PeerBlock updated to 1.0+ beta r320

PeerBlock 1.0+ beta r320 (Windows, Open Source, 1.99MB) lets you control who your computer "talks to" on the Internet.  By selecting appropriate lists of "known bad" computers, you can block communication with advertising or spyware oriented servers, computers monitoring your p2p activities, computers which have been "hacked", even entire countries!  They can't get in to your computer, and your computer won't try to send them anything either.

Major Changes:

• Fix for List-Download Crash - This should resolve the "PeerBlock randomly crashes / disappears overnight" problems.  It had been crashing occasionally, on some people's computers, while checking for updated lists.
• Save Failed Lists - If a newly downloaded list fails verification, we'll now save that file as "...\lists\numnumnum.list.failed".
• Warn if Exit While Blocking Recently - When you attempt to exit PeerBlock, if we've blocked some non-HTTP packet recently (i.e. within the past 60 seconds), we will pop up a warning message.  This 60 second value is configurable by hand-editing peerblock.conf via Notepad - change the RecentBlockWarntime setting from 60 to however many seconds you'd like; 0 disables this feature.
• Force PeerBlock to Start Enabled - If PeerBlock was disabled when you last exited it, it will now start as Enabled the next time you restart it.
• Allow HTTP for X minutes - The systray right-click menu has two new options: "Allow HTTP for 15 minutes" and "...for 60 minutes".  After the specified amount of time has passed, PeerBlock will revert to Blocking HTTP again.
• Click on tray icon to minimize window - Previously, left-clicking on the systray icon would merely display the PeerBlock window . . . even if it was previously displayed. Now, if the window is currently displayed left-clicking on the tray-icon will minimize it; and if the window is currently minimized, it will restore it.

PeerBlock is a fork of the PeerGuardian2 software. If you use a computer for downloading via bittorrent, PeerBlock could give it some needed protection.

IceRocket Tags: peerblock, p2p sharing, bittorrent

Avast! Home Edition 4.8.1356 – Free Antivirus and Antispyware Suite

Avast! Home Edition 4.8.1356 (Windows, Freeware, 37MB) [alt DL] is one of the best free antivirus protection currently available on the market. This edition is FREE OF CHARGE for non-commercial & home use.

Changes:

• solved a memory leak in the GZIP unpacker
• solved vulnerabilities in AavmKer4.sys, aswMon2.sys and ashWsFtr.dll

If you already have Avast! installed in your system, just right-click the Avast! taskbar icon, and choose Updating –> Program Update. This will update your current version, and prompt you for a system reboot.

This is the antivirus app that I personally use for Windows. Highly recommended.

IceRocket Tags: avast, antivirus, antispyware, windows freeware

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.38

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.38 (Windows, Shareware, 3.4MB) [alt DL] can detect and remove malware that even the most well known anti-virus and anti-malware applications fail to detect.

This is actually shareware, but is a great free to use manual scanner. If you are already using an antivirus software with resident protection, Malwarebytes is a great manually-started scanner.

Changes:

• (FIXED) Minor issue with updating.
• (FIXED) Certain types of freezing during full and quick scans.
• (FIXED) Problem with Estonian language and installer.
• (FIXED) Certain folders showing up as files in results list.
• (FIXED) Scan time improperly displayed if Abort Scan clicked after Pause Scan.
• (FIXED) Error during loading log files after database update.
• (FIXED) Issues with freezing in protection mode. Certain conflicts with anti-virus software.
• (ADDED) Some proxy support, please see /proxy command line parameter.
• (ADDED) New command line parameters: /logtofolder, /logtofile (see help file).

IceRocket Tags: malwarebytes anti-malware, windows freeware

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.36

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.36 (Windows, Shareware, 2.83MB) [alt DL] is an easy-to-use, simple, and effective anti-malware application

Changes:

• (FIXED) Minor cosmetic issue during removal process.
• (FIXED) Minor problem with false positives.
• (FIXED) Silent update no longer displays message on program update.
• (ADDED) New heuristics for Vundo infections

Note: If you don’t need the Realtime Protection Module (Paid version), the manual scan (free to use) version is great enough. You just have to do manual scans from time to time.

IceRocket: malwarebytes antimalware, windows freeware

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.34 – Free Manual Malware Scanner and Remover

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware 1.34 (Windows, Freeware, 2.7MB) [alt DL] s an easy-to-use, simple, and effective anti-malware application.

Changes:

• (FIXED) Removing registry keys with corrupt permissions.
• (FIXED) Removal of drivers now improved.
• (FIXED) Improved memory usage (more to come!)
• (FIXED) Certain types of freezing during full scan.
• (FIXED) Improved full scan times significantly.
• (ADDED) Better detection techniques for the real-time protection module.
• (ADDED) Directories now counted as items scanned.
• (ADDED) Disinfection for certain USB spread infections (Conficker).
• (ADDED) New command line parameter: /schedule (see help file).

The Free version does not have the realtime protection module, so I use this for *manually* scanning my system.

IceRocket: malwarebytes antimalware

Spyware Terminator 2.5.1.028 – Real-time Antispyware Protection

Spyware Terminator 2.5.1.028 (Windows, Freeware, 631KB) [alt DL] provides a unique combination of real-time antispyware protection together with alerts preventing you to enter potentially dangerous websites.

Changes:

• Automatically detect installation processes checkbox in settings
• Winsock actions blocked on Vista
• Compatibility problems with AVG8 and other security products
• Locked files after compiling code in Delphi, Visual Studio, ...
• Blacklist function

IceRocket: spyware terminator, windows freeware

Avast! Home Edition 4.8.1290 – Free Full-Featured Antivirus Package

Avast! 4 Home Edition 4.8.1290 (Windows, Freeware, 27.7MB) [alt DL] is a full-featured antivirus package designed exclusively for home users, non-commercial users.

Changes:

• improvements in the malware submission system
• minor improvements in some unpackers
• improvements in the rootkit scanner
• Network Shield: solved a problem occurring on systems with missing TCP stack

IceRocket: avast home antivirus, windows, freeware

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.29 – Detect and Remove Malware

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.29 (Windows, 2.3MB) [alt DL] is an app that detects and removes malware from your computer.

The free edition lets you do manual checks and cleaning (which is good enough for me). If you need realtime protection, you have buy the full product.

Changes:

• (FIXED) Drastically improved heuristics detections
• (ADDED) Brand new protection module
• (ADDED) Brand new scheduler, protection no longer has to run
• (ADDED) Support for Greek and Macedonian languages

IceRocket: malwarebytes, antimalware, antivirus, windows, freeware

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.28 - Stop Malicious Processes

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.28 (Windows, Freeware, 2.1MB) [alt DL] monitors every process and stops malicious processes before they even start.

Changes:

• (FIXED) Problem with heuristics on Windows 2000
• (ADDED) Better malware regeneration prevention on reboot

I use this for *manually* scanning my systems (or my clients' systems) for Malware. I use it from time to time, especially when I suspect that the system in question is infected. The version with the realtime protection module is not free.

Technorati: malwarebytes, antimalware, windows, freeware

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.22 - Remove Malware

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware 1.22 (Freeware, 1.8MB) [download via FileForum] monitors every process and stops malicious processes before they even start.

NOTE: This is Shareware, but if you don't use or need the Realtime Protection Module, it is FREE to use.

Changes:

• (FIXED) Error 721 (0, 93)
• (FIXED) Random freezing during scan
• (FIXED) Minor problems repairing LSA registry values
• (ADDED) New command line parameters: /fullscan and /fullscanterminate

Technorati: malwarebytes, antimalware, malware, windows, freeware