Views on my Security Setup

Hi all

After a serious malware and Trojan infection some twelve months ago, and joining this forum very soon after, I have reached a point in my (layered) security set up which I believe to be relatively solid.
Can you kindly give me your views and benefit of your advice as to the merits or otherwise on the following apps currently running on my system and advise :

1....Your take on the level of security from 0-10
2...Any overlaps, redundant apps, potential conflicts etc
3...Any worthwhile additions

WinXP Home SP2, 1gb Ram-Fully patched
Zonealarm free firewall

Resident :

Boclean
KAV6
Zerospyware
Cookiewall
Online Armor

On Demand :

Spybot S&D-Free
AdAware-Free
Bitdefender-Free
Ewido 3.5-Free

Also....spywareblaster.

Regards

ftwynne59

 

Re: Views on my Secuirty Setup

People that visit security forums tend to be better informed as to malware prevention but a side effect of this seems to be malware paranoia. I fell into the trap initially but after awhile you learn to lean down your collection of security apps. You have some good apps in your arsenal but you do have some massive overlap which just uses up system resources needlessly. I believe you might trim it down a bit and still have ample protection.

bigc

 

Re: Views on my Secuirty Setup

[QUOTE "you do have some massive overlap which just uses up system resources needlessly. I believe you might trim it down a bit and still have ample protection."

bigc[/QUOTE]

bigc....thanks for the response...you say 'massive overlap' which is a concern for me....where do you see the overlap, and what can be 'trimmed down' ? I do not consider myself to be an expert, and still way down the learning curve.
Appreciate your input.

 

In my opinion Ewido will do the job that adaware and spybot do and better, that would get rid of a bunch of overlap.. there is one app I would add and that is processguard.


let me clarify my position here. these are not actual suggestions for you to do, my replys are what I would do if it was my computer.

 

Thanks bigc....Understand your position and stance on suggestions...

I am aware that my apps on demand do have alevel of overlap...what is your view on resident protection.I welcome your valued input...

 

Boclean and zerospyware probably overlap a bit but overall you resident protection looks pretty good.

 

Resident :
I whould take off Boclean, because you already have the other areas well protect...

On Demand :
I would remove these:
Spybot S&D-Free
AdAware-Free
Bitdefender-Free

And add:
SUPERAntiSpyware

 

ftwynne59 if you don't mind my humble opinion have you tried adding one more line of defense to your setup? programs like bufferzone (there's a free version), geswall (there's a free version), defensewall, sandboxie (there's a free version), etc... these programs help a lot. many times they'll catch and isolate malware that antivirus/antispyware/antitrojan programs miss entirely.

and i can second vampiric crows suggetion of adding superantispyware to your list. it's an awesome program and there's a free version available (for on demand scanning).

edit:

looking at your setup i see you have a program called "online armor". what's it do?

 

Online Armor is an HIPS type program. its been mentioned a bit in this forum. heres their page.

 

has anyone ever put online armor to the test?

can anyone who has it test it against this keylogger:
http://www.geocities.com/martinisthebest1703/

note to mods: THIS IS NOT A MALWARE LINK

 

Same here.

 

My realtimes are ZAP,Sandboxie and FF with noscript and adblock plus extensions.

E-trust vet av and Superantispyware as on demand.

Lean,mean and clean.But those ghost images and a clone on a slave give extra confidence to run lean.

With the security apps you have I would run Zone Alarm free,Online Armour and add Sandboxie to run my browser through.

The rest I would use as on demand.

But everyone is different and if your happy with your setup stick with it.

 

With respect zoptop....thanks for your input but we are heading down a new thread re: views of Online Armor....appreciate if we stay on thread here...

Cheers....and thanks for all contributions !!

 

5 memory resident programs is overkill.

when i ordered my dell in jan. 2006 i got it with win xp pro so i could effectively setup my security with limited user accounts when online. administrator accounts is the #1 security problem with ms windows. win xp pro upgrade cost $150 more but i think it was worth it than running a bunch of security programs like you are. once you learn how to use limited user accounts, and edit file and folder permissions when necessary, i finally understood what bad security win 9x had. in jan. 2002 i went from windows 98se on one pc to windows xp pro on another and i finally understood some of the power of the unix/NT server administrators. it was a major educational experience for me.

i use win xp pro, limited user accounts and nod32 only! patch everthing, and dont use file sharing programs, and dont sent or receive email or IM attachments. only use software from good well known companies.

 

Hello,
My view: On-demand scanners do not hurt. But if you have Ewido, then you can also run it with active guard and thus replace BOClean, unless you want to remain with it.
Running AS in real-time is a bit redundant if you run BOClean or Ewido.
HIPS can be nice, but I don't like them, and you surely don't need them alongside your other programs.
Cookiewall? Never heard of it. But if you use FF / Opera, you can permit / deny cookies on a site basis. No need for a resident program running always.
Personally I would stay with: ZA, KAV, maybe BOClean / Ewido, turn off the other residents, keep other scanners on demand.
Your grade: none. It all comes down to what you do. Your setup is as good as the next man's, as long as you do smart things.
Mrk