Sanity check recommended freeware

Hi all,

The update of my work (selected freeware) recommended this program. Prerequisites are that programs are freeware, easy to use, no nagware or beta and are available on both XP 32 and Vista 32.

Novice:
- AV Avast (only freeware offering teh full package with fast updates)
- Firewall (Windows standard behind a hardware FW)
- Other: ThreatFire

Advanced
- AV Avast
- Firewall Webroot firewall (for additional outbound protection)
- ThreatFire
- SafeSpace personal (for dodgy browsing)

Off course with a decent hardware FW (router with Nat + SPI) and seperate harddisk (a Maxtor one touch) with freeware image backup Maxxblast. Router + Backup disk are provided (for freee) when signing a contract to take sufficient precautions against malware (otherwise you won't get your VPN on your laptop to work at home).

This is not my setup, it is recommended by my work. I know that those programs scored high on a (on-going) test with ease of use and defense strength as criteria (besides the criteria mentoned above). I know there was a footnote (when OA free was available on Vista32 also it would have won).

I posted this in another thread (regarding safespace) and got some positve feedback on members who actuallu had this set up.

This started me to wonder whether other members of Wilders had such as setup. For me this is a sort of sanity check (when no one responses I can tease our IT manager). Who actually has such a setup?

Regards Kees

 

I use Avast and ThreatFire on Vista-32, with Alphashield and Vista FW. I am actually recommending the Avast/ThreatFire combo in my forums (+ Amust Defender on XP). Very powerfull freeware protection IMHO. My members are very happy with it.

So why pay

 

Actually my home computers are far more protected than my computers at work.

You would think you want the opposite, but realism sets in, when you are working you want things to work with the minimal of fuss (and even stuff like cyberhawk do result in fps), and also i need a lot of processing resources for some of the work i do to have a really heavy setup.

But yeah if you can stomach it I recommend, a combo of antivirus, classic hips, behaviorial hips, sandbox and software firewall

 

Lusher,

Our IT manager publishes this list for employees to use on their private PC. By providing the second circle with better protection, the chance of getting infections within the first circle is somewhat reduced. Documents can be easily copied on memory sticks to do some work at home.

At work you will problably run as a limited user, so this decreases chances of infection considerably.

 

If you don't mind it, I'd like to know what kind of work you do

 

My 2 cents,

Free AV: Its a shooting match among Avast, Avira and AVG. Find the one you like best, though Avira is more suited to experts.

Threatfire: For a free program its great. I have this feeling it will not be free forever and some day the free updates will end, its that good.

Firewall: I tried Webroot and found it to be too noisy and prefer Comodo 2.4 myself. I use a notebook on public Wifi and the Windows firewall is not enough for me.

 

I have the same feeling with Avast! It`s that good too IMHO.

 

Hello,

I don't understand the sanity issue raised...

If you ask regarding the setup, whether it does what it does ... well, it can, though I'd take a different approach.

Here's the reality:

Home:

I use all sorts of setups, but the production ones are restricted to F2 and in the worst case F2 + AVG, with Firefox - that's for Windows. Linux ... never mind now.

So basically, not that different from the sane approach, save the anti-malware and "dodgy" browsing software, as they don't really contribute anything at all if you use non-MS browser - take your pick, Opera, Firefox, K-Meleon ...

But home users can easily choose any av, any firewall and any non-MS browser, and they should be fine, provided they don't try to damage their pcs deliberately.

Work:

The computers are supposed to be protected by McAfee anti-virus and CyberArmor firewall, plus hard drive encryption and a VPN dialer for the workoholics when they want to work from their homes.

Personally, I find this setup disgusting, as it reached 55-60 processes, mainly because of the McAfee, so I have them all disabled and use only Firefox ...

The processes went down to 30 or so (with all the laptop usuals), the memory usage halved, the response time quartered. Nothing else is needed really, as many pages are blocked by corporate filter and people are not allowed to install thingies ...

And here's what I would do if I were the IT manager:

Use mainly policies to secure the machine:
No usb, no autorun, no executable attachments in the email, IE locked down to prevent installation of scripts, toolbars, activex and such ... and just Windows firewall, emails scanning on the server side.

Mrk

 

That's how I run my offices, with the exceptions of:

+NOD32
-Scripts and Active-X set to only trusted, as our users use them regularly. A few of the users have accounts where they're prompted, as their use is constantly changing
-USB and autorun also only for necessary users

Locking down your network with a strong set of policies, groups, hardware firewall, and secure VPNs result in minimal need of extra software. NOD32 was introduced (after Symantec Corporate) due to our field guys receiving a noticeable amount of malware, even with our security. After that, we went corporate wide with AV as well.

Our security audits are pretty strong, save for the lone person constantly trying to break into our main branch's wireless connection each night.

For the OP, those recommendations should do fine. I don't see anything wrong with them, other than various choices could be substituted depending on preference.

 

"I'm not paranoid (though i seem to act that way), I'm just a hobbyist" , that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

 

Diver,

Based on what you describe above you are wide open while on Public WIIFi..

Perhaps you should give a try to Primary Response AirCover from Sana Security link: http://www.sanasecurity.com/try/index.php#