While most PC users now understand the importance of good anti-virus software, the threat from spyware is still largely ignored.

With identity theft on the increase and increasingly intelligent attacks, however, it pays to protect your system from keyloggers, homepage hijackers and other software sneaks.

Crawler's Spyware Terminator 2 is available as a free download for home and business users, either on its own or with its plug-in sister application, Web Security Guard. The company makes its money via a paid for corporate edition, which offers remote administration, and through paid internet search results - during installation you're asked if you want to replace your standard internet search utility with Crawler's own.

Searching with Crawler's engine in your browser (IE and Firefox are supported) will flag up warnings if sites are known to contain spyware, adware or unsavoury content.

The main program has the appearance of a classic anti-virus tool. You can scan for spies already on your system, remove any known villains, set up a schedule for regular inspection and quarantine suspicious files for future interrogation. There's even the option to add virus protection with the firm's free Winclam Avshield.

New to version 2 is an option to create up to five different scan profiles. Reports logs may be generated to keep track of usage history, and settings in the Real-Time Protection system can be tweaked to suit your usage. Alerts weren't crystal clear, though, and could provide more information.

Also new is the Internet Protection, which will scan cookies and net favourites for dodgy domains, and help protect your system from almost 5,000 malicious routines lurking on the net.

Easy to use and speedy in operation, Spyware Terminator 2 is definitely worth downloading. It's more comprehensive than other free popular utilities, such as Spybot, and holds its own against paid for products in terms of features.