Small Banks Tackle Spyware

Shavlik NetChk Protect lets IT administrators work from a single Shavlik console to launch multiple scans of a network. The console and scans can confirm which software and security patches are in place, find and identify spyware that has infested a system, and let an administrator take action to remove the spyware.

The addition of anti-spyware capabilities has made life easier for Nat Strickland, chief security nerd at MegaNerds LLC, which provided outsourced IT services to community banks. "Before I'd have to get a user out of her chair, try to remediate the spyware problem, scan the system, and take out the spyware," he says. "Once in a while, it took 10 minutes, but most of the time it was a long, drawn out process." Frequently, Strickland says, it could take as long as five hours to fix and restore a computer.

MegaNerds tested the NetChk product. "It gives us centralized reporting of what's missing on each system, the patches on board, and the spyware," says Strickland. "From the console, I right-click on the spyware and remove it from the system. No agent is installed, and the printing of the report only takes an hour for the whole network of users."