In these days of broadband connections and filesharing you not only need antivirus protection and a firewall but also antispyware protection. If you don’t use it you are only asking for trouble. And while spyware may not seem as big a deal compared to viruses it can be just as bad — if not worse.

Virus wreak and destroy your data, but spyware does just what its name sujests: it hides and spies on you. What it does with what it finds depends on the program. If you’re lucky, the software will only swamp you with ads (in this case its called adware), but if you’re not, you could have a keylogger or similar monitoring software that “phones home” with what it sees. Anything you type — or worse, anything on your screen — including credit card numbers, bank account numbers, or other personal information could be sent to someone or somebody.

Two of the best real-time antispyware scanners out there are Webroot’s Spy Sweeper and PC Tools’ Spyware Doctor. Real-time scanning means that the program is actively trying to detect spyware threats as you are using your computer, much like your antivirus software. This is good, as the software can attept to block the installation of the spyware in the first place, instead of removing it later, AFTER it has had the opportunity to do damage. Sadly, antispyware real-time scanners still aren’t as efective as their antivirus counterparts, so you will still want to run regular full-system scans, just as you do with your antivirus.

PC Magazine recently tested Spy Sweeper and Spyware Doctor and awarded them both an Editor’s Choice. Both programs blocked and removed nearly all of the spyware and keyloggers that the testers threw at them, including some commercial keyloggers. Both programs have also gotten easier to use.

You can go to PCMag.com to read the full review of Spy Sweeper and of Spyware Doctor.