Emsisoft Anti-Malware is a powerful tool for detecting and removing both viruses and spyware.

The program offers multiple layers of protection. A web monitor blocks attempts to reach malicious websites; the real-time file guard checks the files you access for threats; and even if that fails, the Behavior Blocker watches programs for suspect actions, detecting and blocking even brand new, previously undiscovered threats.

If you don't want to run scans while you're working then Anti-Malware's scheduler gives you plenty of options. You can set up a scan to run daily, weekly or monthly, at regular intervals, or after your PC starts, and all of these options can be combined to do just about whatever you like. (Run a Quick Scan every hour between Monday-Friday, say, and a Full Scan at 1AM on the first of every month.)

There's just as much configurability elsewhere. The program's "Surf Protection" feature doesn't just blindly block sites on a list; you can define the type of sites it checks, the action it takes (Alert, Block and notify, Block silently), and customise the list to allow or block access to any domains you choose.

The Behavior Blocker panel offers even more protection possibilities. It's a Task Manager-type module which by default only displays running programs which it doesn't trust, immediately highlighting potential threats. In a click or two you can search for its name online, open the program's folder in Explorer, close it down, even - if you're sure it's dangerous - create a rule which will block it from ever running again.

2018.9.2.8988 updates include, (see the changelog):

- New Dark Mode.
- Improved Surf Protection compatibility.
- Several minor tweaks and fixes.

Emsisoft Anti-Malware is a powerful tool for detecting and removing both viruses and spyware.

The program offers multiple layers of protection. A web monitor blocks attempts to reach malicious websites; the real-time file guard checks the files you access for threats; and even if that fails, the Behavior Blocker watches programs for suspect actions, detecting and blocking even brand new, previously undiscovered threats.

If you don't want to run scans while you're working then Anti-Malware's scheduler gives you plenty of options. You can set up a scan to run daily, weekly or monthly, at regular intervals, or after your PC starts, and all of these options can be combined to do just about whatever you like. (Run a Quick Scan every hour between Monday-Friday, say, and a Full Scan at 1AM on the first of every month.)

There's just as much configurability elsewhere. The program's "Surf Protection" feature doesn't just blindly block sites on a list; you can define the type of sites it checks, the action it takes (Alert, Block and notify, Block silently), and customise the list to allow or block access to any domains you choose.

The Behavior Blocker panel offers even more protection possibilities. It's a Task Manager-type module which by default only displays running programs which it doesn't trust, immediately highlighting potential threats. In a click or two you can search for its name online, open the program's folder in Explorer, close it down, even - if you're sure it's dangerous - create a rule which will block it from ever running again.

2018.9.2.8988 updates include, (see the changelog):

- New Dark Mode.
- Improved Surf Protection compatibility.
- Several minor tweaks and fixes.

NetSpot is a free tool for discovering local wireless devices and creating colour-coded heatmaps.

Launch the program and it immediately detects all your local wifi devices, displaying their details in a table: SSID, BSSOD, Signal (current/ min/ max/ average), band, level, width, vendor, security, mode, and when it was last seen.

Clicking any column header sorts by that field. For example, clicking "Channel" groups devices by their channel, helping you spot competition and conflicts.

This isn't just about static figures. NetSpot displays tiny signal graphs within the table, and double-clicking any device shows graphs and tables of its signal over time, along with other interesting details (when and if the channel and security were last changed).

There's also a separate Survey mode which enables collecting and displaying wifi data on custom maps.

What's new in 2.9 (see changelog for more):

- added  Japanese localization
- added  Time-limited licenses are available
- added  Purchase, offline activation and activation code recovery options were translated to all five languages available in the app.
- improved  Survey export was improved greatly to allow saving projects with currently selected settings
- improved  Improved workflow while Wi-Fi adapter is busy
- improved  Updated the list of device vendors
- fixed  Minor interface and interactivity improvements throughout

adaware free antivirus is a popular malware hunter.

Install the program and it goes to work immediately, monitoring running processes and the files you're accessing to block threats before they can do any harm.

You can also run various types of scans on demand, either from the program or by right-clicking a file in Explorer and selecting "scan with adware..."

The free build of the program has some major limitations. In particular, there's no online protection apart from the scanning of downloads, and no scanning of emails.

Upgrading to a commercial edition will fix this and add other features.

Adaware Pro extends the free build with web, online banking, email and network protection, and a firewall.

Adaware Total also gives you encryption, secure file deletion and parental controls.

What's new in 12.5 (see complete changelog for more info)?

- TBC

If you'd like to maintain your online privacy then checking your browser settings is the obvious place to start. But there's a problem. All the major browsers have a host of privacy settings, many of them very well hidden, and getting all of them set correctly can be a real challenge.

Get a little help from AntiBrowserSpy, though, and it's a very different story. Launch the program, click AntiSpy > Security Status and it will tell you exactly which security features aren't set correctly. You're able to check these for yourself. And when you're happy, the program can optimize the settings for all the main browsers - Firefox, Internet Explorer, Chrome, Safari, Opera, even Netscape Navigator - with a click.

The built-in browser settings are just the start, of course. AntiBrowserSpy additionally includes tools to block Google Analytics (sends information on your system to Google), social network plugins (these may allow Facebook to track your surfing behaviour), and disable both Flash and Silverlight cookies (which can be used for all kinds of data storage).

Your browser also sends information about itself to every website you visit, allowing them to create a fingerprint representing your system. But AntiBrowserSpy can help here, too: its built-in StealthBrowser tool changes this fingerprint occasionally, making you far harder to track.

Bonus tools include the ability to clean your browser tracks - cookies, history, temporary files, and so on - and save your browser settings.

And the program even has a Task Scheduling module which allows you to perform all of this automatically, perhaps cleaning up your browser every time your system starts, while backing up its settings once a week.

ISpy is a versatile surveillance tool that will turn your webcams and microphones into a powerful security system.

Add as many cameras and microphones as you need, and the program will use them to detect movement around your home. You can limit motion detection to particular areas, to minimise false alarms. And if iSpy picks something up then you can have it run any program, send an email, even raise an SMS alert to let you know.

You prefer a more hands-on approach to security? That's possible too. ISpy can be set up to regularly email you image grabs from your cameras. Install an add-on like iSpy Server and you can publish your webcam to the web, for easy monitoring. And in a new feature, it's now possible to access and control your iSpy setup from many mobile devices (Android, iPhone and Windows Phone 7).

The program is highly configurable, with many useful tweaks, settings and options allowing you to customise it to suit your needs. And, surprisingly, this is all open source, so there's no cost to worry about - just download iSpy and see how it works for you.

Version 7.1.6.0 brings (see changelog for more)?

- Fix high cpu with saving audio files
- Fix issue with opening mp3 files in web browse