Recently I stumbled on a security software called Spy-The-Spy. This freeware is quite interesting and useful because it is made to spy on spywares. The developer of this tool figured that instead of building a database of spyware or try to figure out what registry belongs to spyware, he’ll just need simple tool that is able to notify him the very moment something is being installed on his computer.
If you’re wondering how can this tool monitor for spywares, it is actually quite simple. It simply monitors system folders for any new exe’s or dll’s being added, modified or renamed. Windows and System32 folder is usually the main place where spyware makes a copy of itself or drop even more spywares. So by monitoring important folders, you instantly get to know if something is being installed on your computer without your knowledge.
Spy-To-Spy sits in tray and watches folders you specified in settings. The folders include subfolders so you really just need to set C:\Windows to monitor all additions to Windows and System folders.
Now anytime an EXE or DLL is added, renamed or modified in the monitored folder, a warning message will appear telling you which file has been added, renamed or modified.
You have the option to add selected files to Quarantine. It will brute force kill the processes quickly one after another to avoid watchdogs and move the exe file to a Quarantine folder. You can also easily run SFC (System File Checker) from the menu in case if some system DLL files are modified and you have no backup for the file. Make sure you have the Windows disc with you because SFC requires it.
By default, Spy-The-Spy monitors only the Windows folder. I’d advice you to monitor Program Files folder as well because trojan coders already aware that Windows and System32 folders are being carefully monitored by most security software. If you’d like to be extra safe, you can even monitor the whole C: drive. You won’t really be bugged by the notification because it only monitors EXE and DLL files. Other file formats are ignored.
Spy-The-Spy is truly a simple and useful tool. It is small in size and takes up only 5MB from your memory. This tool is not perfect because it doesn’t monitor other dangerous file extension such as .PIF, .SCR, .VBS, .BAT and .CMD. Remember, Spy-The-Spy is only a file monitor. It doesn’t differentiate between real spyware and a legit file that has been added to watched folders.