Internet Security / Antivirus

[JES]

Hi all,

I running XP, and also run Nortons Internet Security and Antivirus. My subscription is now due, but I was wondering what do others use?
Any reasons for choice?

The reason I'm asking is that I've heard that Nortons is slower than other options, but I'm not sure.

John

[ladas]

Hi all,

I running XP, and also run Nortons Internet Security and Antivirus. My subscription is now due, but I was wondering what do others use?
Any reasons for choice?

The reason I'm asking is that I've heard that Nortons is slower than other options, but I'm not sure.

John

They, in my opinion, are all much of a muchness, however I found Norton was 'doing things' that I could not control.

I am comfortable with McCaffee - easy to drive, easy to control.

.............however much is down to personal choice

[cartm58]

use AVG a free ware version doesnt have all the bells and whistles of the pay to sue verison but good for home setup

[dmdigital]

I run Norton IS and must admit it is slow. Also changed another system over from McAfee to Norton and found it was very slow to start up since then.

I'm happy enough with Norton's and will probably stick with it.

One thing of not is if you plan to upgrade to Vista you need to check what A/V program you are running and the verison. You may have to uninstall it pre-ugrade and then go to a new version.

[ladas]

I run Norton IS and must admit it is slow. Also changed another system over from McAfee to Norton and found it was very slow to start up since then.

I'm happy enough with Norton's and will probably stick with it.

One thing of not is if you plan to upgrade to Vista you need to check what A/V program you are running and the verison. You may have to uninstall it pre-ugrade and then go to a new version.

Agree with that, Vista - apparently is incompatible with McCaffee

[barryj]

use AVG a free ware version doesnt have all the bells and whistles of the pay to sue verison but good for home setup


I installed AVG free edition earlier this week. Since then I have received 6 spam emails. AVG is the only company I have given my new email address to since changing it due to an enormous amount of spam mail.

software_innovations@lists.initialbest.com is the mob sending me the spam mail. I will telephone AVG in Australia next week and ask them if they pass on email addresses.

Be warned about 'free' products.

[DarrenR]

For home use I recommend and have done for many years.

Grisoft AVG Free.
Lavasoft Ad-Aware.
Microsoft Defender.

For anyone that's interested I have a quick reference page of apps I use and basically the steps I go through to fix virus/malware related issues,
http://unconfigured.wordpress.com/malware-spyware/

hope it helps.

I've used both the free version and paid version of AVG for many years on literally hundreds of computers, never a problem.

Best regards
DarrenR

[HangOver]

Norton NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO < ----- don't do it !!!!!!
Worked in IT for about 17 years, anyone tells you Norton is best they are wrong.
(sorry dm_td5, everyone is entitled to an opinion)
Norton is living off it's reputation from years gone by, (Dos stuff).

Firewall = > Kerio
Antivirus => Avast
Spyware => Firefox browser, Hijackthis, spyware blaster, spyware guard, spybot search & destroy.
All Free

Use these you will rarely have any trouble.

[dmdigital]

Norton NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO < ----- don't do it !!!!!!
Worked in IT for about 17 years, anyone tells you Norton is best they are wrong.
(sorry dm_td5, everyone is entitled to an opinion)
Norton is living off it's reputation from years gone by, (Dos stuff).

Firewall = > Kerio
Antivirus => Avast
Spyware => Firefox browser, Hijackthis, spyware blaster, spyware guard, spybot search & destroy.
All Free

Use these you will rarely have any trouble.

I didn't say Norton was the best, just that I am happy with it. It does its job but definitely has a performance overhead (particularly at startup). Every year when my A/V maintenance comes up I look at what is the best solution and review the options.

The best IMO is Sophos, but now we're talking a different level A/V. Like you, I had over 17 years in IT and, yes, I agree Norton is still living off its reputation from the old days. I just wish that everything was on VMS or RSTS...and if we were running CPM instead of DOS based PC's would there be the Linux arguments ;)

[incisor]

The best IMO is Sophos

doesnt matter what the product is, if the enduser doesnt get religious with their updates they will get done, eventually...

i have seen sophos clash with a couple of programs at times, so i steer clear of it, but that can be said for most if not nearly all of the AV/IS programs out there..depends what playpen you are playing in...at the time

there is always something new and effective popping its head up, i have been playing with ftp://ftp.drweb.com/pub/drweb/cureit/drweb-cureit.exe in the last few weeks, running it off a PE disk to clean before booting from the hard drive... not bad .... beats the crap of products like stinger....

[MickS]

Interesting stuff at this site....http://www.spamhaus.org/

[DiscoDave]

I installed AVG free edition earlier this week. Since then I have received 6 spam emails. AVG is the only company I have given my new email address to since changing it due to an enormous amount of spam mail.

software_innovations@lists.initialbest.com is the mob sending me the spam mail. I will telephone AVG in Australia next week and ask them if they pass on email addresses.

Be warned about 'free' products.

Also be warned about giving out your 'real' email address - use a less important address like a hotmail account for signing up to things over the internet. You will still get your confirmation emails but you won't be bothered by spam in your daily account.

BTW I've used AVG Free for the past two years and have just installed the latest version 7.5 which may be the last free version available for home users. I also use the AVG Anti-Spyware freebie along with Spybot "Search and Destroy", Adaware SE Personal, SpywareBlaster and A-Squared Free all of which I update and run weekly. I also use some of the free online scans such a Trend Micro's Housecall. All of these things are available at no cost for the home user. :)

[barryj]

Also be warned about giving out your 'real' email address - use a less important address like a hotmail account for signing up to things over the internet. You will still get your confirmation emails but you won't be bothered by spam in your daily account.

BTW I've used AVG Free for the past two years and have just installed the latest version 7.5 which may be the last free version available for home users. I also use the AVG Anti-Spyware freebie along with Spybot "Search and Destroy", Adaware SE Personal, SpywareBlaster and A-Squared Free all of which I update and run weekly. I also use some of the free online scans such a Trend Micro's Housecall. All of these things are available at no cost for the home user. :)

Yes I agree with not using our real email address but I have registered programs in the past using my hotmail account and never received confirmation via hotmail.

[HangOver]

further to what discodave said, good option.
we all know no one single solution works 100% you have to use several products to be best protected.

Bloody Computers !!!

[JES]

Thanks for all the info. guys. Heaps of reading for me now :( so I'll suck it and see. If I do renew Nortons, I'll shop around first, thanks for the tip NM.
Cheers,
John

[incisor]

Thanks for all the info. guys. Heaps of reading for me now :( so I'll suck it and see. If I do renew Nortons, I'll shop around first, thanks for the tip NM.
Cheers,
John
just be aware, a lot of the new protections are missing in the old version, that why it is cheap :P

[Rovernaut]

Anti Virus? what's that?????
Oh, Forgot I'm running Linux.:p
But for my Xp partition I have been using Trend Micro PCillan internet security.
It is less of a resource hog like what I had when Nortons was on my machine.
Been using it for 3 years now , Blocks and detects lots of virus on MS. Actually I found it picked up a couple of viruses that my Nortons had let through. Updates are regular too

[waynep]

Just installed a new PC today for my in laws with Vista as the OS.
AVG Anti virus seems to work OK with Vista
For Spyware and Firewall we used the ones that came with Vista.

[p38arover]

I'm also interested. My Nortons licence runs out in less than a month. I am annoyed by the very slow start-up of my laptop which runs Norton Internet Security.

Ron

[amtravic1]

I have been using AVG professional for a few years but I upgraded to the internet security version which I don't like. I have been using Avast free on two other pc's so will be installing that on the new one as well. It seems to work well.

Ian

[incisor]

there is always "live care" :P

[dmdigital]

there is always "live care" :P


Then there are all those who seem to run "don't care" :D :D :D :D

... how many times do you have to tell them: Keep the A/V software and windows patches up to date :bangin: :bangin: :wallbash: :wallbash: :wallbash: :wallbash:

[waynep]

Slightly off topic, can some of the Defender owners explain why Bill Gates would name his Anti Spyware software after your vehicles ? :

Towit :

"Windows Defender is a free program that helps protect your computer against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats caused by spyware and other unwanted software. It features Real-Time Protection, a monitoring system that recommends actions against spyware when it's detected and minimizes interruptions and helps you stay productive"

[p38arover]

Does anyone use Defender or is it more MS Bloatware?

I'd move to Linux but I fear the learning curve may be too steep.

Ron

[dmdigital]

Slightly off topic, can some of the Defender owners explain why Bill Gates would name his Anti Spyware software after your vehicles ? :

Towit :

"Windows Defender is a free program that helps protect your computer against pop-ups, slow performance, and security threats caused by spyware and other unwanted software. It features Real-Time Protection, a monitoring system that recommends actions against spyware when it's detected and minimizes interruptions and helps you stay productive"

Does this mean we will all have to upgrade to Defender 2007 :cool: :D :p

[DiscoDave]

Yes I agree with not using our real email address but I have registered programs in the past using my hotmail account and never received confirmation via hotmail.

Did you check in the "junk" folder? I've never had a problem with confirmation emails in hotmail even with sites that say there will be a problem! :D

[Captain_Rightfoot]

Does anyone use Defender or is it more MS Bloatware?

I'd move to Linux but I fear the learning curve may be too steep.

Ron

I'm sorry, but I have to say this. BUY A MAC :D :D

[dmdigital]

Does anyone use Defender or is it more MS Bloatware?

I'd move to Linux but I fear the learning curve may be too steep.

Ron

Yes, good tool. MS bought Giant Anti-spyware and turned it into Defender. Just another of their many "home grown"... OK paid for ... products!

[p38arover]

I'm sorry, but I have to say this. BUY A MAC :D :D


I've tried using my daughter's Mac - I can't drive it. Too flamin' complex. Much easier with Windows.

Ron

[DarrenR]

Does anyone use Defender or is it more MS Bloatware?

Ron

Ron,
Defender is a good application, but I do recommend using Lavasoft's Ad-Aware and Trend Micro's online scanner with it.

Mal/spyware etc, there is no one application that will remove all nasties, the above 3, when used together will generally be an effective solution to most mal/spyware. There is a smaller amount of serious mal/spyware that require specific removal methods and can be extremely difficult for the average home user to remove.

I prolly get 20 - 40 computers per week for repair that have some form of mal/spyware infection and out of that, possibly 8 may have a nasty that requires specific removal methods to effectively clean. The average amount of mal/spyware items on an infected computer (that I've had to repair) generally is round 100 items, with the highest I've had was 500 and most recently over 700.

To me it's a far more serious problem than Viruses.

Best regards
DarrenR

[p38arover]

Currently I use Norton Internet Security (NIS), Norton Anti-Virus (NAV), SpyBot, and Ad-Aware on the laptop.

On my desktop, it's AVG, SpyBot, and Ad-Aware.

It's NIS and NAV I'm looking to replace.


Ron

[Captain_Rightfoot]

I've tried using my daughter's Mac - I can't drive it. Too flamin' complex. Much easier with Windows.

Ron
LOL. You've just got to stop thinking everything is hard :)

If you lived nearby I could show you in two hours pretty much everything you'd need to know about them. :)

[HangOver]

LOL. You've just got to stop thinking everything is hard :)

If you lived nearby I could show you in two hours pretty much everything you'd need to know about them. :)


I could show you the OFF switch in about 10 seconds ! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

[Rovernaut]

I'd move to Linux but I fear the learning curve may be too steep.

Ron
Ah, just try low range 2, you'll get there:p

[p38arover]

Ah, just try low range 2, you'll get there:p


Nah. I'm too impatient.

Ron

[catch-22]

Trend Micro pc-cillin as AV. I have won many a job proving the inconsistencies of McAfee and Norton. Especially with in an Exchange store.

There is generally no need to install Adaware etc if pc-cillin 2007 is used.

There are other things you need to do as well in order to protect your machine on the internet. Stop all unused services such as th server service and messenger. Also uncheck the client for MS Windows and NetBIOS in the IP settings of the machine.

The majority of the time the 'baddies' will run under the currently logged in credentials so if you dont need it, dont use a local admin account.

I could go on and on.

I can post a brief hardening guide if you need to know more.

First things is - get rid of Norton and watch how much faster your PC operates.

Cheers
Caine

[JES]

Well I have replaced Nortons with Avast, put the windows firewall back on, and installed Ad-Aware too.
My machine runs heaps faster now, thanks eveyone for the tips.

Catch-22, how do you check the other points in your post.

"Also uncheck the client for MS Windows and NetBIOS in the IP settings of the machine"

Not very computer savy, so laymans terms would be a great help.

Thanks,
John

[catch-22]

OK I will post up a little later on when I get home. Just watch Adaware does not remove anything you need. Cookies aren't always that bad....

[DarrenR]

I've yet to see any one Anti-mal/spyware application that is good enough to use on it's own, this is without exception.

Disabling such services as Messenger, unbinding NetBIOS etc is a good idea for dial-up users. But if like most home users they are on some form of broadband and use a consumer level modem/router/NAT device then the disabling of these services is redundant.

Again if the computer is connected to broadband and is behind a modem/router/NAT device then having the Windows firewall running will achieve very little in the way of security. The Windows firewall does have some limited ability to stop some outbound applications, so if you are concerned about outbound traffic then sure enable the Windows firewall.

Best regards
DarrenR

[catch-22]

Alot of users do not know how to configure NAT/PAT and nor do they use it. Telstra and Optus provide 'bridges' only so all of the security rests on the machine. Disabling all services that are NOT being used is esential for a 'hardened' machine whether directly attactched to the internet or behind layers of firewalls/filters. Whether you do it or not is completely up to you and you are always at risk if you dont. Think of the amount of traffic you allow in to your machine - web browsing, email, streaming, MSN and Yahoo chat - they all pose risk. To mitigate is not hard.

Caine

[Reads90]

use AVG a free ware version doesnt have all the bells and whistles of the pay to sue verison but good for home setup


http://www.landroveraddict.com/smf/Smileys/default/iagree.gif been useing for a couple of years now and very happy with it. Not had any problems since putting it on unlike Norton. And best of all its FREE

[DarrenR]

Telstra and Optus provide 'bridges' only so all of the security rests on the machine.

Caine

In easily over 2000 Telstra and Optus ADSL connections I've done using the Telstra supplied Alcatel, SpeedStream and Optus with D-Link units. I've never seen or done them in Bridge mode and neither Telstra nor Optus recommend using their supplied devices in this mode. If customers do their own connection and use the Telstra supplied CD it won't even allow bridge mode.

Best regards
DarrenR

[catch-22]

wow over 2000 - can't argue there. NAT does not negate the need to protect the machine above and beyond AV/spy/spam and a local firewall. In fact a firewall sitting in front of the machine, no, two firewalls sitting in front of the machine does not negate the need to protect locally. However, I am coming at the issue from a corporate perspective.

Good AV, stopping as much as possible working the wire and disabling all unused services is enough to fend off 'most' attacks/vulnerabilities.

There is a reason Vista comes out of the box with most services disabled and all admin functions need to be authenticated prior to execution. All hardending guides will always tell you to stop unused services - well all the ones I have read anyway :D

[DarrenR]

Sure your right, NAT really isn't a firewall in the true sense of the meaning but it does suffice on a home user level quite well and is probably the best protection combined with a good AV and Anti-mal/spyware and as I already mentioned use the Windows firewall if you wish to control outbound traffic to a better degree.

Having services such as Messenger (for the sake of others, this should not be confused with MSN Messenger) and having NB bound behind a typical consumer level ADSL modem/router isn’t going to affect security in any great degree. But yeah sure, do it all the same, while they are at it, stop/disable UPNP.

Keep in mind though on a corporate level the issues are different, one of the biggest threats a network administrator face are the users within the local LAN/WAN. Locking down local workstations with group policies, disabling non-essential services, limiting user access, managed AV, network monitoring and one or more dedicated firewall appliances are typical on a corporate level.

Best regards
DarrenR

[catch-22]

Keep in mind though on a corporate level the issues are different, one of the biggest threats a network administrator face are the users within the local LAN/WAN. Locking down local workstations with group policies, disabling non-essential services, limiting user access, managed AV, network monitoring and one or more dedicated firewall appliances are typical on a corporate level.DarrenR

Yep - welcome to my life :cool:

[DarrenR]

Yep - welcome to my life :cool:

I spent many years in the corporate sector forever fighting with unqualified whinging users that seemed to try their level best to screw systems up, then having IT management that had less qualifications than the IT techs doing the actual work forever trying to screw costs down. I moved out of the corporate sector, now my only contact I have is as a third party contractor, I do the job, I get to use the "sorry, I'm a contractor, you will have to ask your IT department" line all the time, I get paid and I walk away happy at the end of the day.

Best regards
DarrenR

[Aussie]

The best protection is to create an account with "user" only privlidges. I had a heap of grief with 4 kids at home all using PC's plus the Mrs. In the end a workgroup wouldnt cut it so I built a domain. I use a P3 1Ghz machine as a PDC which does my authentication, DHCP and DNS. I set the kids up as users only with no admin rights on the desktop

I run a File server also which has raid 1 and all my documents are redirected to that for DR. I run trend on all the desktops which is excellent for blocking certain site groups, highly recomend if u have teenages. I also use keyword blocking on the router.(modem running bridge mode)

I run group policy on the Domain also to remove certain icons from the kids and lockdown specific things on the desktops. Takes a while to come to a happy medium where you still get functionalty and they dont feel restricted.

Downside: Some apps and games dont like user only privlidges but that can be fixed by given rights to certain folders. It's worked great for 2 years

[shorty943]

Hi all,

I running XP, and also run Nortons Internet Security and Antivirus. My subscription is now due, but I was wondering what do others use?
Any reasons for choice?

The reason I'm asking is that I've heard that Nortons is slower than other options, but I'm not sure.

John

John, please be very carefull with any Symantic\Norton product at the moment.
ZDNet.com security have not long ago reported a variant of the Storm Worm virus, called Yellow Storm. It was deliberately written to attack Symantic\Norton products only
The situation may have changed again, but.....
I personally, now use Avast AV, it is a free download, with 14 months free updates. You also get the option for another 14 months updates after that. It has saved my setup a few times with warnings in the last few months. This, combined with Spybot Search and Destroy, running at all times as an on demand process is relatively low footprint system wise, and the whole system is watched at all times.
Try out Avast AV and also register with ZDNet.com for daily security alerts. That is also free, and the information is invaluable, if you value your data and security.

Shorty.