The focus of Double Anti-Spy Professional is a complete spyware protection of computer systems running the Microsoft Windows operating system which includes protection against spyware and adware but also against other forms of malware including backdoors, computer bots and trojans.

The installation of the anti-spyware software and the interface of the program have been designed with ease of use in mind. The program will always start up with the status report window which will display relevant information like the date and time of the last scan, the freshness of the definition files or the results of the last scan. The four buttons on the left side are used to switch between sections of the software.

Double Anti-Spy Professional can perform three types of scans: A quick scan that will only scan important locations, a full scan to scan all files and locations and a custom scan that the user can define individually. A full system scan is recommended after installation and updating the definitions to find all traces of spyware that might be located on the computer system.

The anti-spyware software protects the computer system from spyware that tries to attack the PC. It does so by actively monitoring the system for suspicious files. The depth and level of protection can be configured in the Active Defense section of the program.

Here it is possible to configure the active defense and email defense settings to block and quarantine files and software before it can become a threat. Email defense works with several popular desktop email clients including Microsoft Outlook, Windows Mail and Mozilla Thunderbird.

The very same menu can also be used to schedule scans and add programs and files to a whitelist or blacklist.

The fourth and final tab Settings can be used to configure the different scans that Double Anti-Spy Professional can perform, set the update check interval, configure a proxy server and scan optimizer or disable Windows Explorer automatically if it is running on the system to avoid compatibility problems.

Now, how good is the anti-spyware software? Avanquest show test results conducted by AV-Test on their homepage which tested Double Anti-Spyware Pro against PC Tools Spyware Doctor and Webroot Spy Sweeper. Other tests have not been published yet and it is not even possible to find the AV-Test results anywhere on the Internet. But what about the two engines that the security software is using? According to users on some web forums the program is using the engines of Outpost AntiSpyware + VIPRE (CounterSpy) which both did receive good reviews and recommendations.

Update: The software is using the following engines: Double Anti-Spy includes Sunbelt’s VIPRE (Engine A) + Outpost AntiSpyware combined with Virus Buster SDK (Engine B)

Verdict:

Double Anti-Spy Professional utilizes two scanning engines from respected companies to protect the computer against spyware which makes it more effective. Resource usage was a bit high on a Windows 7 test system if the window of the program was active (about 80 Megabytes). The program itself is compatible with Windows XP and 32-bit or 64-bit editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7. More information are available at the Double Anti-Spy Professional homepage.

Giveaway:

We have ten download copies and licenses for Double Anti-Spy Professional. Just leave a comment below for a chance to win a copy. Every comment in the next 24 hours will take part in the draw and the winners will be emailed. The email will contain the download link, license key and instructions.

Freezly is a new web service that automates the process of finding giveaway messages on Twitter. It does that by searching for and indexing Twitter messages that contain specific keywords and probably also by following certain Twitter users who only post information about new giveaways in their tweets.

The giveaways that are displayed at Freezly are divided into a hottest category – which is also the default category that is displayed – and a just in category which sorts the giveaways by time of posting with the newest ones on top.

Each giveaway displays the title, description and number of tweets that it has received so far. The titles are links that point directly to the source of the giveaway. The search form at the top can be used to find specific giveaways, for example beta keys, hardware or company specific giveaways.

It would be nice if the website would offer categories that would automatically contain sorted giveaways to make it easier for the user to find giveaways of interest. Freezly should also think about offering an RSS Feed to make it easier to follow the latest giveaways that are posted on the site. Freezly via A New Morning.

Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 includes the Kaspersky Antivirus components but extends the protection of the computer system beyond that. At the core stands it antivirus and anti-malware engine that is protecting the system from those threats. The Internet Security 2009 suite adds to that a two-way personal firewall, content filtering and data & identity theft protection.

Several new features have been integrated into the 2009 edition of the software. This includes the ability to restore previous system settings after cleaning malware, security ratings for unknown applications, a virtual keyboard to protect against phishing and keyloggers and the automatic access restriction (user data folders) for unknown applications.

Installation of the software suite should not be problematic although it requires the uninstallation of other applications of its kind before the installation can be completed (Multiple firewalls or antivirus programs can interfere with each other). Inexperienced users can and should keep the automatic settings while experienced users can configure the layers of protection manually. It does not make much sense for example to enable the Anti-Dialer module if the user is connecting to the Internet over a network.

The interface of Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 has been redesigned. It is divided into the four blocks Protection, Scan, Update and License.

• Protection: Various protection layers can be analyzed and configured in this entry. It is also providing access to various tools like the creation of a Rescue Disk, a Security Analyzer or Network Monitor.
• Scan: Perform a quick or full scan of the computer system.
• Update: Will check and download updates
• License: License information. Will list the validity period of the application

Inexperienced users will love the automatism of the software program. The initial scan of the system will add automatic rules for most applications that are installed on the system. Kaspersky Internet Security did add applications like Firefox, Thunderbird or Teamspeak to the list of trusted applications which in turn meant that no “Do you want to permit” windows where launched when the application was started.

Kaspersky Internet Security 2009 is compatible with all 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows XP and Windows Vista. A trial version is available that can be used for 30 days without restrictions.

The Giveaway:

Kaspersky gave us five program suites and we will give all five to you. Just post a comment before December 2 12:00 CET and you are taking part in the Giveaway. Make sure to include an email address so that we can contact you with the details in case that you have won.

Winners:

Joseph, Bernard, Ian, Mezan and Enigma

We will start tomorrow with a review of Kaspersky Internet Security 2009. Yes that’s right, you can win copies of this excellent software program tomorrow.

We have 20 confirmations so far from software companies who have donated their software for the Christmas Giveaway and are confident that we will be able to fill the last four spots easily. Those users who suggested software programs to include in the last article will be delighted to hear that we were able to get some of them for the giveaway.

The easiest way to follow the Giveaway is by following the Ghacks Christmas Giveaway tag which will be used to tag all posts of it.

A friend of mine is currently designing a logo for the competition which will hopefully be ready in the coming days. Make sure you spread the word about the Giveaway to help making it a huge success for everyone.

The best aspect of it is that I do want to win most programs of the giveaway myself, hehe.

Rules:

Well there are not many rules for the giveaway. Anyone can participate only once per day. The winners will be drawn randomly from the list of commenters and notified the next day per email. Some information is required for the registration process that I will submit to the software developer. This usually means the email address and a username. By participating in the giveaway you allow me to do that.

Winners have 48 hours to claim their prize. If they fail to do so the license will go back into the pool and be given away again on December 24.

If you have any questions or suggestions let me know. You can still suggest software products that should be part of the giveaway.

Freecycle is the website for the Freecycle Network, which is made up of 4,342 groups with 4,921,000 members across the globe. The purpose of this network is that if you have something to give, there’s someone out there who wants it. The catch is that it has to be given for free.

How do you join? You start by finding a Freecycle group that’s close to your home. Then, you can join and post about whatever it is you want to give away. If you find an item you like and would want, you simply mail the owner and tell him you’re interested. It’s first come first serve so be quick.

So, is Freecycle worth it? I’d say yes. There’s plenty of things to be found in these groups and the idea itself is quite philanthropic. It’s not perfect though. There are no guarantees about the merchandise you get. Plus, you usually have to make your own arrangements to pick up the item.

I’m a member at my local Freecycle group and I’ve scored a good deal or two. In one case, I met up with the owner close to my house to collect my item. Overall, I’d say give this network a try. After all, you never know what you might find.

What is your opinion on Freecycle? Are you a member of this group? Do you think this idea is worth exploring? What other similar sites have you come across? Do let me know.