Political Crossfire Forums

[Quicksurf]

Right now I currently have Norton Internet Security which includes:

1. A firewall
2. Anti-virus
3. Antispam

I also have Spybot as well. (It seems to pick up things Norton doesn't)
Along with that, I have Ad-Adware.

I have recently put some fairly personal information on my computer and I'm trying to make sure I have mostly everything. Is there anything else out there that may prevent spyware that I can install for free?

[FCTE]

Quicksurf wrote: Right now I currently have Norton Internet Security which includes:

1. A firewall
2. Anti-virus
3. Antispam

I also have Spybot as well. (It seems to pick up things Norton doesn't)
Along with that, I have Ad-Adware.

I have recently put some fairly personal information on my computer and I'm trying to make sure I have mostly everything. Is there anything else out there that may prevent spyware that I can install for free?

No that's fine and don't install more than one antivirus or firewall as they fight each other and pwn your system.

To secure XP:

Disable the welcome screen, Disable the guest account, set a good password, enable the password option on your screensaver, disable remote desktop, disable autoplay for your CD/DVD rom (check CD's for rootkits like Sony CD's before loading them), and disable simple file sharing. Note: that some of these features cannot be disabled in XP Home only Pro.

Do not use IE or Outlook.

[Gus]

FCTE you forgot the best measure: turn on automatic updates.

For the rest of it, I've never really had a need for anti-virus, firefall, or anti-adware programs. Just don't download from Gnutella (Limewire), use Firefox with Adblock Plus and the Adblock Filterset Updater (and possibly NoScript though it does require a little extra configuration), and use Mozilla Thunderbird for email (it can import email and settings from Outlook/Outlook Express). Thunderbird has a built-in spam filter too.

Norton is one of the worst anti-virus products you can get though...it slows down your system at insane levels, and has a relatively poor detection rate. I swear by Kaspersky...very professional, doesn't affect system performance too much, and has the best detection rate on the market. If you've already dropped money on Norton, though, then stick with that.

Anyway, I think with just some minimal good browsing/downloading habits, there's no need for a firewall (unless your computer is hooked up directly to the Internet...even then the Windows Firewall works fine), anti-spyware stuff, or any of that invasive software (except anti-virus).

General rule of thumb: avoid Microsoft products as much as possible.



And to address your personal information concern...spyware wouldn't really send your documents to anyone, it's used by advertisement companies to gather advertising information mostly. Trojan horses (a type of virus) are the things that would allow access to your private documents...

[FCTE]

Yeah I used to be a diehard Norton fan until my subscription ran out and the fate of my Windows drive was in limbo while making the switch to go all Ubuntu. So I installed Free AVG Anti-Virus and Zone Alarm Free Firewall. I highly recommend both of them and it cut my boot time down not waiting for Norton to run it's bloatware.

[PricklySponge]

Gus wrote: FCTE you forgot the best measure: turn on automatic updates.
use Firefox with Adblock Plus and the Adblock Filterset Updater (and possibly NoScript though it does require a little extra configuration),
exellent, thanks :tu:

[David]

No script is easy to use.You just have to remember when something you want to use doesn't work(like videos at youtube etc.) give that site either temporary or allow it permission to run scripts.

[Protostar]

Whats with all the hate on Norton? I use Norton Antivirus Corporate Edition for my Windows installation (courtesy of NCState) and it works great. Not a resource hog or anything. But I would agree that the default Norton Internet Security suite does suck though. My computer is pretty beefy but it doesn't have unlimited resources to be just pissed away. And McAfee...omg. I hate how when you install some apps they automatically create services for quick opening/access. I know how to turn them off via MSConfig but its still kind of irritating.

[micfranklin]

You know what's irritating? When you download some virus-killing software off the internet and it does nothing to stop the viruses at all, and they make you pay like $50 for the software.

[Melcar]

micfranklin wrote: You know what's irritating? When you download some virus-killing software off the internet and it does nothing to stop the viruses at all, and they make you pay like $50 for the software.

Tell me about it. I use AVG, Spybot, Ad-Aware, Windows Defender, and Zonealarm. That and smart internet habits keep me safe.
If I feel a little reckless I fire up my Ubuntu laptop and start downloading tons of free porn while sharing files with total strangers. It's like going hooker-shoping without a condom.

[Gus]

Protostar wrote: Whats with all the hate on Norton? I use Norton Antivirus Corporate Edition for my Windows installation (courtesy of NCState) and it works great. Not a resource hog or anything. But I would agree that the default Norton Internet Security suite does suck though. My computer is pretty beefy but it doesn't have unlimited resources to be just pissed away. And McAfee...omg. I hate how when you install some apps they automatically create services for quick opening/access. I know how to turn them off via MSConfig but its still kind of irritating.
Well most end users buy the whole Internet Security pack, which will considerably slow down your comp. Also, Norton performs comparatively poorly in virus recognition--Kaspersky (and subsequently the AOL anti-virus, which licenses Kaspersky technology) leads the pack.