News0 min ago
Spyware, anti virus and firewall.
What is the best security for a P.C. please. I have Zone Alarm security suite at the moment which is due to run out shortly. I get a fair number of 'pop-up's' with it, and it is difficult to know which one's are important. My computer runs very slowly too, and I often get 'not responding', but I don't suppose this is anything to do with Z.A? Any suggestions welcomed, but please they must be easy to install and to use. Thank you.
Answers
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>they don't give it away without reason
Giving away say AVG anti virus or Zone alarm firewall is a teaser or loss leader in the hope it will encourage you to buy their other products.
Think how many more people have heard of the company called AVG because they have given away their anti virus.
Anyway, saying a product is bad because it is given away free would indicate that say Linux or Apache web server or OpenOffice are bad because they offer free versions.
Giving away say AVG anti virus or Zone alarm firewall is a teaser or loss leader in the hope it will encourage you to buy their other products.
Think how many more people have heard of the company called AVG because they have given away their anti virus.
Anyway, saying a product is bad because it is given away free would indicate that say Linux or Apache web server or OpenOffice are bad because they offer free versions.
You need three main components for your PC security.
1) Anti Virus
2) Firewall
3) Spyware
You should install and run only ONE anti virus program
You should install and run only ONE firewall
You can install and run any number of spyware products.
There are 2 free anti virus products that are very good - AVG and Avast
There are a number of free firewalls such as Zone Alarm.
Free Spyware products include Adaware, Spybot Search and Destroy and so on.
I do not pay for any of my PC security (on 4 home computers) and have never had a problem.
1) Anti Virus
2) Firewall
3) Spyware
You should install and run only ONE anti virus program
You should install and run only ONE firewall
You can install and run any number of spyware products.
There are 2 free anti virus products that are very good - AVG and Avast
There are a number of free firewalls such as Zone Alarm.
Free Spyware products include Adaware, Spybot Search and Destroy and so on.
I do not pay for any of my PC security (on 4 home computers) and have never had a problem.
I don't normally comment on virus questions because working for one of the big virus companies I am inevitably biased.
However I do feel I should point out that saying I use X and have never had any trouble isn't a particularly good basis for evaluating anything.
If you have a look here:
http://www.virusbtn.com/news/2008/09_02
You'll see Virus Bulletin's test results - VB is pretty much a standard in the industry - they know what they're doing testing products unlike most of the stuff you'll read in magazines.
VHG's recommendation of Avast and AVG is interesting because although Avast did well AVG put in a woefull performance of missing 13% of adware and spyware and a pretty poor malware result.
A lot depends on what you're doing on line. If you mostly send e-mail and use Office and browse gardening sites you really don't need to worry.
If you download games and hacked software and visit adult websites - you probably need good up to date security.
Best of luck
However I do feel I should point out that saying I use X and have never had any trouble isn't a particularly good basis for evaluating anything.
If you have a look here:
http://www.virusbtn.com/news/2008/09_02
You'll see Virus Bulletin's test results - VB is pretty much a standard in the industry - they know what they're doing testing products unlike most of the stuff you'll read in magazines.
VHG's recommendation of Avast and AVG is interesting because although Avast did well AVG put in a woefull performance of missing 13% of adware and spyware and a pretty poor malware result.
A lot depends on what you're doing on line. If you mostly send e-mail and use Office and browse gardening sites you really don't need to worry.
If you download games and hacked software and visit adult websites - you probably need good up to date security.
Best of luck
vhg ... not the same thing at all
avg is a free version of a commercial product which offers a cut-down version as you say as a teaser (not a loss leader - in those terms it would just be known as a total loss)
it openly states that it's not the full version and lacks certain facilities which are included in the bought version.
open office linux etc are distributed under the open source agreement which encourages people to participate
in all cases the only measure of "success" is useage ... and in those terms I don't think there is a question which product dominates.
in the current magazine reviews kaspersky is still in top position ... personally I don't know enough to make an educated judgement of my own - so I'm forced to believe those in a position to test these packages in a controlled environment with live viruses.
If you can establish that the "VHG benchmark" is superior to these tests ... I'll gladly change my opinion and support your superior stance
Even the paid version of AVG is rarely mentioned ... so given that the free version lacks facilities ... I think it's fair to say that either version of AVG is inferior to kaspersky.
avg is a free version of a commercial product which offers a cut-down version as you say as a teaser (not a loss leader - in those terms it would just be known as a total loss)
it openly states that it's not the full version and lacks certain facilities which are included in the bought version.
open office linux etc are distributed under the open source agreement which encourages people to participate
in all cases the only measure of "success" is useage ... and in those terms I don't think there is a question which product dominates.
in the current magazine reviews kaspersky is still in top position ... personally I don't know enough to make an educated judgement of my own - so I'm forced to believe those in a position to test these packages in a controlled environment with live viruses.
If you can establish that the "VHG benchmark" is superior to these tests ... I'll gladly change my opinion and support your superior stance
Even the paid version of AVG is rarely mentioned ... so given that the free version lacks facilities ... I think it's fair to say that either version of AVG is inferior to kaspersky.
AC you have to be carefull with magazine reviews.
You have to ask things like
Who is doing the testing?
Do they know what they are doing?
Do they involve the vendors to check they are using the product correctly?
Are they using "wild list" samples or "zoo" ones?
Are they testing a products ability to repair infections or do they just blindly delete anything they find?
Are they testing for false positives? (ie a product declaring something clean as infected and deleting it)
Are they looking at an organisations speed of reaction to new threats?
It's a complicated thing and I've seen some pretty dumb reviews on WH Smiths shelves in my time!
You have to ask things like
Who is doing the testing?
Do they know what they are doing?
Do they involve the vendors to check they are using the product correctly?
Are they using "wild list" samples or "zoo" ones?
Are they testing a products ability to repair infections or do they just blindly delete anything they find?
Are they testing for false positives? (ie a product declaring something clean as infected and deleting it)
Are they looking at an organisations speed of reaction to new threats?
It's a complicated thing and I've seen some pretty dumb reviews on WH Smiths shelves in my time!
Well dingaling sure got some reading out of their question :)
Jakes comment of
A lot depends on what you're doing on line. If you mostly send e-mail and use Office and browse gardening sites you really don't need to worry.
is in fact very true... it makes no difference what AV software or firewall you have installed.... the single biggest security vulnerability in any computer system tends to be the person sitting in the chair using it.
You can have the best firewall in the world, but if, when it pops up a warning, you just blindly click OK or allow without reading the warning or considering the effects of clicking OK ... well... you may as well save your disk space and uninstall it.
Same with Anti virus software.... people who insist on downloading so called "full versions" of software for free from eastern European countries and installing them may as well not bother with AV software... something is going to get past it, probably sooner rather than later too!.
Although peoples opinions have differed above none are bad answers and anyone of the recommended solutions should provide good enough protection as long as you don't make it too easy for the bad people!
Jakes comment of
A lot depends on what you're doing on line. If you mostly send e-mail and use Office and browse gardening sites you really don't need to worry.
is in fact very true... it makes no difference what AV software or firewall you have installed.... the single biggest security vulnerability in any computer system tends to be the person sitting in the chair using it.
You can have the best firewall in the world, but if, when it pops up a warning, you just blindly click OK or allow without reading the warning or considering the effects of clicking OK ... well... you may as well save your disk space and uninstall it.
Same with Anti virus software.... people who insist on downloading so called "full versions" of software for free from eastern European countries and installing them may as well not bother with AV software... something is going to get past it, probably sooner rather than later too!.
Although peoples opinions have differed above none are bad answers and anyone of the recommended solutions should provide good enough protection as long as you don't make it too easy for the bad people!
Jake
couldn't agree more (chuck also) ... but I always take that I know enough to know how little I know about the sharp end - and that they probably know more than I do.
I work in the corporate sector ... and our security guys laugh at kaspersky ... I know hardware and software (as far as my useage allows ... so I'll have opinions ... )
... but the security configs are provided ... so I have to trust ...
I'm also looking from a punter's point of view - not from the pro ... plug and play is better than free and easy... and if there are a few mistakes ...
same with firewalls ... if you know what you are doing ... the configs are very versatile and specific ... but few outsiders do - so again safe and easy
(It's like do I buy a word processor or a compiler and make my own?)
as for the reviews - of course they are based but at the moment - they seem to hold true across publishers ...
and ease of use is always a consideration that conflicts with thoroughness
they (allegedly) are more reliable than the opinion of aunt nelly's milk man.
so in lieu of real knowledge I'll take advice from someone who knows more than me.
couldn't agree more (chuck also) ... but I always take that I know enough to know how little I know about the sharp end - and that they probably know more than I do.
I work in the corporate sector ... and our security guys laugh at kaspersky ... I know hardware and software (as far as my useage allows ... so I'll have opinions ... )
... but the security configs are provided ... so I have to trust ...
I'm also looking from a punter's point of view - not from the pro ... plug and play is better than free and easy... and if there are a few mistakes ...
same with firewalls ... if you know what you are doing ... the configs are very versatile and specific ... but few outsiders do - so again safe and easy
(It's like do I buy a word processor or a compiler and make my own?)
as for the reviews - of course they are based but at the moment - they seem to hold true across publishers ...
and ease of use is always a consideration that conflicts with thoroughness
they (allegedly) are more reliable than the opinion of aunt nelly's milk man.
so in lieu of real knowledge I'll take advice from someone who knows more than me.
Thank you all for your very comprehensive replies, Yes Jake and Chuck that is pretty much what I do on my PC, and I do tend to deny the pop ups with Zone Alarm mostly, so I think I will stay with them, they seemed to do quite well in the VB test Jake, (what I could understand of it!!) and the Security Suite seems to cover what I need in one package.Hope I am doing the right thing? Thank you all again. Happy New Year!
To compare spyware software look here: http://www.2-spyware.com/compare.php
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