Spy Sweeper 5.5.7.122 Online Manual

Reviewing shield status

While Spy Sweeper is running, it actively monitors for potential threats that try to download on your computer. If it detects a suspicious item, Spy Sweeper displays an alert. For most types of items, Spy Sweeper also asks if you want to continue downloading it or if you want to block it.

Spy Sweeper with AntiVirus: Shields also protect against viruses attempting to download to your computer.

Spy Sweeper provides the following types of shields:

 

Shield type	Description
Web Browser	Protects your default home page, list of favorites, and other settings related to your Web browser. These shields can also block tracking cookies or Browser Helper Objects that try to install on your computer.
Network	Monitors network communication between your computer and other Web sites. These shields block some ads that may display in your browser and that attempt to reroute you to other, unexpected Web sites.
Windows System	Monitors activity relating to Windows system settings, which some spyware programs can change if your computer is not protected.
Startup Programs	Monitors the list of programs that start every time you start Windows. Some spyware programs add themselves to the startup list if you are not protected, which causes the spyware program to start every time you start Windows.
E-mail Attachments	Monitors file attachments in both incoming and outgoing e-mails. If Spy Sweeper detects that a file or its contents match a threat definition, it places the attachment in Quarantine, where you can decide whether to save the attachment to your computer or delete it.

To see a summary of all shields and their status, click Shields in the Icon panel to display the Shields Summary tab, as shown in the following example.

The icons in the Shields Summary panel indicate the following:

Icon	Description
—Full Protection	In the Shield Status, a green check mark indicates that all critical and recommended shields are turned on.
—Partial Protection	In the Shield Status, a yellow exclamation mark indicates that all critical shields are on, but some recommended shields are off. In the panels below, this icon appears next to the shield that is turned off. You can click the shield name to go to the tab where you can turn the shield back on.
—Vulnerable	In the Shield Status, a red X indicates that one or more critical shields are not turned on. In the panels below, this icon appears next to the shield that is turned off. You can click the shield name to go to the tab where you can turn the shield on. We strongly recommend keeping all critical shields turned on.
—Spyware shield	This icon appears next to shields that block spyware and potentially unwanted programs. If it is grayed out, the shield is off.
—Virus shield	Spy Sweeper with AntiVirus only. This icon appears next to shields that block viruses. If it is grayed out, the shield is off.