Best Spyware, Malware Recommendation

Net security is a dynamic situation. What was a top rated AV a few years back can do an about face and end up at the bottom today. Largely due to development not keeping current. Case in point MSE? Was considered top in its class when first introduced, now just a baseline for other AV packages.

Depending on which testing methodology is used, MSE/Defender still garners around 85-90% detection rates. That's still notable, but what about the 10-15% that goes undetected which other FREE AV packages flag, that could end up causing damage to the user personally?

The fact is, hackers are too sophisticated these days. On par with the developers of the OS and apps they are trying to exploit. And their methods are dangerous, such as employing encryption to block access to files. Though the FBI just recently shut down the infamous Crypto Locker servers, but admit that this may just be temporary solution. Or the too common keylogger capture trojan/rootkits, which have been responsible for virtually all the recent account breaches including Target.

@SCR, have you "personally" tested your security methods for effectiveness? I have, and just don't go by reviews though consider them an effective starting point.

Some disturbing results include keylogger trojans/rootkits, which I personally believe to be the most dangerous threat to most users. Good luck finding almost any AV package that is effective in locating these. I couldn't. Though specialized Free tools from Malwarebytes tend to be the most successful. If you can't detect these, you can't always stop them?

For example, how safe are password managers against common keyloggers? I was able to capture my Master password, and every login password from my manager app. Either using copy-n-paste or via keyboard. So disturbing, that as a result, I changed my Master password to use only Windows Secured desktop.

How about using a soft keyboard to input passwords? Useless! Was able to capture every login password keystroke, despite the common belief that this is a safe method to do so.

How safe are net based password managers against keyloggers? Only as good as the method used to secure or edit passwords online. Though I was not able to capture individual passwords, I was able to capture the login/pass for the online account itself. So had access to the web account.

What about browser built-in password databases? I actually was not able to capture any passwords from these using common keyloggers, such as from Firefox. In fact, now use Firefox password database, separately hardened with Truecrypt which is recommended by Mozilla, as primary password storage except for financial sites. Of course, this is only as good as no exploits to the browser password manager is discovered.

How about using a separate FREE anti-keylogger encryption app? Very effective with a caveat! Prevented keylogging/capture of every password using either copy-n-paste or via keyboard, so long as the app loads first! If the keylogger loads first, it can control the clipboard and render it useless.

But just one security app I use as part of a layered approach. Gone are the days of relying on a single method for securing your personal data. With much depending on how many holes you plug in each layer.

Seems to me it just doesn't make sense to consciously allow security holes to exist, when another solution is available that does not and available at the same price? In this case, FREE.