Is this a good Sfaety/security setup?

Ok, Righ tnow I have AVG AntVIrus, Sygate Personal Firewall, AdAware 6.0, and SpyBot: Search And Destroy, I wanna add Spyware Blaster, and Spyware Guard to it, later, but this should help protect me against Trojans/Viruses/Spyware/AdAware, and is a good setup, right? also, should I allow Sygate to boot with my computer, or make it so I have to run it manually (When I first installed it, and restarted my comp, it booted up and took about a extra minute to boot my desktop ) I also disabled Scripting in Internet Explorer, and made it prompt me before downloading ANY ActiveX controls, and have Xupiter/a bunch of other Spyware sites blocked (I was attacked by Xupiter once )

 

are you planning to run some regular software too?

It seems to me that you're pretty well setup, it seems you're afraid of spyware above all else... Disabling scripting and ActiveX is your best and cheapest protection here (although you might consider dumping IE and OE )

Let Sygate boot. Why bother the minute as long as you don't boot every minute?

I would add some cookie protection (Analogx cookiewall will help you, lots of sites require cookies, no problem for Cookiewall will clean up the mess).
Regular cleaning your registry is usefull.
O yeah, I would use another AV-tool (I don't like AVG)


(One more message to go )
- edit: Made it I'm on 200 -

 

Lol, Of course I am running regular software, I like AVG, I've used it since like, 2 years ago, no problems, and its detected the 2 viruses I've ever had, (One was W32\Spaces, and numerous Email viruses), and yes, I hate SpyWare, after I got Xupiter once, and some other crap (Comet cursor, uh, hotbar, and everytihng else before I learned of spyware, and what it was, luckily all that was on my old comp) Sygate works well also, so I'll try letting it bootup with the system.

 

Hi Comp01. You seem well protected. I wouldn't get too top heavy on anti-spyware - Adaware and Spybot together should be just fine. Absolutely be sure your firewall loads at system start-up and if possible, should be the first thing that loads, AV too. Pop over the grc.com and load a couple of those little free apps like Shoot the Messenger, UnPlug-And-Pray to conveniently turn Messenger & UnPnP on or off - and even that new DCOM app is pretty nice. Java Cools little WMPScriptfix app is convenient too to prevent all the vulnerabilities in Windows Media Player (if you have it).

You've already surpassed most security measures by taking control over those scripting and Active X functions. Consider disabling "File downloads" in IE too - you can pop in and re-enable it when you know there's something you want to load - but will prevent link tricks from loading (you know - hit a link to go somewhere else and suddenly you get a porn dialer on your system, new home page or who-knows-what).

Active X is used a lot, so you might get frustrated being prompted all time about it - I just disable them to avoid that. Sure, I'll get a prompt occassionally that Active X isn't being allowed and as a result "this page may not display properly." I hit OK and as far as I've ever seen, the page works fine and never interfered with anything. I might miss out on something like a dancing balloon or nifty effect, but could care less. But, say I wanted to go over and play the silly little game Flip The Cow Peache4U shared over at Ten Forward. I just click into IE settings and enable some Active X, then I can play. When I'm done, I disable them and move on.

Best Regards, Rick

 

If your greatest concern is spyware ... Spyware Blaster, Ad-Aware &/or Spybot does the job extremely well. But, like everything else, if you do not get updates frequently, stuff will get through - simple as that!

For viruses - AVG will do the job- I personally prefer to purchase one as it give much better protection. I use Norton. But you also need to know, if you are using OE as to how to configure your email that AV will alert you when an email is infected [prior to opening it] and/or how to auto delete attachments with certain file extensions which are attached to emails. You need to set up mail controls and for attachments prohibit certain file extensions ... there are lots of options to choose from.

IE has some very good cookie controls - no need for cookie crunchers or monsters to control them. If you have IE working alongside with your firewall, bad cookies will line up like little soldiers on your lower taskbar wishfully hoping to be let in & they can be deleted by right clicking your mouse & clicking on CLOSE... gone!!

Last but not the least, it is very important to have all your windows patches up to date ... failure to do so will certainly make your computer vulnerable.

Wanna know which of your Ports are vulnerable? Have them probed on Steve Gibson's site by doing Shields UP test. There is also another test you can do to see how secure your computer is.

My tests come up consistently: Your computer does not exist to the internet and is not visible. I am in total Stealth and that is music to my ears. Cheers

 

Yeah, my AntVirus boots up with the system, I'll allow my firewall to boot up also, (next time i restart) I would buy a AV prog, but dont have the cash to do so, heh, not at the moment, so I run freeware apps, and to keep a eye on what I have running I use a prog I've had for a while, Process Explorer, it doesnt test as spyware/adware/virus/trojan so I still use it.

 

The only category that you may want to investigate is the anti-trojan category.

An important thing to remember is to stay updated as much as possible.Especially with any anti-virus program.

Peaches and Rickster mentioned Shields Up.That's good advice IMO.
I'd book-mark that site and use it occasionally to verify that your firewall is "stealth".

 

Yeah, whats the shields up website? and also whats a good Anti-Trojan prog?

 

Hi...http://grc.com/intro.htm - click on the Sheilds-Up logo and test your firewall. You can also find some of the little apps I mentioned earlier and they also have a discussion forum to explore too.

A lot of folks mention TDS-3 (which I think is the best) Trojan Hunter and a couple of others are all very good. If you're on a budget I wouldn't worry about it right now considering all you've done so far. With a tested firewall, good AV, regular updating of security patches and AV, DCOM off (available at grc.com), good
e-mail security habits, removal of spyware and running with those IE security settings, I'd be shocked if you ever get nailed by a successful exploit, unless you deliberately download one. Wilders is full of good links to testing sites for browser security, firewalls, e-mail exploit tests, etc. Take your time, frequent the forums and learn as you go. You can be confident now - you're already light-years ahead of most people's computer security.

Have fun....Rick

 

Hi Comp - Rick has given good advice and I shall point you to the sites recommended. Besides there is some darn good reading stuff. Good luck.

http://grc.com/lt/howtouse.htm To test your firewall.

https://grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2 - Shields Up

 

The consensus top 3 anti-trojan programs in no particular order are TDS-3,Trojan Hunter,and BoClean.
There aren't currently any free AT programs that I would recommend.

Most AT programs have 30 day trials available,with the exception of BoClean which has a money-back guarantee.

This is something you may want to consider in the future.

With security on your computer,there are a lot of directions that you can go.
Specialised programs for trojans,worms.
There are a lot of options available.
What "works" for me may not be what you need or want.

This forum is a great place to learn about security and if you haven't already done it,check out wilderssecurity home page.
There are free programs and some good reviews on just about any program category.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but as I understand it, if your computer is in stealth mode, how then can a Trojan be utilised, or get into your system in the first place?

 

You download them from the internet with other programs or you have a browser that is not secure.

And a firewall is not going to help you on your emailwhen you download it.

 

Depends ... Some firewall know how to handle attachments of certain kinds... Okay, it depends on the attachment's file extension, but they can quarantaine files (I know Outpost does...)

If a trojan gets installed on your computer, chances are that they open a port on your computer, that they can listen to in order to receive commands. In that respect status for that port is not stealth, but listening.

There's an online ports database (with lots of trojan specs) at http://ports.tantalo.net.