Favorite virus protectors/firewalls?
Favorite virus protectors/firewalls?
Well, what programs do you guys prefer or recommend when it comes to virus protection,firewalls, virus scanners, etc.?
-
bad_brain
- Site Owner
- Posts: 11636
- Joined: 06 Apr 2005, 16:00
- 19
- Location: In your eye floaters.
- Contact:
Well,I have to admit I used Norton... 
Complete crap, slows down the system and the updates crashed my system sometimes.
Now I use Tiny Personal Firewall,version 2.5, a little older but very lightweight, very good for not-so-fast systems too. As a virus scanner I´m using AVG at the moment, but only for test purposes,tested antivir before,but I´m not so happy with it (real slow updates). Next I will try Panda Antivirus, its always on one of the first places when you read some tests, maybe someone have already some experience with it?
Complete crap, slows down the system and the updates crashed my system sometimes.Now I use Tiny Personal Firewall,version 2.5, a little older but very lightweight, very good for not-so-fast systems too. As a virus scanner I´m using AVG at the moment, but only for test purposes,tested antivir before,but I´m not so happy with it (real slow updates). Next I will try Panda Antivirus, its always on one of the first places when you read some tests, maybe someone have already some experience with it?
-
bad_brain
- Site Owner
- Posts: 11636
- Joined: 06 Apr 2005, 16:00
- 19
- Location: In your eye floaters.
- Contact:
Right Xonet, Norton really sucks, even some updates (the "common client" ones) caused system failures and the time symantec needs to provide virus definition updates when a new virus appears is one of the longest of all antivirus programs...
I have no experience with the McAffee firewall, how configurable is it?
Well,I think when someone used Norton Internet Security before EVERY other firewall appear to be highly configurable....
I have no experience with the McAffee firewall, how configurable is it?
Well,I think when someone used Norton Internet Security before EVERY other firewall appear to be highly configurable....
-
bad_brain
- Site Owner
- Posts: 11636
- Joined: 06 Apr 2005, 16:00
- 19
- Location: In your eye floaters.
- Contact:
Ah,ok... 
Be lucky that you´ve missed the "norton experience"...
One example: Yahoo instant messenger connects with more than one program instance to the net, and with norton firewall it was impossible to block the auto updater! Norton gives many "known" programs automaticly rights to connect to the net, so when I blocked the auto updater in the firewall settings Norton noticed it again as "known program" on the next start of yahoo IM and therefore gave it automaticly back the right to connect.
I hope McAffee gives the user more control.....
Be lucky that you´ve missed the "norton experience"...
One example: Yahoo instant messenger connects with more than one program instance to the net, and with norton firewall it was impossible to block the auto updater! Norton gives many "known" programs automaticly rights to connect to the net, so when I blocked the auto updater in the firewall settings Norton noticed it again as "known program" on the next start of yahoo IM and therefore gave it automaticly back the right to connect.
I hope McAffee gives the user more control.....
Fav firewall - Kerio Personal Firewall
Kerio is very good imo because unlike norton mentioned above, any program that tries to load another program gets caught and you have an option to allow it to execute or deny. Thats of course if you have it setup to request permissions or what they call (learning mode) However it can be tedious at times as installers are often launching RUN32.DLL and other libs as applications and you must permit each one, however this annoyance is easily overlooked IMO for the added windoze security.
Fav AV - Kaperspy Labs Anti Virus
Great interface, good update times... What more can i ask for? I don't usually have issues with virii as most are caused by pebkac
Kerio is very good imo because unlike norton mentioned above, any program that tries to load another program gets caught and you have an option to allow it to execute or deny. Thats of course if you have it setup to request permissions or what they call (learning mode) However it can be tedious at times as installers are often launching RUN32.DLL and other libs as applications and you must permit each one, however this annoyance is easily overlooked IMO for the added windoze security.
Fav AV - Kaperspy Labs Anti Virus
Great interface, good update times... What more can i ask for? I don't usually have issues with virii as most are caused by pebkac
-
bad_brain
- Site Owner
- Posts: 11636
- Joined: 06 Apr 2005, 16:00
- 19
- Location: In your eye floaters.
- Contact:
Absolutely right, it´s far better to spend some time clicking on firewall popups (and maybe learn a bit about the system) than to give away control to some program hoping everything will be ok. It might me appropriate for unexperienced users, but I don´t like it when someone makes decisions for me...However it can be tedious at times as installers are often launching RUN32.DLL and other libs as applications and you must permit each one, however this annoyance is easily overlooked IMO for the added windoze security.
hmm, Norton.
Ya know, I dislike Norton as well, but when I was testing out a keylogger by binding it to a .JPG and sending it to my laptop, it was automatically detected and deleted.
But, it's quite possible the keylogger was just poorly written anti-virus/anti-trojan wise. It wasn't a very professional looking keylogger.
I use an anti-virus right now called XoftSpy 4.13, it does pretty well for low security scans. Very prompt on scanning, setable scanning times, auto updater. Well, pretty much like all the others, but I like the speed and simplicity of it. Plus, it's free..so no searching for serialz or keygens.
But, it's quite possible the keylogger was just poorly written anti-virus/anti-trojan wise. It wasn't a very professional looking keylogger.
I use an anti-virus right now called XoftSpy 4.13, it does pretty well for low security scans. Very prompt on scanning, setable scanning times, auto updater. Well, pretty much like all the others, but I like the speed and simplicity of it. Plus, it's free..so no searching for serialz or keygens.
-
bad_brain
- Site Owner
- Posts: 11636
- Joined: 06 Apr 2005, 16:00
- 19
- Location: In your eye floaters.
- Contact:
Ok Xonet, but I would label it as "Norton light"-experience...
I used the whole Norton package, including Ghost (errors every time when trying to create a backup including USB device drivers) and also System Works which should be labeled as malware imo, because by "optimizing" my system it regularly killed Spybot by deletting needed dlls...
I used the whole Norton package, including Ghost (errors every time when trying to create a backup including USB device drivers) and also System Works which should be labeled as malware imo, because by "optimizing" my system it regularly killed Spybot by deletting needed dlls...
i got so tired of norton and mcaffe. someone told me about AVG and ive been a loyal user ever since. its brilliant. and it detects viruses that the other two RETAIL av couldnt see.
all this talk about firewalls...do i need a firewall? i never considered getting one because i never much cared about security. i dont have anything anyone would want. is it stupid to not have a firewall?
all this talk about firewalls...do i need a firewall? i never considered getting one because i never much cared about security. i dont have anything anyone would want. is it stupid to not have a firewall?
-
bad_brain
- Site Owner
- Posts: 11636
- Joined: 06 Apr 2005, 16:00
- 19
- Location: In your eye floaters.
- Contact:
Um,well,it is kind of stupid...
Not all malicious programs can be found by virus scanners, and if a new worm appears for example the definition have to be in the database of the antivirus program (don´t trust too much on the heuristic abilities). So: If a malicous program on your system wants to connect to the net or someone tries to intrude your system you will not notice it without a firewall! Even the lamest script kiddie is able to scan IP-ranges for security flaws, and even if your system is fully patched not all holes are closed (we all know the update policy of MS). A firewall will hide your system so it will appear offline when someone scans your IP, this already keeps away 95% of possible attackers, and you also will be informed if an application tries to connect to the net.
Get good old Zone Alarm for example, it´s free and a good choice for beginners...
Oh, and my testing of Panda Platinum is almost finished:
Good:
-very fast scans
-nice I-face
-pretty well configurable
Bad:
-many "This document contains no data"-errors while surfing
-slows down the startup of the system
Not all malicious programs can be found by virus scanners, and if a new worm appears for example the definition have to be in the database of the antivirus program (don´t trust too much on the heuristic abilities). So: If a malicous program on your system wants to connect to the net or someone tries to intrude your system you will not notice it without a firewall! Even the lamest script kiddie is able to scan IP-ranges for security flaws, and even if your system is fully patched not all holes are closed (we all know the update policy of MS). A firewall will hide your system so it will appear offline when someone scans your IP, this already keeps away 95% of possible attackers, and you also will be informed if an application tries to connect to the net.
Get good old Zone Alarm for example, it´s free and a good choice for beginners...
Oh, and my testing of Panda Platinum is almost finished:
Good:
-very fast scans
-nice I-face
-pretty well configurable
Bad:
-many "This document contains no data"-errors while surfing
-slows down the startup of the system
zone alarm...thank you very much. ill check that out right now. 
i was wondering (sorry for the dumb questions), i have a 3-box lan at my house all connected to a router...does the router have a built in firewall? ive always thought that routers had firewalls, even though i never knew exactly waht a "firewall" was.
i was wondering (sorry for the dumb questions), i have a 3-box lan at my house all connected to a router...does the router have a built in firewall? ive always thought that routers had firewalls, even though i never knew exactly waht a "firewall" was.