http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-22_11-5221367.html

Yahoo on Thursday is expected to release an upgrade for its downloadable toolbar to help people detect and remove spyware, or malicious files, on their PCs.

For now, the Web portal will be testing the technology, which has been supplied by antispyware company PestPatrol. It will offer the toolbar upgrade only to a select number of people at beta.toolbar.yahoo.com, Yahoo spokeswoman Stephanie Iwamasa said.

The software can perform a high-level scan of files on a PC to detect viruses or other applications that were installed surreptitiously and are used to spy on computer behavior.

"The toolbar is the best place to present this application because of its accessibility--you can log on and use your toolbar from any machine--and because it's a persistent application in the browser window," Iwamasa said.