The A-Team

IM Virus!

No, not really. Just made you look. Because this is the inevitable calm before the storm of FERVENT BACKSIDE KICKING ACTION.

I thought it would be nice to recap the best spyware researcher type bods out there (and there's more to come in a future post, too). Lots of people wonder who they are, but if you can find them (and no one else can help), then maybe you can hire......The A-Team. Or failing that, these guys. Except they don't run around with guns. And you can't hire them either. It's just my snappy, rambling way of filling up space. I mean, leading with a rocking intro. And be prepared for a ton of random (and quite stupid) links to things that move and play funny songs and stuff. We all love those, right?

So here, in no particular order, are the best damn anti-thingy guys there ever was.

Were?

Oh, whatever. here they are.

Eric L. Howes

International man of mystery (not least because I have no idea what the "L" stands for), Eric can mostly be found in the scary mists of DSLReports, detailing the latest kerayzee installs and using mighty-fine analytical skills to deal with the angriest of torch-waving mobs. He maintains (amongst other things) the universally known Rogue Antispyware list that (legend has it) is etched inside a small, dark cave at the very peak of the Himalayas. When quizzed about this, a local was heard to remark, "Yvurrt, yvurrt". No, I have no idea, either.

A relentlessly methodical researcher, he wins the award for never having said a daft thing in public, ever - damn! Endlessly resourceful, he could probably (if pressed) save the world with a paperclip.

Ben Edelman

Yep, he's that legal type guy that regularly kicks butt, ninja style, on anyone foolish enough to mix it up with crummy installers, dubious practices and all the other junk I regularly rant about. One look at his website should be enough to tell you not to mess with him...any guy that can plonk about nine numbered links after a sentence and compel you to read them all is okay in my book.

Regularly breaking a hot scoop is all in a day's work, and he recently took 180 Solutions to task over their disclosure-notice-popup-thingummy. He also has a good two or three years on me, so if we ever had a charity boxing match I'd probably have to employ the running-away-screaming like-a-little-girl technique so beloved by my good self. His posting is steady and assured, with no compulsion to post every three days unlike some people (cough, cough). It's the Neo superpunch versus the Neo punch-everyone technique I think, but both get the job done.

He also has a cool .ICO thing on his site, which I have yet to master. Double damn. In fact, if I had to post an increasingly random link to sum him up, I'd plump for this one. In case you hadn't guessed, he is represented by all those people with the sticks. Not the other guy. Pray for him.

Webhelper

Sometimes, even the funkiest piece of weaponry won't do the job. So when you absolutely, positively got to kill every last muddy-funker in the room, what do you do?

That's right, you rub your magic HELP ME NOW button and chopper in the Webhelper. The arch-nemesis of the CoolWebSearch gang, he has posted more watch-out-for-these-suckers stuff that I know what to do with, and can currently be found kicking butt and taking names for the good people of Sunbelt Software. He also recently discovered this thing, and if that alone isn't a good enough reason for giving him some kind of Knighthood, I don't know what is.

At this point, I'd attempt to make some kind of analysis of how he does what he does, but the simple answer is: MAGIC.

Suzi

Webmaster (Mistress? I'm not up on all these new-fangled interweb terms) of Spywarewarrior.com, Suzi has battled the forces of darkness and spoony installers with a tenacity and never-say-die attitude that would make Agent Smith himself think twice about tackling her.

Her research is two-fold, the Weblog bringing the hottest issues to the fore with the forum serving as a rallying point for some more of the best damn antispyware thingy people there ever was (were? I still don't know). Suzi is a well needed, level headed voice of reason in the slightly insane world of security. In fact, my crazy link-o-meter would probably go for this little missive, though I'm really stretching the limits of randomness by this point.

To all those above (and many more besides) - I salute you.

And just in case, by some off-chance, anyone was wondering about me?

I like to do it like this.