OT: Which Internet Security System?

My setup is:
linksys router (hardware firewall)
4 computers (2 with norton) My computer gets a virus at most once per year.
Norton installed but never on.
and spybot and adaware on every computer.

I have it setup so that it will run a virus check once per week. That check never found anything ever. The one virus I ever found was one that I downloaded and knew immediatly (befor I ran it) that it was a virus. I checked the one file and norton deleted it.

I have had to renew my subscription once and I never had any problems.

I have worked on a computer that had macaffe (sp?). The AV would not run. It would not uninstall. It would not do anything. I took it off of the automatic startup list and told the owner to buy a different AV program.

PCCillan (sp?) is supposed to be very good an I never had any problem with it.
 
Thanks for the good info everyone. I've always just used ad-aware but spybot found a couple more things. Good stuff.
 
I use hardware D-Link Router, ZoneAlarm Firewall (free!), and Norton Antivirus. Never had problems.
 
My security/AV/anti-spyware:
Linksys router (hardware firewall)
ZoneAlarm (Firewall)
Trend-Micro Anti Virus (always on, except when I run AVG)
AVG anti virus (Ran once a week)
SpyBot S&D
SpywareBlaster
Spyware Guard
Ad-aware SE Personal
I also normally use Mozilla FireFox as my browser, and Mozilla Thunderbird for my email.
 
Seems to be a trend:
Hardware + Software firewall
Two separate spyware detectors
One or two virus checkers

What's with you guys? You really live that "get both" saying!?

Just kidding -- that all seems wise. I've been trying out the Firefox browser and like it.
 
Help ful links, thanks. Am setting up an old PC for use as an Internet station. My new PC is "internet disabled" and will be used solely to satisfy my hedonistic self indulgence of playing Doom 3 and (soon) Half Life 2.

Andrew Limsk
 
FallingKnife said:
Seems to be a trend:
Hardware + Software firewall
Two separate spyware detectors
One or two virus checkers

What's with you guys? You really live that "get both" saying!?

Just kidding -- that all seems wise. I've been trying out the Firefox browser and like it.
Click to expand...


Just paranoia. All it takes is cleaning up one computer that got trashed by viruses, or having so much spyware on your PC that it'll barely run, or having your PC hijacked, before you start to say "it's a good thing".
 
45-70:

Oh, I agree completely. It definitely IS a good thing! In fact I'd say it is NOT paranoia, but a wise practice.

A router acting as a hardware firewall is good, but not good enough. Adding a software firewall to each PC helps stop badness that slips through your perimiter. Most good SWFW's will also detect and stop or warn you of unauthorized outgoing traffic. This can be a good way to detect spyware that got onto your machine despite all of your other efforts.

And one sypware detection tool might spot something that another one might miss. And sometimes two might not be enough!

BTW, here's a link to a PC Magazine article about building a security toolkit. It discusses several of the tools already discussed.

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1618782,00.asp
 
"Researchers interviewed, and examined the computers of, 329 volunteers. They found that nearly all Windows PCs are infected with some form of malware, and that a majority of users are unaware of the simplest security basics, such as the difference between anti-virus software and a firewall, for instance."
 
i use panda for my anit virus,

works good no problems
very light and small package, very little in memory usage

my first post hay for me
 
Used to be lots of files & films that wouldnt run on Mac 3 years ago. Has it changed?

Adaware,
Norton system works inc.Anti virus. on all time. update evry 15 minutes automaticaly.
Spybot.
Zone alarm pro.

But I run 1GB of RAM on a 3.06 proccesor so speed is not a problem. :D

Spiral
 
Access Control Lists, a primer

Many of you use a software firewall, alone or in addition to other protective items. If your firewall is a 'learning firewall' and I believe most are thesedays, you can DO AWAY with your popup blocking software...

This is because your software firewall compares each and every packet of info it recieves from the Internet to a set of 'rules'. It starts comparing at the top of the list and stops comparing at the bottom of the list. If the incoming packet is not of type specified on your firewall's list of rules (called an ACL -access control list), then it 'asks' you what to do with the incoming packet and so creates another rule for the list. This is fine when you first start up your firewall and open programs that you normally use -it'll ask you how to respond when Internet explorer wants to send and recieve info for example. But after dealing with a large amount of 'What do you want me to do with this incoming packet' scenarios, your ACL can grow incredibly long -slowing down your computer. And it still may not block pop up advertisments/windows from appearing.

The solution is to create an explicit 'Deny all other incoming rule' that sits at the very bottom of you ACL at all times. This will allow your new/old programs to still work and create new rules, but has the effect of disallowing any unwelcome incoming packets from reaching your computer. Including pop up ads & windows.

To do this 'add a new rule' to your firewall. Create a [Deny all incoming TCP and/or UDP packets from any source to any destination] rule. Always keep it at the bottom of the ACL. It will always be the last rule compared and invoked.

This shouldn't interfer with any of your current programs from running properly. If you notice however that it prevents your new programs from working, check to make sure this explicit rule is still at the bottom of the list (ie new program rules should be bumped up above it). Worst case senario: disable or remove the explicit deny rule completely to see if it is responsible for programs that rely on the network not functioning.
 
spiraltwista said:
..Used to be lots of files & films that wouldnt run on Mac 3 years ago...
Click to expand...

There are still lots of files and films that won't run on your Mac. There are even more that won't run on your Windows machine.
 
I use a dedicated machine as firewall/NAT/router and some common sense when using PCs behind the firewall (yes, you can still get infected by worms/viruses/trojans if you're not careful). Obviously a different type of computer (like Mac) woudl be far less volunerable to this kind of pest - i own some older non-PC computers and they're safe in this regard, they're just not my everyday usage machines either :(

Try to stay away from Exploder or Outlook [Express] that come with WIndows; dumping those and keeping up with the security updates for Windows you're about halfway there t keeping your computer secure. Don't open attachments you know nothing about and don't run software you know nothing about, that's the other half. If you end up with a combination of software and hardware that prevents you from running most common pest (say Linux/*BSD on PC, or a Mac ...) you're about as safe as it gets.
 
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