Security Software for your PC

[Bob Hubbard]

Pop Up blocker : http://panicware.com (try the free one)

SpyWare Scanner - AdaWare http://lavasoft.de Make certain to get the ref. update.

FireWalls - http://zonelabs.com or http://www.sygate.com both offer free firewalls

AntiVirus - http://www.grisoft.com free antivirus scanner. Less of a system hog than McAfee, and more secure than Norton. For a paid program, try F-Protect http://www.f-prot.com/

[Elfan]

Thanks Kaith, I've been looking for a free virus scanner ever since my Norton subscription expired :D

[Cthulhu]

I'm lucky in that I've apparently got the last version of Norton Antivirus that didn't require any subscription fees for updates. I've been updating my virus definitions for a couple of years now for free.

However, I know the gravy train won't last and eventually Symantec will stop supporting this version altogether.

For firewall software, I've been using Zonelab's ZoneAlarm. It's stopped everything ever thrown at me. It goes bonkers on a few rare occasions, but nothing I can't recover from.

The PC I'm building now is going to have Macafee's Internet Security, which has a firewall and Virusscan. Only reason why I'll be using it is because it came with my mobo/CPU package.

Cthulhu

[Michael Billings]

The Norton Corporate Edition (Enterprise Solution) has unlimited updates of virus definitions, but likewise, I know they will quit supporting the product someday. So far so good.

I use the Panicware and ZoneAlarm Pro products also. Paying for the Zone Alarm eliminated all the weird little hickups I got the 1st year I was using it for free.

-Michael
AKTS

[Cryozombie]

Our company (I work for an ISP) reccomends

SPYBOT SEARCH AND DESTROY for a spyware scanner. It looks deeper than the Lavasoft AdAware program, and will even clear all your program histories for you if you like.

http://security.kolla.de/

Hope that helps anyone who needs it!!!

[Elfan]

I use both Spybot and Ad-aware and I feal they compliment each other nicely. Ad-aware is easier to use and more refined (not rough around the edges), making it ideal for regular scanning. Skybot has more general privacy (ie clearing histories and such) and does seem to cover more unusual things. Spybot has a much more detailed (although far from complete) database which is nice too.

I recomend the use of both.

[lhommedieu]

I've used a combination of ZoneAlarm and Ad-Aware (I like both); thanks for the information about Spybot.

I recently bought a DSL router to compliment my software. If anyone has any further suggestions, I would appreciate it.

Best,

Steve

[Gary Crawford]

another good firewall is Kerio Personal Firewall.I have used it for six months and have found it to be one of the best free firewalls

[Akula]

Spyware programs - I run both Spybot and Ad-Adare. They seem to complement each other nicely.

Software firewalls - on different PC's, I run both Sygate Personal Firewall, and ZoneAlarm (only one software firewall per machine, above that, you're going to have issues) and on Linux, SmoothWall.

Hardware firewalls - I rely on the one that came with my router. That way, the computers don't have to worry about blatently obvious traffic that should be blocked.

Wireless - WEP enabled with 128 bit encryption, and the MAC addresses hardcoded to allow only those to hit the access point.

Antivirus - AVG Antivirus, have used Norton and McAfee before, but I'll go with this one for now.

Windows itself - If you run a network with mutliple computers you may not want to do this, but if you have one machine, turn off file and printer sharing, and also disable the messenger service.

Cleanup - and finally, when you're done with your files, I use SuperShredder from AnalogX. When you delete a file and empty your trash bin/recycle bin, it basically only deletes the headers of the file. The file itself is still there, and many free data recovery tools can get it back. SuperShredder writes useless data to the same location where your file was, and you can configure the number of passes and type of data written. You can even create a 'Send To' shortcut in Windows to bypass the recycle bin altogether.

[TonyM.]

Technopunk. Thanks for the spybot link. Found lots of bots on my system and cleaned them up.
WARNING! microsoft is sending bots in their windows update. After cleaning up my system automatic update added a new one!

[Pale Rider]

Thanks Kaith, I've been looking for a free virus scanner ever since my Norton subscription expired :D
What I found about Norton is even if your subscription expires.... You can simply uninstall the program, delete all the files that pertain to Norton and then install it again.. you are good to go for another year....

If that doesn't work, and I know at times I have been forced to do this is when you (or if you) have to reformat your computer you can reinstall it back on with a fresh 1 year subscription.

[Pale Rider]

The PC I'm building now is going to have Macafee's Internet Security, which has a firewall and Virusscan. Only reason why I'll be using it is because it came with my mobo/CPU package.
Cthulhu
I know about McAfee as well, as I have been using the McAfee Internet Securities 5 for over a year now and it seems to be doing just fine on alot of issues. (I beleive there are advantages to both Norton and McAfee and I haven't been able to determine really which one I like the best... But overall I believe that McAfee is not only a stable software, but performs excellent)

[Pale Rider]

Our company (I work for an ISP) reccomends

SPYBOT SEARCH AND DESTROY for a spyware scanner. It looks deeper than the Lavasoft AdAware program, and will even clear all your program histories for you if you like.

http://security.kolla.de/

Hope that helps anyone who needs it!!!
I agree with this 100%. I have both installed - Spybot Search and Destroy and Lavasoft's Ad-Aware...

[Pale Rider]

Technopunk. Thanks for the spybot link. Found lots of bots on my system and cleaned them up.
WARNING! microsoft is sending bots in their windows update. After cleaning up my system automatic update added a new one!
Most of the "bugs" that are found in Microsoft I have found to pertain to the Windows Media Player so that it can in essence "phone home".. No big deal there.

[Bob Hubbard]

I have ZoneAlarm installed on my system, and when something wants 'out' I can make that decision. MS MediaPlayer seems to like asking alot.

I'm about to switch my main workstation over to Linux....a whole new world of headaches will be mine to discover.
:)

[bassplayer]

Software firewalls are a good step in the line, but they oftentimes hog a lot of system resources. IMO there's nothing better than a good hardware router/firewall at the home to not only get YOUR machines off of your ISP's network and into a privately assigned IP range (the 192.168.0.x, 169.254.x.x, and 10.x.x.x address ranges are designated to be private) and even the most basic hardware firewall will eliminate 99% of the crap you'll get.
Of course, if you're on dialup, then you cant use one :) But for anyone with broadband, its definitely an excellent and cheap first line of defense! (not to mention that its the cheapest way to get all of the machines you want going out through your one IP that's assigned by your ISP, you ask them how to get more computers on and they're going to want to charge you for extra IP addresses!)

[Venomstrike]

I highly recommend this spyware/adware blocker software. It's FREE, and you don't even need to have the program running in order for it to be effective. You just update it, close the program, and it still protects your computer from spyware and adware.
It's called SpywareBlaster:
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

[FearlessFreep]

I use RedHat Linux and FireFox...

[MA-Caver]

Here's another way to protect against those nasty viral infections... :D

[Shidan]

I use both Spybot and Ad-aware and I feal they compliment each other nicely. Ad-aware is easier to use and more refined (not rough around the edges), making it ideal for regular scanning. Skybot has more general privacy (ie clearing histories and such) and does seem to cover more unusual things. Spybot has a much more detailed (although far from complete) database which is nice too.

I recomend the use of both.
I prefer SPYBOT as it picks up everything Ad-aware misses. On occasion, Ad-aware finds one or two more - but it is rare. I use both to be safe.

for anti-virus:
TrendMicro (http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp) free scan. You'll need an internet connection.

For Pop-ups:
FreeSurfer MKII
HERE (http://www.webattack.com/get/freesurfer.shtml) If you like it - support it!

[Sin]

For most people I would suggest getting a dell and talk with them about upgrades....Please rememmber if you go to one of there show rooms, the younger people there will most likely give you straight answers on your questions, the older ones just woant your money. the Younger ones will tell you if you can get something better somewhere else or things you can do to your computer that Dell dosn't provide. usually the shaggy haired looks like they've been up all night guy knows a lot more than his bosses do about the hardware..........i would know...i am one of them.

If you are going for Strictly gameing go with alienware computers....they are really good, but a little pricey.

I hope this knowledge is usefull

[dubljay]

Here's another way to protect against those nasty viral infections... :D

Oh thats a great one MACaver :rofl:

[Simon Curran]

OK I have a question,

Regarding browser hi-jackers, I know a lot of people might suggest a different OS or a different browser, but anyway...
I am using XP with the built in IE6, Norton Internet Security, Ad-Aware,Windows anti spyware and Spyware Doctor
Even still, I made the mistake of selecting a particular page (namely jubii.dk) as a start page once, and now I can't change the damned thing, regardless of how many registry clean ups I run, how many times I manually reset it...
I am definatley not what could be considered as a computer expert, so I am asking those of you out there who know more than me, any suggestions as to how I gan regain control over my computer, because it is really starting to annoy the hell out of me.
Thanks for any help in advance,
Simon

[modarnis]

I also use both adaware and spybot. Better safe than sorry

[Bob Hubbard]

Disable the auto-recovery feature in XP.
Make certain your AVS and Spyware checkers are the latest versions with latest dats.
Scan again.
Reboot

Now try changing it. If it works, reactivate the auto-recovery thingy.
If not, try going to cexx and typing in the site name thats locking you in. They may be able to give you specific removal instructions.

[Kreth]

What Bob said... Also, you'll generally get better results removing spyware if you boot to safe mode, then run your scan. A lot of spyware apps have a process running that just reinstalls them if you clean them. By scanning in safe mode, you only have barebones Windows processes running...

Jeff

[Pale Rider]

I had never thought of starting in safe-mode to run the spyware scans. Sounds like a great idea.

Also here is a great Anti-Virus scan that I have found that does wonders in locating the roots of the problem. I run it more so then I do the McAfee and it does an excellent job:

AntiVir Guard (http://www.free-av.com/)

Really worth checking out...

[LT2002]

[QUOTE=Pale Rider]I had never thought of starting in safe-mode to run the spyware scans. Sounds like a great idea.

[QUOTE]

Best way to diagnosis most problems is to go to its simiplest state....for MS OS that would be SafeMode.

MS spyware program has proven good competition for Spybot and Adaware.

[mantis]

i find avg from grisoft the best anti-virus
although it's free...
sygate firewall is good too
do not rely on ad-aware from lavasoft.. it catches lots, but not as much as it misses!
maybe it's the best so far.. but still not that effective!

[Andrew Green]

One more: Try to avoid running as "Administrator" whenever possible

But the most important thing you can do is keep things up to date. That will stop most attacks right there.

The basic cycle is:

1. A security flaw is found.

2. It gets announced that it has been found

3. A patch gets released (Often at the same time as 2)

4. After that, by monitoring the patch and what it changes, someone creates a program to exploit it, do the damage and spread to any other unpatched systems it can find.

5. User, who failed to up date their system, gets infected. Their system spreads the program.

So if you keep up dated and don't run trojans, chances are all the vulnerabilities will be patched before they hit you.

But, that said, I work of Linux now ;) I still have to use WinXP sometimes at work, but not very often.

[mantis]

lucky you
i have to be on xp and 2000 all the time
even if i want to use linux i have to run it off of a virtual machine running on XP!
how sad, huh?

[bignick]

Try using a live distro instead for running linux. There are some prebuilt live distro's that are actually designed with the idea of recovering a linux/windows box. Linux Defender is the one that is popping into my head.

Also, as far as wireless security goes, it's pretty worthless from what I've seen against any sort of determined effort to use it. Here I'm talking about the Wireless Encryption Protocal (WEP) that a lot of people use on their routers. Which means try to avoid doing things like giving your computer descriptions like "Firstname Lastname's PC". I'm a computer science major, and one of my friends is doing his senior research project on the subject. He cracked the encryption for an access point at his place and found that the person had named their computer after themselves, and he did some searching on the internet and within minutes knew who she was, where she worked, etc...

[mantis]

im trying not to be pessimistic about free wireless since Google is going to be working on it..
those guys are going kookoo in changing everything!
i heard they're buying the gov't's old backbone to have their "own version of the INTERNET"...
they have imagination, money, and the skill to do it man..
let's just get some popcorn and watch em do it

[arnisador]

Work restricts me too, but I have one Unix box and one Windows atrocity on my desks.

[Shicomm]

Hitman pro (http://www.hitmanpro.nl/hitmanpro/index.php?lang=en)

This is just the best software to fight spyware.
It's freeware :)

[Shicomm]

I you just want to kill spyware but don't want to install any software , try the online scan from Ewido at : http://www.ewido.net/en/onlinescan

They also have some "installable" software that you can use but i've allready seen some amazing results from their online scan!

[Shicomm]

2 more great tips :

Spybot search and destroy

Great ( free ! ) software that can crush over 170.000 types of malware.
Not the most user frienly but it's powerful !

more info at www.spybot.info
---
Malwarebytes anti-malware

Very nice programme that can do almost the same as spybot S&D but it's more user friendly.
The basic function ( scan when you ask the software to do it ) is free to use.
They also have a paid version with some kind of 'live filter' that actually prevents malware getting inside.

Must have ! :)

More info at www.malwarebytes.org

[Hawke]

I have been using avast (http://www.avast.com/).

I read some reviews on AVG (free version) and some of the things I discovered is that after 30 days it will no longer scan emails (I think yahoo does this for free using McAfee). Anyone know the difference between the paid version and the free version of AVG?

Also SiteAdvisor is a nice little tool when surfing the net (http://www.siteadvisor.com/).

[Shicomm]

The paid version of avg updates more often and gives more protection if i'm right...
The 'free guys' still don't cut the mustard with me as i frequently get machines from customers with infections from various sources...

I pay about 30 euro's a year for kaspersky ; yes, it's not free but there's peace of mind knowing that my valued data is secure...

[Matthew McMullen]

I use to have McAfee Enterprise on my home computer for Anti Virus and I used Spybot S&D and Adaware to do the periodic spyware scan until they couldn't get rid of a spyware program that both Adaware and Spybot said they found and removed. I ended up switching to Vipre which is an active Spyware and Virus scanner it isn't free but it uses very low system resources and it was able to clean that spyware program out of my PC and it has a 15 day free trial. I think I paid $50 for 2 years. The company's website is sunbeltsoftware.com (http://sunbeltsoftware.com).

As for wireless security I use a MAC filter on my router if your MAC address isn't there it won't let you in.

[Bob Hubbard]

I second that. Vipre (http://clickserve.cc-dt.com/link/tplclick?lid=41000000029832127&pubid=21000000000229315) found stuff AVG missed on 2 systems of ours.

[wushuguy]

Modern times you'd need anti-virus, anti-spyware, ant-rootkit, firewall, process-guards, etc. all of which will eat up system resources... quite ridiculous after a while. So, it is really helpful to learn some basic computer stuff to keep yourself safe, not just rely on the security software, because security software is always 1 or more steps behind the hackers anyway. If possible, take a look into OS more resistant to such threats. BSD or Linux come into mind, both of which can be burned on a live CD, which means you can try it before installing it on your computer, and it's free to download.

But, if you cant leave WIndows Vista, XP or such, then I would suggest kapersky or e-set software. Those seem to be top choices, but remember anti-virus isn't the be all end all for security, you need anti-spyware, anti-rootkit, process-guard, etc.

[Lynne]

We downloaded the free home edition of Avast. Guess what we got? A WIN32 virus was attached to Avast. It took a few months to do it's nasty work. It completely destroyed our file system. Last night, my daughter spent over 9 hours wiping our hard drive and reinstalling software.

Right now, we are using the free 30-day trial of AVG.

[Bob Hubbard]

Did you get it from the right site?
http://www.avast.com/

[Lynne]

Did you get it from the right site?
http://www.avast.com/
It's been a few months, so I'm not sure. I remember seeing that Avast came out of the Czech Republic (supposedly). That page looks very familiar.

I'm thinking I was sent to a fake site.

[Xue Sheng]

http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-professional.html

But I did not download it nore do I know much about the product. I only deal with enterprise versions of security software

[Shicomm]

I have at least one customer a week coming in with an infected machine that runs avg , avira or avast...
Tells me something about hte quality of the software...

Last time i checked all 3 still don't pick up the well spread wimad.X and getcodec.X worms .
Fact that the symantec ( norton ) and Network Assosiates ( mcaffee ) also still slip on those is just a minor detail offcourse...

Kaspersky is cheaper , has a lighter load on allmost all machines , updates every hour instead of once a day and according to the av-comparatives checks it scores better then quite a few others... ;)