Security

[petepohl]

What programs do you recommend to help keep your pc secure? I use Nod32, Trojan Hunter, a Norton Firewall and spybot search & destroy for any spyware. Are these programms sufficent for securing my pc or should I invest in additional layered defenses?

I appreciate any imput offered

[anders]

I'd say you are probably alright. Just make sure you keep the programs up-to-date (and use the immunize feature of Spybot), and make sure you visit www.windowsupdate.com now and then.

Also, I like SpywareBlaster (http://www.wilderssecurity.net/). It does the same as Spybot's Immunize, but it has a bigger database, more control, and it also blocks spyware cookies in IE6.

Best regards,
Anders

[Q Section]

Hello petepohl

It is always recommended to have a well-layered security plan. Usually anti-virus programs are not made to stop trojans and anti-spy programs are not made to stop worms etc. So...It is good to have good firewall, anti-virus, anti-trojan, anti-worm, registry protection & anti-spyware programs running. Take a look at Outpost Firewall for your firewall, NOD32 for your anti-virus, TDS3 for your anti-trojan, Wormguard3 for anti-worm, RegistryProt for registry protection, SpywareGuard and SpywareBlaster for anti-spyware and it just so happens that the forum for most of these is here in Wilders.

We mentioned the fw, av & at for the sake of newbies who would like a recommend. Also consider using Ad-Aware as it is good to use in addition to Spybot S&D since they each have their good points.

The main point is ask questions and use a layered approach. There are additional security measures such as WPA & 802.1x if you are using a wireless network and things like PGP for an e-mail client.

Hope this helps and did not overwhelm you too much.
Best wishes

[petepohl]

Thanks for your responses!

I recently purchased Trojan Hunter so I don't want to buy TDS-3 and have two Anti-Trjan programs. How does Trojan Hunter compare with TDS-3? I'm only using a norton firewall because I got it for free...lol. I religiously update my definitions and windows fixes. How about general browser security-- Is there a program that safeguards your surfing info?

[claire]

Hi Petepohl,

If you're using IE you could give a try to
IE-SPYAD

http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~ehowes/resource.htm

[LowWaterMark]

Hi petepohl,

Trojan Hunter is absolutely fine so there's no need to second guess your recent purchase. :)

Norton's firewall is also a solid product though firewall security mostly depends upon your specific configuration and rules. Configuration and rules review, external port scanning and fw leak testing are all pretty complex things so if you want to discuss those or how different software firewalls stack up against each other, that would be worth it's own thread over in the other firewalls (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/index.php?board=23) forum section.

We could discuss several of the other tools used for general PC security in this thread if we move it to the Software & Services (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/index.php?board=9) section, which might be best since we really aren't talking about NOD32. Let me know if you'd like that.

I agree that several of the tools mentioned above might be worth looking at. And there are lots of browser security options and even configurations that can help you a great deal. Those can be lengthy topics, too ;) ) Where would you like to begin?

[petepohl]

I agree with your suggesstion that we move to the software and services thread.

[LowWaterMark]

-{ Quote: " quoting: petepohl link=board=9;threadid=14982;start=0#msg93907 date=1066254396]I agree with your suggesstion that we move to the software and services thread." }-

Done. ;)

Actually, the first three items I recommend you try are all noted above, free and very easy to install.

First, RegistryProt (DCS website link) (http://www.diamondcs.com.au/index.php?page=regprot) is a classic security tool which will alert you to changes or additions being made to the standard "Run" keys in the registry. It's an easy download and installation. I use this myself on Windows XP and find it a great little security enhancing tool.

Second, SpywareBlaster (Javacool website link) (http://www.wilderssecurity.net/spywareblaster.html) which expands greatly the immunize features from Spybot S&D, and is actually recommended within the Spybot program. This application doesn't even need to be running in the background to provide its protection capabilities. (It's mainly a program that you install, update and run to set protections, then you merely run it once a week to check for new protection signatures.)

The third tool is IE-SpyAd which is already linked above. If you are using Internet Explorer, this tool pre-populates the IE Restricted Zone with thousands of known bad spyware and adware related entries. The benefit there is that you automatically get protected from ads and spyware installs from all of these sites even if you've set your Internet Zone (the default zone) in IE a little loose security-wise. (Which of course is another area to discuss - tightening your browser security in general.)

I use all three of these tools myself and if you add them to your system, you'll expand your security with a nice layer of additional protections. Let us know if you have any questions on these or if you'd rather start elsewhere.

[petepohl]

Thank you for your suggesstions LowWaterMark. You have illustrated that my browser security is inadequate and I appreciate it.

[FanJ]

Hi Petepohl,

I read that you're using Norton firewall.
You might like to read the following site:
http://www.gpick.com/agnisrules/index.html
It has absolutely great info about making your rules in Norton firewall more secure.
It is a real great site with info from CrazyM, Joseph V. Morris (both firewall-mods here at Wilders) and others with lots of knowledge about those things (gwion, jazzman916, Sven Schaefer, "Crash" Dummy, BlitzenZeus). Go have a look :).

IE-SPYAD was already mentioned.
Since you are using Norton Firewall, you might also have a look at two other free tools from Eric Howes (Eburger68):
AGNIS or ProWAGoN:
http://www.staff.uiuc.edu/~ehowes/resource.htm
While IE-SPYAD puts lots of sites in your IE-restricted-zone, AGNIS or ProWAGoN blocks a lot of Ad's.
Depending on your version of NPF/NIS you can use one of those.


I don't want to overwhelm you.
So at the moment a few other suggestions not already mentioned:
WormGuard and PortExplorer; both (not free) absolutely great programs from DiamondCS.
IEClean and/or WindowWasher to clean/reset index.dat and swap-file, and with more options.

[the Tester]

Spyware Guard and Spyware Blaster from QSection's post.
If you're using Internet Explorer as a browser these are good programs for protection.

You could look at alternative web browsers also.

Opera,Mozilla Firebird,Beonex Communicator work good for me.
They are free with the exception of Opera, which is ad-supported if you don't want to buy it.

[petepohl]

I am impressed with the great reccommendations made thus far! I am going to need some time to digest this however since I am currently in the midst of midterms. Once again thank you for the suggestions, I feel they will exponentially increase my security!

[LowWaterMark]

When your midterms are over and you have time to pursue all this, we'll all still be here... Stop by and let us know if you have any questions. 8)

Best of luck at school!!