Is this overkill?

OK, so I've been on a security kick lately, and frankly, I think I've been overdoing things. Maybe you guys can shed some light and share some ideas...

Right now, I'm on Vista x64, running:

Comodo 3, with Defense+ active
Avira 8, no web scanner
SuperAntiSpyware pro
A-Squared antimalware for the behavior based HIPS (got that free 1 year license a while back)
Winpatrol
SpywareBlaster (protecting the host file and immunizing, obviously not running in the background)

This is all behind a router with the DD-WRT firmware, SPI/NAT turned on, wireless turned off, default IP changed, and password protected correctly (no backdoor admin defaults).

The system runs WELL, I have to say. I don't feel like I'm slowed down at all, surfing is quick, games run well, etc. I might surf to some "dangerous" areas, and I run bittorrent to get backups for old CDs/DVDs that are scratched to all hell, but so far, I haven't found anything malicious in a few years.

I'm thinking about ditching Comodo and Defense+ and just using the Vista FW, but lack of outbound control has me worried, to say the least. Any thoughts on the matter?

 

You could just shut-off the D+ module and keep the firewall running. I can't answer your question of over-kill, but it is curious that YOU worry it's over-kill. If it ain't broke....

 

Well Imo is definetly overkill ,but i reply for tellying u about Sphinx addon (the free version)which can be used along vista firewall with advanced security,for outbound protection.It's simple uses minimal resources.

 

Why *I* think it's overkill? Basically, I'm getting annoyed with having to approve every slight change through Comodo. Want to download a file in firefox? Comodo asks if it can be created. Using Utorrent? Comodo asks if it can create THAT file. Frankly, it's a bit tedious, and I'm thinking a behavior blocker (or something I can set up once and forget) would be better for me. I have no problems tweaking things to perfection and spending some time making sure everything is set up correctly, I just don't want to have to do it over every time I install something.

 

Live & learn. It's better to start with too much and wean as you learn, than too start with too little and learn the hard way. The OP does think it's over-kill too....

 

How often do you get infected ? when was the last time you were infected ?
Do you use system images allowing you to restore within minutes ?

You will find users here with every kind of security known to man who will swear that they could not survive on line for more than a few milliseconds without all of the programs that they use and that they have ideas as to new programs that they need. You will also find others who run with little or no recognised protection and yet others who deep down know that they don't need all of the programs but get a kick out of playing with programs.

Just decide which kind of user you want to be - a bit like which football team you want to support - and then you can do as you like.

 

Well, I started reading up on this stuff a few years ago, finally installing a firewall (I believe it was Kerio 2.15), switching from Norton to NOD32, etc, etc. Went from Outpost Pro to kaspersky 7, and now I'm looking for more of a free solution. Superantispyware is a lifetime license, A-Squared is a free year's license (till March), Avira was a free 6 month license (till October), etc. So I'm just looking to be economical AND safe, while getting as much performance from my computer as possible.

OH, yeah... Also have Acronis TI running in the background as well.

 

There are altenative behavior blockers with less noise so to speak, you may want to take a look at threatfire which has a very good free version or even defensewall,Not free but offer a trial.As far as overkill my opinion says yes.

 

I have Acronis making an incremental backup every 3 days, and as for infection? Outside of spyware, I don't remember being infected by a virus at ALL. I think the last time was YEARS back, when Kazaa/Bittorrent was the rage and "trying out" programs was my norm. I'm older, I'm wiser, and that crap is in the past.

Edit: Djohn, I'd love to use either, but they're not available for Vista x64. When Threatfire hits for my OS, I'll be dropping A-Squared. Mainly because A-Squared requires you to run as an admin account, and I'm not a fan of that.

 

Ok, I clearly missed seeing you are running 64 my bad sorry.

 

Then you could easily shed the last three products, for example, and still be heavily fortified.

 

You know you can work with wildcards when you creating rules in D+, this (see screeny) is my "desktop" rule (on XP system where I store utorent files), ComodoFP is great software but it needs some time for configuration...

 

I agree,In turn free up some resources and still have protection

 

I agree with djohn, for basics:
- Good Firewall +HIPS
- Good real-time AV
- Good real-time AS

I don't agree with your automatic scheduling of incremental backups. In my opinion, the system should be rigorously inspected for problems prior to backups. If either a system software problem or infection goes unnoticed, automatically scheduled backups will simply automatically backup the problems. If you restore the backup - you'll restore the problems.

Hope this helps!

 

@entropism

Your are looking for a mostly free solution, as I read in one of your comments.
Check out these threads:

The best free security setup
Best security setup which doesn't need much interaction
which is the best way to learn to use HIPS

And regarding to your question, I too think it's overkill