policy then states they may use your personal details for "marketing purposes such as sharing your information with third party advertisers..."
They use aggressive advertising, and their 'free' scan is suspected of providing 'false positives' as a goad to purchase their product.
This program is a variant of several other programs such as NoSpyX and SpywareCleaner, all believed to be based on (a rip-off) of the popular program AdAware.

PSGuard promotion has been described as "aggressive and deceptive."
It installs itself without consent via the Smitfraud Trojan which itself is downloaded to the computer through another spyware program known as CWS.YEXE.
PSGuard hijacks the desktop with a message saying "you are infected", and the malware (Smitfraud.c) will be detected. However, to remove Smitfraud from the PC, the user must buy and register this anti spyware tool.

So how do I know what programs to use?

When searching for yourself, do not buy off a spam email advert, or succumb to impulse buys where the marketing seems high-pressured.
Vendors of rogue anti spyware tools advertise heavily via Google's AdWords and AdSense. So you are better served by looking at regular search results and not the paid vendor search results (Sponsored Links).
Regular search results are ranked according to popularity among actual users, and is a good indicator of trust and confidence in a vendor.

All software featured on this site has been used or at least tested by ourselves. Programs we recommend are popular, well respected and free from any attributes that would be classified as 'rogue'.

Click here to view our recommended anti spyware strategy.