Software for the Paranoid

Hackers and Trackers and Tags, oh my!

Hey, we're not gonna candy-coat it: CyberSpace is a dangerous place. If the hakkas don't get you, the trakkas certainly will. Didn't your momma tell you to always use protection?

The links on this page lead to resources and downloads that will help you maintain the security and stability of your machines, your data, and your personal information.

Under perpetual construction. Got a link to add? Contact Us.

AD-Aware by LavaSoft
Scan your computer for advertising spyware files and references, select which modules you want to remove, and remove them. Saves log files automatically. Finds and removes Aureate/Radiate, CometCursor, Cydoor, Conducent/Timesink, Flyswat, Gator and Web3000. Runs under Win9x/NT40/2000.

Freedom by Freedom.net
Freedom lets you create untraceable online identities called pseudonyms ("nyms") that take advantage of powerful cryptography and the Freedom Network^TM to give you maximum personal security. Manage your Internet privacy - for web, email, chat, news, and telnet - with one simple interface.

GuideScope by GuideScope.com
Guidescope is a software company that provides an advanced real-time ad-blocking service. Their flagship product, also called GuideScope, works as a proxy. They maintain a central database of known ads which the software queries as you browse. This allows it to block ads more accurately than pattern-matching approaches.

Internet Explorer 5.5 Privacy Enhancements by Microsoft
The new "privacy enhancement" update for Internet Explorer 5.5 gives users a clearer understanding of the different types of cookies they're receiving and where they originate from, as well as an easier way to manage and delete them. This enhancement has been released as a public beta.

Internet JunkBuster Proxy ^TM by JunkBusters
Like Guidescope, Internet JunkBuster works as a proxy that stands between your browser and the Internet, checking every HTTP request for each resource (including graphics) against a blockfile of URLs before sending it over the Internet. (If you haven't used proxies before, we recommend you try Guidescope first. Guidescope is upward compatible with Internet Junkbuster, but it is easier to install and maintain.)

OptOut freeware by Gibson Research Corporation
Internet companies, whose apparent business model is the exploitation of consumer trust and ignorance, are sneaking their spyware systems into our machines for their own purposes. OptOut creator and security guru Steve Gibson explains: "I consider the actions of companies that hide behind their fine print, take advantage of consumer trust and ignorance, and deliberately leverage complex hidden technology, to be the lowest form of personal privacy exploitation. So I created OptOut to inform and empower the individual, to bring this bad corporate behavior to light, and to publicly critique the actions of these spyware publishers. I'm afraid this problem is not going away...but neither am I."

SurfSecret 4.0 claims to be the most complete privacy tool on the market today, surf anywhere you want and SurfSecret will clear your tracks so that nobody will know where you've browsed. As you surf the web, pictures and text get stored on your hard disk, creating a mirror image of your surfing experience. Browsers create cache files and store information on your hard disk, creating a trail that can be easily read. SurfSecret is designed to periodically destroy this trail and prevent profiling by mechanical web agents.

WebWasher Internet filter and assistant by webwasher.com AG.
WebWasher? consists of three modules: filtering of content, protection of privacy, and access control. The Filtering features prevent unwanted objects from being loaded (URLs, Pop-Ups, Ad Banners, Scripts, Animations and Graphics). The Privacy Protection functions prevent information from being forwarded to third parties without your knowledge (via Web bugs, Referer logs or Cookies). The Access Control functions allow you to set specific levels of access on your machine: filtering out specified websites entirely, or limiting the machine's access to only those websites specified. Free 30-day evaluation available.
 

DOXDESK by Andy Clover
Andy's "Parasite" page does a great job of analyzing your system and providing specific removal instructions for every parasite it finds. Very kewl.

ShieldsUp! by Gibson Research Corporation
Internet Connection Security for Windows Users. Probes the ports of your machine, testing the level of security and reporting its findings to you. This well-written site explains not only how to use GRC products, but also provides a depth of information on protecting your system from internet attacks of all kinds.

HackerWhacker by Wallyware, Inc.
A massive online clearinghouse of internet security information, featuring links, articles, lists of exploits & defacements, and a realtime port scanning and reporting system. Check to see if your machine is secure - see your computer the way hackers do.

DSLreports.com features a simple online port scan. The company specializes in DSL connectivity, reporting on the state of the DSL networks. They have also acquired a more complete system security scan called 'Secure-Me'.
 

Aladdin Security Portal by Aladdin
Aladdin Security Portal provides software security, software protection, Internet security, and content filtering. Free for private use, it's a firewall and a virus detector in one. Includes a "Sandbox" feature which constantly monitors program activities and stops anything it determines as suspicious.

Zone Alarm by Zone Labs Inc.
Stealth is your best protection against digital thieves, vandals and port-sniffers - if you can't be seen, you can't be attacked! Zone Alarm is the number one personal firewall solution in use today. Compatible with Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000.
 

CritSuite by The Foresight Institute
Three pieces of integrated software let you navigate the Web using a graphical interface, read or add hidden comments to existing hypertext documents, and archive email exchanges as hypertext. When CritSuite has been used to comment on a document, commented text is surrounded by small colored markers, visible only to other CritSuite users. We can't tell if this is cool or scary.
 

PCHelp
A page dedicated to keeping an eye on the Back Orifice program. Features Q&A, detection programs, removal and eliminator programs, screenshots, etc... Probably the best informational source and Anti-BO site around.

Protecting Your System with a Personal Firewall
A page explaining the basics of personal firewalls; why you need one, how they work, and what to look for when selecting a firewall.

The Ethics of Anonymous Surveillance for Profit
By OptOut creator Steve Gibson: "Online profiling & tracking 'privacy statements', and backchannel 'spyware' license agreements, invariably adopt identical cop-out terminology. They state that 'no personally identifiable information' is being collected. It has been shown that in many instances this is an outright lie in itself, but even when, or if, it is true, I submit that these 'identity stealing profilers' are nonetheless profiting from valuable information that has been stolen from us without our informed consent."
 

"Our sense of fear--we avoid it because we feel it so deeply, so there is an intense conflict at work.... I think it is something we all feel, something we almost never talk about, something that is almost there."
- Don DeLillo