PestPatrol Enhances Cookie, Keylogger Detection

PestPatrol, Inc. has announced version 4.1 of its PestPatrol Home Edition, which offers enhanced protection against cookies and key loggers for users' personal PCs.

One of the issues security experts often warn of is the increasing threat posed by consumers with broadband connections that are left largely, if not completely, unprotected. The systems attached to those always-on connections are attractive targets to hackers looking to infect the system and use it as a launch pad for further malicious activity. As such, it's in everyone's best interest to protect these systems.

In that battle, PestPatrol Home Edition essentially picks up where antivirus and firewall software leave off. It detects "spyware" that collects personal information about a user or computer; Trojans; Denial of Service attack agents; and probe tools that search for vulnerabilities that hackers can exploit.

Version 4.1 includes a feature dubbed KeyPatrol that detects known and unknown types of keyloggers, which are intended to help intruders steal confidential data, such as passwords. KeyPatrol uses behavioral and pattern matching algorithms to detect the presence of a keylogger and protect the user.

Another new feature, CookiePatrol, detects and destroys cookies acting as spyware. CookiePatrol permits the cookie to be created, essentially tricking the Web site that delivered it into thinking all is well, then immediately deletes it.