Computer Security
Individual Computer Security Guidelines
Most people think that you get what you pay for and free just isn't very good. In most cases this assumption would be correct. With most types of products you can expect that the paid version will be much better than the freebies, but there are exceptions.
If you pay for your antivirus and anti-spyware protection you tend to get some nice features, but you usually don't get better protection and the reason is really simple. Viruses, trojans, worms, spyware, adware, and all the other malicious garbage that can attack your computer isn't just a threat to you-- it threatens everyone on the internet. This includes big companies and governments. It is in everyone's best interests to control these attacks, but that can't happen if the malicious code can hide in private computer systems because the owner can't or won't pay for the software needed to protect the machine. Therefore a number of private companies have committed themselves to providing free versions of their software for those who can't or won't pay money for it. A lot of this software is superior quality.
There is a catch, but it isn't any different than if you were buying the software. Whether you pay for the protection or get it free, make absolutely certain that you know what you are getting. Many companies also put out bad programs, and some of them actually cause the problems they are supposed to be detecting. Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid the need to check a product out before using it. Many people have purchased or downloaded software believing that they were protecting their computers, only to be infected with viruses or spyware as a result. Never respond to a pop up that offers to "scan" your computer for free. This is one tactic used to sell inferior or even malicious products. Always check out the reviews of the product before allowing it to access your computer. It is, fortunately, very easy to check out a product before purchasing or downloading it. CNET.com has a lot of information. Check out download.com, and don't forget to type the product's name into your favorite search engine and see what the reviews on other sites say. You can get a lot of information in a short period of time. You should run one (and only one) antivirus product on your computer. You should run one (and only one) software firewall on your computer, and the one that comes with Windows is not the best choice. You should run 3 or 4 anti-spyware programs, but not in "real time." Run only the one you trust the most constantly, then run the others manually right after updating them (at least once a week). Be sure to disconnect from the internet while running your scans manually. This is also a good time to run a full antivirus scan and any other utilities that need to be run, such as a defrag program. If you are still deciding which products to choose, and you are willing to pay for the products, I urge you to support those companies that offer free versions of their software. The paid versions aren't going to protect any better, but you should get some nicer features. Any company that will offer quality software for free deserves your business. They are doing their part to ensure that we can all access the internet safely, and we should appreciate them for that effort. Also, don't despise some of the free software in other categories. Much of it is high quality. The open source movement is one reason. Also, some of the software is put out by individuals who create a program for themselves and then just want to give others access to it. Some of it is software put out by companies that also sell paid software, hoping that you will like the product and come to them for other software you might need. Take a look at it. You might find something you need for free or at little cost. You will probably find something that is just cool. Don't go wild! After all, there is a lot of junk out there as well, but do take a look and check the reviews. You will be pleasantly surprised at what you find.
All the software listed below is recommended based on personnal experience supporting more than 60 computers on a continuous basis over many years. When I find better free (or at least inexpensive) options, I change my recommendations to keep pace with the changing Internet environment. I have also personally committed to purchasing the software with additional features from most of the companies below. This helps support their generous efforts to help us all -plus, I take advantage of the additional features and I don't have to work as hard to keep my systems safe.
You should consider the software listed below as the bare minimum for computer security - one firewall, one anti-virus program, and multiple anti-spyware programs. You should also consider additional tools to help keep your computer running properly - defragmentation software, registry maintenance software, and software to clean your system by deleting the unnecessary accululation of bits and pieces generated as you use your computer. However, with the programs below you do stand a good chance of keeping your computer running properly and safe for some time to come. But you have to take the first steps - download, install, and use these programs.
Free Computer Software and Security Tools
Nothing Does It All - Lots to Learn & Think About
| 1. Firewall - Pick only one (and make sure the Windows firewall is turned off). | ||||||||||||
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Download the Free Sunbelt Personal Firewall™Top-Rated PC FirewallSunbelt Personal Firewall is the Windows IT Pro Readers' Choice Award winner for best desktop firewall! Sunbelt Personal Firewall 4 can run in a free mode vs. a full (paid) mode. Install it now, and for the first 30 days it will run in 'full' mode. After that, it shuts down selected features, but will continue to run in 'free' mode". |
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 ZoneAlarm is the award-winning firewall picked by millons of users. ZoneAlarm is the most trusted Internet security package available. Automatically block dangerous threats - known and unknown. ZoneAlarm provides security you can trust. ZoneAlarm is compatible with
Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP. |
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Comodo Firewall Pro ZoneAlarm may be extremely popular, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's the best firewall you can find. Many people believe that Comdo Firewall Pro takes that prize, largely because it was rated as the top firewall by the independent testing site Matousec. Matousec found that it offered the highest level of "anti-leak" protection -- in essence, a measurement of a firewall's effectiveness. Comodo offers true two-way firewall protection, is extremely configurable, and unlike most other firewalls, gives you a great view into your system and Internet connection as well. It's free, as well. |
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| 2. Anti-Virus - Pick only one (uninstall all other anti-virus, security packages already running on your computer). | ||||||||||||
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| Download, install and use Grisoft's AVG Free Edition and get: | ||||||||||||
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| 3. Anti-Spyware - Pick 3, 4 or more (you need multiple programs to be able to find and remove things that the other systems just can't find). | ||||||||||||
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 "CounterSpy had the highest detection rate in our tests. The most effective scanner--CounterSpy--was also the fastest, taking only a minute to perform a complete scan of a system with 2.7GB of data. Sunbelt Software's CounterSpy proved the most capable of the bunch, finding and stopping 93 percent of all the running processes created by our 45 test programs." Try the full version of CounterSpy free for 15 days. CounterSpy needs to be the main anti-spyware programs running on your computer. |
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A-Squared Free Security must not be a privilege. Under this motto, Emsi Software provides the Malware scanner a-squared Free completely Free of charge for private use. But it is not a very limited version, it is a full tool to clean your computer from Malware. Not only Spywares, as detected by classic Anti-Spyware programs, but also especially Trojans, Backdoors, Worms, Dialers, Keyloggers and a lot of other destructive pests, which makes it dangerous to surf the web. Free Download Here |
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| The Free download setup file contains the free as well as the paid version of AVG Anti-Spyware. After the installation, a free 30-day trial version containing all the extensions of the full version will be activated. At the end of the trial, these extensions will be deactivated and the program will turn into a feature-limited freeware version. The purchased license code can be entered at any time. Free Download Here | ||||||||||||
| 4. Browser Security - Firefox and Internet Explorer (make Firefox your default browser) | ||||||||||||
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Why use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer? In addition to fewer holes and problems, Mozilla patches Firefox quicker than Microsoft and the latest version even updates itself. The biggest reason to use Firefox instead of Internet Explorer is because Internet Explorer is embedded in the Windows operating system. If anything gets corrupted you may need to reinstall the entire operating system. Seems crazy to me to have your operating system exposed to the Internet, but that is just what Microsoft esentially has done. If something happemns to Firefox? Just uninstall it, clean whatever is left behind, and re-install. Get you Free Firefox Internet Browser now! You will still need Interner Explorer for those websites that just don't get it, so you shouldn't ignore it (and you can't uninstall it anyway). You can get a Firefox extension that will allow you to switch automatically to Internet Explorer for those sites only when you need it, and automatically return back to Firefox when you're done. This gives you the best of both worlds! How do you get this power? Once you have Firefox, click here - IE View Lite - to get and install the Free extension.
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| 5. Advanced Security Tools | ||||||||||||
McAfee |
McAfee Rootkit Detective 1.0 is a program designed and developed by McAfee Avert Labs to proactively detect and clean rootkits that are running on the system. McAfee Rootkit Detective should only be used by knowledgeable individuals at the direction of, and with the support of, a representative from McAfee Avert Labs or McAfee Technical Support. Improper usage of this tool could result in damage to your applications or operating system. Download the Free software here. |
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| AVG Anti-Rootkit | AVG Anti-Rootkit is a powerful tool with state-of-the-art technology for detection and removal of rootkits. Rootkits are used to hide the presence of a malicious object like trojans or keyloggers on your computer. If a threat uses rootkit technology to hide itself it is very hard to find the malware on your PC. AVG Anti-Rootkit gives you the power to find and delete the rootkit and to uncover the threat the rootkit is hiding. To get you copy of the Free AVG Anti-Rootkit software Download the Free Software Here. | |||||||||||
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A-Squared HiJackFree - For more experienced computer users only (use with caution as inappropriate changes can harm your computer). A-Squared HiJackFree is a detailed system analysis tool which helps advanced users to detect and remove all types of HiJackers, Spyware, Adware, Trojans and Worms. You can get your Free a-squared HiJackFree software - Download the Free Softeware Here. |
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Anonymous Surfing - it isn't free, but this is an economical solution and something like this is really necessary to protect you if and when you connect to the Internet at unsecured wireless locations (coffee shops, stores, hotels, airports, etc.). Most people don't realize it, but free Internet surfing at these locations comes with risk. It leaves you completely open to any hacker who can gain total access to your computer while you are on it! They can easily capture you ID, Username, Passwors, etc. as you type it in. Don't find out about Identity theft the hard way - protect yourself. That guy, or gal, who looks like they are surfing the net just like you just might be an identity thief. Protection Beyond Anti-Virus, Ant-Spyware, and Firewall Programs - Anonymous Surfing protects your privacy and your identity by preventing cyber criminals from detecting your personal information and tracking your online activities. Anonymous Surfing hides your IP address so online snoops are unable to track the sites you visit and build profiles on your Internet activities. By redirecting your Web traffic through their secure servers, your online identity is protected. Their servers are armed with 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology, similar to that of your bank. Check it out and order Here. |
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Hotspot Shield from
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| 6. Other Useful Free Software | ||||||||||||
During the normal operation of a Windows system, registry data is constantly being written to and removed from the registry. Over time this data becomes scattered within the registry file and when information is deleted from the registry holes are left which fragment the data within the registry. This Free Registry Defrag optimizes your registry by removing gaps and wasted space, thus improves the whole system performance. The product is fully Windows Vista . Download the Free Software Here. |
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Diskeeper Lite is a short version introduction to full-featured Diskeeper. Diskeeper Lite can only analyze fragmentation levels and run manual defragmentation on one disk volume at a time. All time and money saving Set It and Forget ItŪ scheduling, system management functions and network controls are shown and explained, but rendered inoperative. This tool will show you how easy the full version is to install and operate across any size network . Diskeeper Lite will help everyone in their selection of the right automated defragmentation software for their homes and/or business sites. It does the same job as the paid full version as far as defragmentation is concerned - you just need to do it manually. |
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Clean Up! is a powerful and easy-to-use application that removes temporary files created while surfing the web, empties the Recycle Bin, deletes files from your temporary folders and more. CleanUp! frees disk space and reduces the "clutter" on your computer helping it to run more efficiently. It also can be used as a way to protect your privacy on the Internet. You can even instruct CleanUp! to securely delete files making it impossible to retrieve their contents using lower-level disk tools - just another way of protecting your privacy. |
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| This download gives you a way to create, edit, and share Microsoft compatible documents, spreadsheets, slide presetations, plus it includes database, drawing and math capabilities. | ||||||||||||
Microsoft's "10 Immutable Laws of Security"
Microsoft's Security Response Center has taken the knowledge from the thousands of security reports they receive each year, and compiled the following list of 10 indisputable security laws:
- Law #1: If a bad guy can persuade you to run his program on your computer, it's not your computer anymore.
- Law #2: If a bad guy can alter the operating system on your computer, it's not your computer anymore.
- Law #3: If a bad guy has unrestricted physical access to your computer, it's not your computer anymore.
- Law #4: If you allow a bad guy to upload programs to your Web site, it's not your Web site any more.
- Law #5: Weak passwords trump strong security.
- Law #6: A computer is only as secure as the administrator is trustworthy.
- Law #7: Encrypted data is only as secure as the decryption key.
- Law #8: An out of date virus scanner is only marginally better than no virus scanner at all.
- Law #9: Absolute anonymity isn't practical, in real life or on the Web.
- Law #10: Technology is not a panacea.
