Internet security software

Hey guys,

Just looking for people's recommendations for internet security software. I usually use Norton Anti-virus/firewall but was wondering if there's a better option out there?

Also what about anti-malware/spyware software? Never really used these but think it's about time I got some :)

Anyone familiar with this software Driver Agent? Wondering if it will make keeping system up to date easier...

or maybe Device Doctor?

this is a good topic.
perhaps we have boxers here who have rather deep knowledge about this?

i for one am using a combination microsoft security essentials, the firewall builtin to windows 7, the firewall in my cable router and Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware right now.

Was using avast antivirus before (instead of mse). wasn't happy it didn't find some trojans which mwam found. well... guess there is no "optimal" combination of security measures.
i for one don't make the mistake of feeling safe anymore. internet is a dangerous place and every security measure can always be a safety net only, not a secure wall. so... be cautios.

openSUSE you won't get much better security wise

I use my brain.

If you know what you're doing, you will probably never get any viruses or spyware. Don't let other people use your computer.

If you must share the computer, all you really need is Windows Defender.

Stay away from Norton/McAfee Antivirus Internet Security Suite Turbo 5000 or anything like that. All they do is bog down your computer, they're fat bloated software. What you really want in antivirus software is quick definition updates and a very small footprint.

Don't always trust the big name antivirus companies. McAfee recently sent out a DAT update the was bluescreening XP systems.

In the end you can only do so much. Hackers are smarter than you and antivirus companies. If you are not careful, all the antivirus/antimalware software in the world cannot help you. Be smart.

But what do I know, I think the i5 is better than the q6600........

I've been running my PC fpr the last year without any anti-virus software and with no active firewalls, never had any problems or issues.

No one else uses my pc so i'm pretty certain that viruses won't be an issue.

Maybe i'll just use AVG free edition like I used to, never had any problems with that.

I only mention it really in regards to my other post about my driver issues, wondered if i'd inadvertantly affected my system while updating drivers etc, i've heard of some nasty .dll viruses and when I got random .dll errors I began to worry

I use Symantec Endpoint Protection as it is the software our University has licensed. However, on my desktop at work I can't use it due to my hacking tools getting sucked up by Symantec. I use F-Secure on my desktop at work.

These days the attack vectors are mainly via social engineering of some type as well as simply visiting a trusted website that just happens to have an infected or malicious advertisement on it. Most of the evilware tries to exploit vulnerabilities in software that is on your computer or a weakness in your operating system.

Keep ALL software up to date (especially java, adoble flash, adobe reader).
Use a reputable Anti-Virus software solution.

http://www.virustotal.com/ is a site you can upload files to to see if they might be malicious. i use this often when doing forensics on compromised computers.

Install Secunia Personal Software Inspector from http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/. This is an incredible application which I use on my work computer. It checks your current software and lets you know if something needs patching. It is very simple to use and believe it just got out of BETA recently. Invaluable tool!

Be suspicious of any solicitation whatsoever that asks you to enter in login credentials. If you get a warning from Blizzard go to blizzard's site directly and not by clicking a link in an email.

This isn't everything but enough to keep you at least a little safe.

Oh, and use a separate computer to surf for porn. :) There is a bunch of nasty shit on those sites and I don't mean kinky.

EDIT: Also you can use something called OpenDNS which will help keep your computer from being exposed to known malicious hosts. At Penn we are running one as a pilot and it is really a huge help in preventing compromises. When your computer requests something via web, ftp, etc it queries the first DNS server listed. If Open DNS is the first one it checks to see if it is known to be bad or not.

Long story short, don't rely on one piece of software to manage your security. No single app does everything well and they all have weak spots. The very best option is to educate yourself on how to generally secure things and what behaviors to carefully manage. This thread is a good start but a good night of googling will give you a much broader picture. I would also start with sites that talk about generic procedures, NOT sites that advocate a particular software as they are all agenda-/money-driven and will thus present a skewed picture. Get the basic ideas down and then figure out which tools cover those basics well.

I run Windows Defender & Firewall {Win7}, Avast! Antivirus, Opera with Fanboy's Adblock, NoAds and WOT extentions. I scan about once a week with CCLeaner, Spybot S&D and Malwarebytes. Everything I download gets scanned with Malwarebytes, Avast and VirusTotal.

Beyond that, I use my head. I don't click links willy-nilly. I keep everything updated, I backup my system, and use strong passwords. I use an authenticator, my battlenet email is not used for anything else. I check headers on any email that claims to need something from me.

Been using Avira since I updated to Windows 7 over AVG Free.

I swore by AVG for years, but it seems they have become massively bloated over the last year or so. And I just wasn't as thrilled with it anymore.

I did like Avast, but the updates were fucked with it. Half the time it would update, other half it just wouldn't.

So Avira gets my vote. Lightweight, fast, efficient, and safe to boot! No complaints from me, really.

Kaspersky is decent.
Definitions are updated frequently.

But not doing stupid things, is probably the main security feature on my system.