AVG anti-spyware found 9 medium risk and 2 high risk tracking cookies?

Question

Window Defender and Spybot didn't pick these up,is it because they see them as no threat yet AVG anti-spyware found them as a threat?

Answer 1

Spyware is not the same as a virus or trojan
Not all spyware's use the same definitions as another, that is why I recommend using not only AVG, I also use Spybot Search and Destroy, as well as Lavasoft's Adaware.
Using all 3, I feel offers the best in protection, especially if you Remove them all once a week.
So in conclusion, I use all 3.
Don

Answer 2

As Don M said different anti-spyware programs rate things differently and have different signatures they alert to. They also have different tolerances for what is or is not a potential piece of spyware (based on the amount/kind of data in the cookie and the reputation of the site). Since these are cookies, its safe to delete them. The worst that could happen is that you'd have to re-enter a password the next time you went to the site they are from.

As for why Windows Defender and Spybot didn't pick them up... Make sure you keep Spybot Search & Destroy up to date since if I remember correctly it doesn't automatically update. As for Windows Defender, its a Microsoft product and they likely don't consider cookies to be a form of malware/spyware.

Regardless, this is why its a good idea to use multiple anti-spyware applications.

Answer 3

Any anti-spyware program you try is not 100% efficient in cleaning all the spyware or malware. Search in yahoo for "antispyware program comparison" and you will find some may find spyware while other fail to detect it. (Check last paragraph of http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/spyware.html ) Each program has its strength and weakness, have their own system of classifying & searching spyware, naming them and removal method.

So you can consider it save to have 3 antispyware running since they can complement each other to provide better scan (but least- medium and high risk things should be clean or removed).

One example Microsoft Window Media player send anonymous information to Microsoft ( as claim by Microsoft) is detected by spybot as spyware and will repair your window register to remove it. While Window defender will not ( because Window Defender is own by Microsoft and Microsoft donot classify it as spyware)

Always keep your antispyware program updated.

Answer 4

Yep u got it. U need to look at these cookies to see where they from. Lots od web sites requie cookies to work like ur internet service provider, web e-mail, ets. Not all cookies are bad just the one's that are spying for the hell of it. If u don't want AVG to delete these cookies tell it so. Spybot search and destroy is just as good as AVG and I purchased Windows Defender, it works great plus tunes my pc when it runs.

Answer 5

Hi Northman,

Check here http://www.spywareguide.com/onlinescan.php and run this.

Also, I would suggest stop using AVG