Setting up a secure environment

I had no idea such was possible. An on-going learning process, uh?

 

My good friend Noob here already gave the best possible answer. But I was thinking about light HIPS like winpatrol or even spyshelter free..But as my friend already stated D+ is the best there is hands down

 

WAIT A SECOND, i just though it was possible HAHAHAHAHA
i'm not really sure!!

Really sorry for spreading mis-information if i'm wrong

 

Would MSE conflict with Avast?
Do you have a good backup image?
Maybe get a hardware Firewall or build yourself, Astaro, PFSense, etc.

 

@overworkedmonkey,

Moonblood gave some good advices, but very complex ones, and some others added some further antimalware programs, including HIPS.

I warn you about two things:
- Don't make it complex. With complexity comes a wrong senseof security and sometimes it is even worse than nothing. Keep your system as simple as possible. I would advise:
1 the administrator account, with a password to protect it (8 characters e.g. af 589_!§ to be remembered and stored in safe place far from kids).
2 one standard user account for banking and e-commerce... This is your account, for you and your wife. You keep here your emails, maybe some photos and personal documents. You do your e-banking with it. Password protect it (simple to avoid kids to go in there)
3 one standard for children (or one per child).

- Don't add many security applications, especially complex ones like HIPS. I would even advise you not to use anyone. You may end up with a lot of frustration without necessarily more security, especially if you don't fully understand what you do with it. Don't replace standard microsoft applications with third party ones at the moment. IE is a good browser, secure. Don't forget that more applications means more updates, therefore more maintenance.

On top of it, I hope you have an external hard drive to back up your sensitive and important data (you may use Synctoy from microsoft, it is free).

So:
use standard accounts
use MSE from microsoft (or another free antivirus)
use synctoy for back up
It is mainly microsoft, therefore no maintenance as microsoft update will handle it automatically.
It is simple, hassle free.

Forget about the rest. If you manage to implement it, you get 95+% of the maximum achievable security, with 95+% of the achievable ease of use and maintenance.

 

Thanks Lucy. Appreciate the advise. Will certainly look at what you suggested. I'm going to start off with scanning all the laptops with Avast, followed my Microsoft Security Essentials. Am not sure about MalwareBytes as no one has commented about is database so might stick with Search and Destroy. Yes, we do have an external harddrive we backup data to although if the systems are corrupted I highly doubt the data would be spared.

 

MBAM - I put that ~ Snipped as per TOS ~ on everything!

 

I guess MBAM is very good as on demand in case of doubt. You may want to have it on access as well.
SpyBot looks like behind these days... If you keep it, on demand only will be more than enough.

For your back up, you can do it mnually, so that you know what you back up.

 

Lucy has it right. Also check - http://www.mechbgon.com/build/security2.html

Also, Avast and MSE conflict. Choose one or the other. If you want 2nd opinion scanner I would go with one or maybe two of the following: Malwarebytes, Hitman Pro, or Emsisoft Emergency Kit Scanner.

 

MalwareBytes is a very very good program!!!
Specially vs rogue software which MOST av's can't deal with!

You will not go wrong with them

 

Thanks for the guide. It was really helpful. Am going through the suggested options as we speak. As for you comment on Avast and Microsoft Security Essentials conflicting, what do you mean exactly? What conflicts? What the former finds something that the latter does not and vice versa?

 

Will definitely check it out. Will it conflict with other applications? How do I know if there is a conflict?

 

It's probably me but what do you mean by on demand and on access.

 

On Demand means that the scanner will ONLY SCAN files when you run it.
On Access will scan every single thing your OS reads/writes.
Of course On Access takes more system resources, it is not recommended to run 2 On Access scanners at the same time, because it may cause conflicts.

There will not be any conflict as long as you don't run too many programs in real time. Ex. Only 1 On Access scanner but you can use as many On Demand scanners as you want (MalwareBytes is a great option as On Demand), never run 2 firewalls/hips etc.

 

On-Access=Real-Time
On-Demand=Manual Scan

 

Avast and MSE are full fledged Anti-Virus programs. They both scan every file accessed on the computer for malware (called on access scanning). Not even considering the performance impact of having two programs scanning each file you access, they can cause one another to not work properly in some cases, can cause windows and some programs not to work properly, can cause each program to flag the other as malware while scanning, the list goes on.

Never run two Anti-virus programs at once unless your know what your doing, even then its not recommended.

Malwarebytes, Hitman Pro, and Emsisoft anti-malware are on demand Anti-malware scanners. On demand scanners mean you start up the program each time you use it and tell the program to scan your computer. So it doesn't run "in real time" or "on access" to scan each folder on your computer as they are accessed, it only scans when you tell it to, hence it won't conflict with AV's, and these types of on demand anti-malware programs don't conflict at all.

At the end of the day, choose 1 AV program, choose 1-3 other scanners to use on demand.

 

Thanks Noob. That makes sense now.

Thanks. That's much clearer now.

I wasn't aware that MSE was a fully fledged antiviral software. I always thought it was an anti-malware application.

Is there any real benefit of having 3 or more on-demand scanners?

What are your thoughts on SuperAntiSpyware?

 

The benefit of have several on-demand scanners from different vendors is that one scanner may detect something that the other ones miss etc...

SuperAntiSpyware or (SAS) for short, is a good scanner to use on-demand just as Malwarebytes. But I personally think that Malwarebytes is the better of the two. Even though I do have SAS installed as well.

 

1 - It is correct that MSE is anti-malware, by calling it a full fledged AV I was trying to signify that it is designed to work "in real time" and access files as you use the computer.

2 - I would say max of 3 separate on demand scanners. Personally I only use 1 second opinion on demand scanner and I'm satisfied with that. Tastes vary. Install 2-3 if you feel the need or are an extremely high risk user.

3 - Paid version of MBAM scans in real time just like a regular AV does. Its good program, I prefer using it on demand for numerous reasons. Again, tastes vary and the more you secure the computer in the first place the less reliant you'll be on scanners.

superantispyware is a good on demand scanner, but I'd go with MBAM or Hitman or EAM over it personally.

 

Thanks SweX. I take it you use both of them.

Thanks doc77. Do you mind me asking why you prefer MBAM? Also would you get the paid version?

 

better detection, better cleaning. I'd go with the free one

 

It's you're decision if going paid or not.
Paid brings benefits such as On Access scanning, Web Filter and Schedules if i remember correctly. (Correct me if i'm wrong!)

 

Yes, but only On-demand

 

Is it common to download MBAM from MajorGeeks i.e. http://majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=5756?

 

Thanks Noob.