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Top Rated
Security Wizard Recommendations
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Overview
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Based on your answers you have been rated as a non-technical user of Windows XP who only engages in low risk computer activities. This is a pretty happy combination. It means we can recommend security products that are not too technically demanding yet provide a solid level of protection for your PC for the type of computing and internet activities you engage in. |
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The Wizard recommends:
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Security Product Suggestions
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Anti-virus Scanner
For your anti-virus protection we recommend Avira AntiVir, a free, feature reduced version of the powerful commercial anti-virus scanner AntiVir Premium. And it's more than an anti-virus scanner; it offers anti- spyware capabilities as well. Also missing from the free version are web and email scanning capabilities but otherwise it offers the same outstanding protection against virus, worms and other threats.
The lack of email scanning is not a critical loss as AntiVir will still detect email borne viruses should they become active.
These reservations aside, Avira AntiVir offers class leading malware protection for free.
For alternatives to AntiVir, see here. For installation tips click here.
Another possible option is to use Microsoft Security Essentials which offers free anti-virus and anti-spyware protection and more. It gives good protection but is not quite at the level of the top ranking products. MSE uses only little of your PC's resources so it it won't slow down your PC as much as many other products. So, if you have an older PC (or you simply like using Microsoft products) it is a reasonable option. Note that it is currently not available in all countries and will only work with legitimate copies of Windows.
Firewall
Despite having a poor reputation in some circles, the Windows Firewall actually provides solid protection against inbound attacks on your computer coming from the internet. For most non technical Windows users it offers the best balance of protection and usability.
It's main limitation is its performance against outbound attacks. In fact it offers no outbound protection so it won't warn you should a malware program running on your PC try to "phone home" over the internet. This is only a concern if your PC becomes infected. If you follow our other security advice, this is unlikely.
On the plus side, the lack of outbound protection means you will not be constantly nagged by your firewall asking you all kinds of questions about programs wanting to access to the internet. Many users are unable to meaningfully answer these questions so outbound protection is often not as effective as it may appear.
If you are a Windows 2000 user you cannot use the Windows firewall as none was ever provided for Windows 2000. But there is an attractive alternative in the form of the GhostWall firewall. It provides excellent inbound protection and is easy to install and configure. It also has some more advanced configuration options than Windows firewall. Most non-technical Windows 2000 users needn't concern themselves with these options and can simply use the default installation but they are there if needed.
If you want a firewall that does provide some outbound protection than the Windows firewall yet is not too demanding then you may want to consider the free version of the Sunbelt-Kerio firewall running in its "Simple (No popups)" mode. It's inbound protection is the same as the Windows Firewall but unlike the Windows Firewall, there is a degree of outbound protection as well. Not class leading protection by any means but something is better than nothing. Particularly if, as in this case, the extra protection is achieved without expecting you to respond to complicated security warnings.
For alternatives to the these firewalls see here. For installation and usage tips check out the following guides:
Windows 2000: Ghostwall
Windows XP: Windows Firewall Sunbelt/Kerio Firewall
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The Most Important Security Advice of all
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The task of protecting your PC from infection is similar to crossing a busy road unharmed. There are two, very different ways of crossing that road: The first way is to be very careful about where you cross and to be watchful and aware of the dangers. In other words, make sure you don't get hit. The other approach is to protect yourself with something like an army tank and cross anywhere, anytime. If you get hit, you rely on the tank to protect you. Now no sensible person would adopt the latter approach to crossing a road, yet when it comes to computer security that's exactly what many folks do. If you want real computer security, you need to adopt safe computing practices rather than rely totally on security products to protect you. No security product or combination of products can or ever will, provide perfect PC security just like no car can provide you with perfect road safety. With both cars and PCs you need to be careful in your own behavior. Like the rules of road safety we teach our kids, the rules for safe computing are simple and well known: 1. Be very careful where you surf. To help you stay away from bad sites install a website rating browser plug-in like WOT and make sure you only visit websites rated "Green" by the plug-in. 2. Never click on email attachments from unknown sources however tempting and attractive such attachments may seem. 3. Only download files from trusted sources. These include:
4. Never install programs obtained from P2P networks including BitTorrent, eMule, LimeWire and others as many of these files are infected with malicious programs. Some of these malicious programs are so powerful they are capable of overwhelming all your security defenses. 5. Never install programs that friends give you on removable media unless you have verified that they are clean by submitting them to free web based file scanning services such as Jotti or Virus Total. 6. Never accept free toolbars, media players or other unsolicited software offered to you by a website. 7. If you are not using Internet Explorer 8 then we recommend you upgrade to this version or better still, switch to an alternate browser such as Mozilla Firefox, Opera or Google Chrome. All these have a track record for better security than Internet Explorer and are arguably superior browsers as well. 8. Seriously consider using a Windows limited user account (LUA) rather than a normal account with full administrator privileges. LUA will block the majority of malware including, among others, all kernel mode rootkits. More details here. 9. You should seriously consider creating a fresh installation of Windows and then back up your PC using a drive imaging program. Then if in the future your PC ever becomes infected you can use the drive image to restore it to a pristine, infection free condition. If you are using the Business or Ultimate versions of Vista/Windows 7 you already have drive imaging capabilities built into Windows. See here for details. If you're using other versions of Vista/Windows 7 you can find a number of free drive imaging programs here. By following these simple rules the chances of your PC becoming infected will be dramatically reduced. Combine these practices with the security software suggested above and you are well on the way to safe, secure, infection-free computing. |
This page is copyright © 2011, Gizmo's Freeware and may not be reproduced in any form without written permission.
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Comments
none of those questions help me im running linux
You don't need antivirus for Linux, except perhaps to check for Windows viruses and avoid passing these on to Windows users. Check out rkhunter via your distributions software center (or Synaptic) which scans for rootkits. Firewall is already enabled by default in Linux. Some also include a configuration based on UFW, possibly with a graphic interface (GUFW) or Shorewall etc., depending on the distribution. If you're the type that likes to "see" things in a window such as events, connections etc, then Firestarter is also worth looking at although the project is no longer supported. Also, the events will not display in the latest version of Ubuntu. If UFW is already installed, be sure to uninstall that first before replacing it with Firestarter (or anything else).
very good
Not very good.There are better options like Avast anti-virus and the COMODO firewall.
Security wizard is the best.
so good!
Whoever wrote this well done. Very good advice and layout.
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