Spy Sweeper Enterprise 3.0 sports a redesigned client interface -- the new look will migrate to the consumer version later this month -- and several new defenses, including ones that block ActiveX-based drive-by downloads and prevent adware and spyware from messing with Internet Explorer's security settings.
"The consumer release was always a little bit ahead [of Enterprise] said Bryan Gale, Webroot's product manager. "But now we've caught up."
Gale touted the new rootkit-sniffing feature of Enterprise 3.0, which scans the hard disk directly rather than going through Windows' APIs. "Our direct disk scan is based on a kernel-level driver that scans the hard disk without relying on what Windows is telling us."
Rootkit technology can cloak adware and spyware from Windows, invalidating traditional anti-spyware and anti-virus techniques that call on the operating system's APIs to view the file structure on the hard drive.
The Boulder, Colo.-based company has also tweaked Enterprise so that clients download incremental updates -- only as much data as is necessary to add the newest anti-spyware definitions -- and has added a new signature category dubbed "Informational."
Initially, the Informational category will provide signatures for popular peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing programs; rather than quarantine or delete this high-bandwidth software, Spy Sweeper will simply notify the administrator, who can choose to remove the offender(s). Spy Sweeper Enterprise 3.0 is available immediately; a 30-day trial can be downloaded from the Webroot site.