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While casual computer users are hearing about spyware for the first time and trying to figure out how it infested their PCs, enterprise users are seeing first hand how it can slow and compromise even heavily guarded networks. Stealthy and insidious, spyware is usually less destructive than viruses, but can do even worse damage over time. Administrators concerned about the problem should take a look at eTrust PestPatrol Anti-Spyware Corporate Edition, a simple program that's effective in removing a comprehensive list of threats.

Computer Associates is certainly a trusted name to all of our readers, as the company has been in existence since the 1970s, when it created mainframe software. Now a security powerhouse, it does more than $3 billion in revenue annually and employs roughly 15,000 workers. The company didn't create PestPatrol from scratch, but acquired it outright in August 2004. It was able to turn around its own version so quickly because it took on most of the other company's employees as well.

PestPatrol searches for a wide variety of threats that are usually lumped in with spyware, including adware, Trojan horses, and keyloggers. It frequently checks for updates, so that it's always on top of new threats. It certainly impressed us in our testing: it found eight threats on our test system that another product had missed.

PestPatrol's interface is so simple you might think you're missing something. It's broken into three sections. The Welcome screen shows whether or not you have Active Protection turned on (so that it constantly monitors for new threats), and gives update and license information. The Scan screen lets you start a new scan with one click (scans, by the way, take well under a minute for most systems), and gives access to your scan history. And last, the Advanced Settings screen lets you set Active Protection, check for updates, create an exclusions list (if there are any spyware-related programs you want to allow), see your log file, and manage your quarantined files.

When it finds a threat, PestPatrol directs you to place it in quarantine first. The makers suggest that you quarantine spyware for a few days to see if that causes any other applications to work badly. If so, you can choose to allow quarantined files. If not, you can easily delete them.

PestPatrol's corporate edition differs from the personal edition by having a management console that the administrator can use to control all of the copies running on the network. The console can work with up to 4,000 users, or the admin can use the command line interface, which works with an unlimited number of users. The command line interface will also work with older systems running Windows 98.

The management console lets the admin receive e-mail alerts of malware activity, set automatic actions based on threat levels, schedule scans, and view a central log of all pest activity. The console will also trickle down updates, so that all the copies on a network aren't updated at the same time, which would create a bandwidth spike.

A one-year license for the personal or corporate edition costs $39.95. Volume discounts are available for larger orders.

The management console of eTrust PestPatrol Anti-Spyware Corporate Edition logs spyware events in real-time.