Anti-spyware/Firewalls

[James]

Believe it or not, I'm only just now getting around to having a friend help me install a firewall and anti-spyware to my computer. Richard will come by Monday, and I recall reading online [on a discussion board] that Spybot Search & Destroy coupled with Zonealarm makes for a pretty good combination. Reading some reviews for anti-spyware I get the impression that some products let a % of spyware through, while others are difficult to manage --- a key issue for a *total* computer clutz like me.

I'm willing to spend a bit of bread for solid protection if I need to -- so what say y'all? Which products have worked well for you and why? I'm also thinking of getting a "history kill" program that kills pop-ups as well. Any discussion on this would be welcomed. Seems that some of the anti-spyware products also have a history kill feature.

Thanks in advance!

[Swinger]

Couldn't find any spyware remove programs with history kill feature at the moment but here is my suggestion:

Please do download Spybot & Zonealarm.I've used both of them on my computer and they require little maintenance.You should check out new versions of Zonealarm on a regular basis and you should also check your computer for Spyware stuff with Spybot at least twice a week.

[James]

Thanks, Swinger. These products seem to have fairly universal approval.

[and BTW ---- my Dad is Finn, born here in the States.]

[Swinger]

Your father is a Finn? Really? It's a small world! ;)

I have some distant relatives in Butte,Montana. I emailed them several years ago but haven't heard about them for many years.I sent nearly 30 emails to to one young woman (Cheryl) back in -96. I'd really like to get touch with her again.It was fun to talk with her about our grandparents.

[Tenorman]

If you get zone alarm and spybot, you are nicely covered for surfing the net. You are not, however, covered for e-mail viruses.

If you use MS Outlook and use the preview pane to view e-mails, certain viruses will fire off from there, without having to open the attachment. (Techie bit: The preview pane runs an HTML window which allows certain commands to be fired off automatically, rather than a text window that the normal read mail operates in)

I use Norton Anti-virus combined with the firewall, which up until last month, I had no problems with, although I know a number of people who have. The firewall was wht was causing the problem, so I can still strongly recommend the AV product. I am still using it. It is number 1 (or near enough) in businesses, and is not that expensive.

When you run Spy-bot for the first time, it will find loads of nasties. In fact you may have to run it a couple of times to find everything. Spy-bot looks on things like Hot Bar and other downloaded tool bars as spy ware. These toolbars pass varying levels of details of your surfing habits back to the publisher (you didn't think that they were really free did you). Unfortunately, they get themselves well integrated with your operating system and are an absolute soandso to get rid of - so say goodbye to your fancy toolbars and skins ;)

[Kevin Bresnahan]

If you use MS Outlook and use the preview pane to view e-mails, certain viruses will fire off from there, without having to open the attachment. (Techie bit: The preview pane runs an HTML window which allows certain commands to be fired off automatically, rather than a text window that the normal read mail operates in)


Turn off active scripting and this cannot happen. Viruses launched when you read an E-mail are "launched" using active scripts. Microsoft's web site has a write up on how to disable active scripting in Outlook & Outlook Express.

Later,
Kevin

[James]

Thank you very much Tenorman/Kevin. The Outlook Express issue concerned me, and based on the info. on active scripting I'm betting my buddy can iron this out for me. My internet provider is my cable company, which sends me a notice every time they intercept an e-mail with a virus. You'd be amazed at how many they've nabbed ---- but needless to say there is no such thing as too much protection.

Thanks again, guys.

James

[Tenorman]

One of the things about most of the e-mail viruses, up until the most recent crop was that they came from someone you know. There is an attachment, which you open, because, lets face it your mates wouldn't send you a virus, would they?
Right attitude James, thete is no such thing as too much protection - not if you have data that you value on your PC, and you don't want your machine to be used for sending out spam and porn without your knowledge

The HTML can be switched off, but this may prevent the proper display of some e-mails. I receive a small number of e-mails with embedded HTML. I still want tio see these, so I have to keep the HTML activation on. A decent virus checker, updated daily, is therefore a must

[JSngry]

I use Ad Aware for spyware detection. After reading this thread. I started to download Spy Bot to use in conjuction with it, since I've heard that one will catch things that the other doesn't, but there's a new version out now that seems to be generating a higher number of negative consumer reviews than I feel comfortable with, many of the "this used to be a good product now they messed it up" variety. The reviews are mostly really recent too, so I dunno...

Usually, I take these negative reviews with a grain of salt, but when they come in a fairly concentrated time frame, are in conjuction with a new version of a program, and all detail the same (or similar) problem(s) my alarms go off. I'm sure that if there are really serious problems (and whenever I hear freeware described as "registry invasive", I tend to think that there might be potential for there to be), that they'll soon be fixed. Ad Aware went through the same thing with one of its versions, and I waited until the word was out that the bugs had been fixed before downloading it. It's worked like a charm for me.

Keep an eye on various dowload/consumer review sites, and follow the action closely. If it's just a few people whining that they couldn't get it to work, or that it didn't do what they expected it to do, that's not a big deal, usually. But when a larger than average number of people complain about the same problem(s) and seem to really know what they're doing, then pay attention. The product is certainly not TOTALLY flawed right now, but it sounds like it's not foolproof yet either.

Just my opinion.

[James]

Thanks, Jim. I'm currently using both Spybot & Adaware.

And Kevin ---- I got that Outlook Express issue taken care of. Thanks again.
(P.S. ------ our mutual friend Norm is doing well at a new gig)

[jazzscriveyn]

Personally I use Outpost for a firewall and AntiVir for Virus protection.

Outpost: to my mind easy handling.
Antivir: The frequent downloads of large file updates are a bit of a nuisance.

Downloads of recommended security freeware can be found here (http://www.bsi-fuer-buerger.de/toolbox/tools.htm) (German Government Site)

Firewall reviews (in English) here (http://www.firewallguide.com/software.htm)