O.T. internet security

Need help in choosing anti-virus/anti-spyware programs.

Sorry if this is rehashing old threads but internet security program recomendations of months ago aren't very valid for now.

Last couple of days I have been doing my best to get rid of the virus/trojan/spy-ware crap.Couldn't log onto here for a couple of days. Found out I set internet security setting too high in my attempt at virus fixing.Have reformated/wiped hard drive atleast 5 or 6 times.

To wipe I use a program called 'KILLDISK'. The free trial version does 1 pass of zeros. The paid version does the D0D Standard 7 passes of random zeros/ones.

So far I have been using Norton 2004 with updates when available.

Want to get a new Anti-virus and it has to be from a brick and mortar shop.Don't want to dowload program online.

Below are the list of Anti-virus programs I have in mind

F-Secure
Trend Micro
Norton
McAfee
Kaspersky Labs
Zone Alarm

I would like opinins from folk especially from Mr D.Thomas since I assume he must be having a top notch program with all the traffic this site gets. Ofcourse it is probably a buisness version which would not be relevant to me but maybee the same manufacturer has a home version.
Would also like Hammerhead's opinion since reading his posts I see he is Comp savy.
And all other folks here familar with this.

I am not sure I can get Kaspersky and Trend-micro from a brick and mortar shop. Using the trial version I found Kaspersky more up-to-date than Norton with Virus/trojan definitions

Right now I am leaning towards Mcafee or Norton or Zone Alarm since thats all I see my local Best-Buy carrying

If Norton which version, they have many versions.

For anti-spyware I am getting Spy-Sweeper.Also have Ad-Aware and Spybot running.

Thanks

AVG for anti-virus. Updates itself every day. Freeware download. Works well.

Zone alarm for a firewall. I bought the "pro" version, nicer than the freeware version.

Do not under any circumstances get involved with McAfee......

I don't like Norton. Can't speak to the others

I run those and spybot etc.

AVG works as well as anything. Norton is a pig and can cause problems. You don't need a firewall if you have XP, XP includes a built in firewall.

I use Trend Micro based on what the IT guy at work told me. I sometimes see it updating several times a day. I also use Zone Alarm.

Do not under any circumstances get involved with McAfee

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Care to elaborate Mr. Tiers?

John

060428-1234 EST USA

Spud:

At the shop we have Netgear for a firewall and VPN and have the SBC DSL modem operating as a dumb modem. This means the SBC modem firewall is disabled. Then we have Norton anti-virus on the individual machines.

On a laptop I had McAfee, sort of liked it, but then had a problem, and uninstalled it. But uninstall really does not completely uninstall.

Loaded Norton on the drive and had conflicts because McAfee was still there to some extent and interferred. Thus, I had to effectively completely clean the hardisk, and reinstall everything. Not quite that bad, I bought a new hardisk, installed Windows and other programs, then copied data files from the problem disk to the new disk. This gives one a chance to get rid of junk.

At home I am running with whatever SBC firewall exists in the DSL modem, and Norton Internet Security 2005 on an XP Pro machine. I liked the human interface of McAfee better than Norton. Later I will install a Netgear box and use it for the firewall.

.

Norton imposes a huge load on the system. In XP it runs up to 14 different background services and can slow the machine by a large amount. It also has problems with uninstall. Recently it was found that every single Symantec product (over 50 of them) had a critical vulnerability that would allow complete compromise of the system. It has been updated but there is no compelling reason to use Norton and plenty of reason not to.

Thanks for the replies

Ha I can attest to Norton being a 'pig', by that I mean its dam slow and is not very up to date on virus definitions like Kapersky or Avira anti-virus(free trial). Also other anti-spyware/virus programs conflict with it.

The speed of scanning is not that big a deal for me, what is most important is identifying the most number of and most current viruses/trojans out there and emerging. This is where I find Norton lacking.
Then again its 2004 version though updated to current.

J Tiers
was seriously considering Mcafee but after reading your post, I am hesitant. Can you explain on why you dislike it?
Is it not up-to-date with definitipns?, Too slow?
Doesn't have a high virus discovery percentage?
Not effective in dealing with found problems?

Thanks

Hi Spud,

For antivirus go with AVG. It's free, consistently scores 100% on the detection tests, and works very well with no performance penalties that I can detect. http://www.grisoft.com

I used McAfee for years but dropped it when they got too snippy about availability of updates. They kept wanting me to buy new versions of the product.

For a firewall, definitely Zone Alarm from Zone Labs http://www.zonelabs.com to download the free version. The priced version has some bells and whistles that corporate IT people would like, but they're not needed for home use.

And of course Adaware, Spybot S&D, HijackThis, etc

For file wiping, get BCWipe from Jetico. It's full DoD 5200.28-STD compliant (7-pass). It wipes file slacks, the swap file, unused directory entries, etc. And it's free.

The real Leigh gave some great advice. I would use those plus if you can get a hardware firewall on top of all the software stuff. Most home routers these days come with them built right in.

The key point here is actually more your internet usuage. Alot of the spyware and adaware happens without you knowing or really offically doing much wrong. The best defense to this is absolutely do not use Internet Explorer for anything unless it is absolutely necessary. Try Firefox or Opera instead. This will solve 95% of your problems. You will still need explorer for only a handfull of sites that don't "agree" with any other browser.

I would also think about what other software and actives you have on the web. Alot of spyware and adware is hidden in products. Keeping a system up to date with updates is necessary as well. The last time I remember they took an un-updated fresh install and put the system on the net and without even touching the machine it was bugged up within 30 mins. This was without a firewall, but the real point is to be careful.

Hello The real Leigh

I downloaded Bcwipe day before and tried using it. File was too big for floppy so burned it on cdrw but couldn't get it to work.

Tried burning onto another disc and downloading a few more times and finally after 4 days of comp virus related messing about I got fed up with it.

If its not too much trouble, can you send me a PM on how you got it to work? I would appreciate any help.
Since this topic is already OT, I don't want to clutter up this forum with computer (non-machine related) trouble-shooting.

As the others have suggested I am now in the process of installing the trial version of AVG.Just uninstalled Norton.

You downloaded the wrong version of AVG. They don't make it easy to find the free version. Here it is:

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5

"internet security"

That's an oxymoron.

Best internet security is to not go on the internet.

If you have a computer that you keep sensitive stuff on, have another computer for connecting to the internet.

Between the two, share nothing except a USB jump drive. (and maybe 110 volt power...although I'd consider a generator).

I now figure that if anyone wants to know EVERYTHING about me, they can...after all, my accountant is hooked up to the internet, my taxes were E-Filed, all of the credit card companies are "online". But really, who's going to go through that trouble for 68 grand in student loan debt!

I used AVG for years, loved it. I dont run spyware blockers, just mozilla. I reformat every six months.

-Jacob

Some reasons for hating McAfee....not all, I don't want sued.

Does not update itself, (did not, anyhow) you must do it manually.

10 or 11 months into using it, it started with a pop-up to buy the new version. After a while, the pop-up was every 30-40 seconds. Couldn't be cleared and go away, it would come back and stay.

Some reasons for hating

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They must have heard you J Tiers

I have had it for about 30 months. Automatically updates - nearly on a daily basis. No pop ups - at least not on Firefox .

John

Firefox. That's all you need to know.

This may be a bit envolved for some, but those that understand may be able to make use.

If running XP or other "NT based Windows OS", is to not run as "Admin". This applies in general, but particularly when browsing the internet. I also set default security to "High" and then "Trusted Sites" security to modified "Medium". Then sites like this and others I frequent get put in "Trusted Sites" so that the Java garbage and such can run. If you have programs that won't run unless you are Admin (and there are far too many that do this unfortunately) you can change the launch shortcut so that you can log in as Admin when you launch them.

This is a bit more trouble than the typical "no login required and everything just works" default install that most run. But that "everything just works" also applies to viruses, spyware, unwanted BHOs, and all sorts of nastys that can't even install in the first place if you are not logged on as admin.

And like others, I've gotten so fed up with the marketing tactics and ungodly bloated garbage coming from Symantic/Norton as well as McAffee and others that I refuse to use them.

Also, Firefox is only one option, that has it's own problems in spite of it's Apple like community of pundits. I have IE running and also have no pop-ups, spyware or other problems associated with IE, and I also don't have the "oops, I don't know what to do with this site" problem often reported by FF users. The real problem with IE (and Windows in general) is it's market dominance that makes it an easy target for largest coverage for the effort by black hats. Apple, FireFox, and other alternatives have just as many vulnerabilities, it's just that there has not been nearly the volume of interest in finding them, and the community that uses them (*nix in particular) is often predisposed to not report problems due to perceptions.

The best defense to this is absolutely do not use Internet Explorer for anything

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Absolutely true (what he said). Write it 100 times on the blackboard.

I personally use Firefox and like it a lot. Opera is also good. Personal preference mostly.

I downloaded Bcwipe day before and tried using it. File was too big for floppy so burned it on cdrw but couldn't get it to work.

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Hi Spud,

I don't know what you have. The executable is only 54K. Admittedly mine is a few years old, so the current version may be larger. You may be looking at an installation program or a web-based application.

BCWipe is really not meant to clean an entire disk. They have another program called BCWIPEPD which is designed for that. The executable is only 26K and can be loaded to a bootable DOS disk.

If you have a computer that you keep sensitive stuff on, have another computer for connecting to the internet.
Between the two, share nothing except a USB jump drive. (and maybe 110 volt power...although I'd consider a generator).

Click to expand...

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