Basic recommended software protection for your pc
Written by Alex Costa
The following programs are recommended for the average pc user as a basic defence against the multitude of crap out there on the net today. All can be found on Download.com. Though if you wish to read up on the programs homepage I have included them next to the title for your convenience.
Firewalls
Software (or a computer running such software) that prevents unauthorized access to a pc/network, by users outside of the pc/network. (A physical firewall prevents the spread of fire between two physical locations; hence, the software prevents the spread of unauthorized data)
It is recommended that you should be only running a single software firewall at anytime to prevent any conflicts between firewalls.
Pre-SP2 XP users
Open the Network Connections part of the Control Panel by going to:
- Start
- Settings
- Control Panel
- Network Connections
Several network connections are listed in the Network Connections area. Right Click on the enabled connection and choose
- Properties
- Advanced setting on the new window that opens Uncheck the box next to ICF to turn it off
Post-SP2 XP users
- Start
- Control Panel
- Secuity Center
Windows Firewall or (in classic view) double click on the 'Windows Firewall' icon. Firewall box should appear, select the 'Off (not recommended)' option then click OK
F R E E F I R EW A L L S
Zonelabs Zonealarm- This is a nice, simple firewall allowing you to keep track of any suspicious programs that might be trying to connect to the Internet. Zonelabs.com.
Kerio Personal Firewall- This has been highly praised as the best free firewall out there at the moment as of 2004. The advanced features of rule setting Kerio.com.
Windows Firewall - the built-in one-way firewall called ICF (short for Internet Connection Firewall) is crap as it only monitors incoming network traffic (coming from other machines). It does not monitor or report outgoing traffic (from your computer to the rest of the world). Therefore, if your system has a virus, which causes it to try to attack other machines, ICF will not prevent it. I would recommend turning it off by following the instructions given above.
SP2 firewall offers more configuration options by allowing you to close ports that you do not need. However, Windows Firewall does not filter outgoing traffic, and your personal data may be leaking. SP2 firewall does not guard any outbound connections, and thus cannot block Trojans. It also cannot block a worm spreading from your e-mail. Windows Firewall can thoroughly scan the incoming traffic, but does not have a utility for detecting and alerting Denial-of-Service attacks on your computer. Windows Firewall can not block intruder by IP and close all access to your PC. That means your system can be attacked, and you will not even know about it.
SHAREWARE FIREWALLS - Offer more advanced features for the people who understand how to use firewalls
Agnitum Outpost Firewall 2.5 - only software to successfully hide PC ip address, Agnitum.com
LooknStop 2.5 - has a very low resource usage, Looknstop.com
A N T I - V I R U S
Everyone should have one. Unless you do not really mind just formatting your pc whenever you have a virus. Again it is recommended that you should only have one anti-virus running at any time. If you are paranoid about security, you can install two anti-viruses, although only one may b running at real-time whilst the other can only be used as an on-demand scanner (ie, no real time guard).
Norton and McAfee
The two most well known vendors, though of late many people complain of the heavy drain of pc resources they suck up, so not advised if you have less than 512 RAM. Symantec.com, and Mc Afee.com
Eset Nod32
A very impressive anti-virus with an amazing detection rate. Very easy on the cpu resources but is not Trojan specific (though I hear of late that they are improving on this) Nod32.com
Grisoft AVG
The free version of AVG is a firm favourite for many people since they also offer free updates. The free version is usually the beta for the upcoming new commercial versions of AVG Grisoft.com
Kapersky
The king of anti-virus vendors, if you can afford it and if your ram can handle the heavy resource drain. Kaspersky personal and Kaspersky personal pro are the recommended ones for the home user. Kaspersky.com
A N T I - T R O J A N
The following programs are actually quite reasonably priced at around £20 each. Though I am dubious at making products that insist you keep paying for new upgrades, the following vendors have impressed me with their attitude towards software offering good support and free updates with purchase of their software (unlike the majority of anti-virus vendors and their yearly purchase of upgrades). You may combine an anti-trojan with your anti-virus if you wish if your antivirus vendor is a poor Trojan remover.
BOClean
Nice and easy on the resources, you will barely notice this running and comes with free updates. NsClean.com
DiamondCS TDS (Trojan Defence Suite)
This is regarded as the elite trojan detection and removal program of them all. Quite complex but very powerful Diamondscs.com
Ewido
Although you have to pay for updates on the paid version, it offers a free service after the trial period runs out and is great as an on-demand Trojan scanner Ewido.net
S P Y W A R E
Spybot Search and Destroy
Nice free utility, primarily targeted for internet explorer users Safer-Networking
Lavasoft Ad-aware
Offer both paid and free versions LavastoftUsa
Giant Anti-spyware
A newcomer that has been receiving high praise at its performance and detection capabilities Giantcompany. My advice would be to use both spybot and adaware, choose one to be a constant guard and the other as an on-demand scanner.
Spyware Blaster
This is a nice free adware blocking program that prevents the adware from even placing itself on your pc when your browsing although it is only currently for internet explorer and mozilla users. Spyware Blaster
SpywareGuard
A nice free anti-hijacking program. This will prevent current hijacking programs from hijacking your browser to other homepages like porn.com coolsearch.com etc Spyware Guard. Spyware Blaster and Spyware Guard may be used in conjunction with all programs with no worries.
Hijack This
Another free piece of software, for the basic user this is used when you do not know how to sort out your problems and thus submit the info to other more knowledgeable people. For the advanced user, this plays with the registry and not only shows you in more detail what programs and processes are currently active on your pc, you can directly access and adjust your registry accordingly to delete it. However, this is done only when you are sure you know what you are doing as you might have to reinstall everything if you delete the wrong registry info Hijackthis
FOR THE ADVANCED USERS
The author of these articles has produced an impressive amount of information regarding the various processes running on your pc, alter settings at your own risk if you wish to speed up your pc performance or improve security. I have personally followed most of this website's instructions and have found them to work quite well for me.
Finally, after reading all this, the best protection is yourself, as long as you do not go to dodgy warez/porn/illegitimate sites, note the https when you are asked to fill in forms for credit card/bank information and are careful about allowing people access to your pc. Then you should be able to keep safe from the 99% amounts of crap out there on the net. (Editor - "Yeah right Alex, if we stayed away from dodgy sites then the we would never come on the internet.).
