Security Suite For A New Laptop

Hi, Guys

First of all, LTNS -- it has been *years* since I visited this forum. I once was a fairly regular poster here and in Steve's forums back in the day but haven't been around for a while. I also note ESET has pulled up stakes and is now on their own server. It's probably just as well.

Anyway -- the purpose on my post today is in the subject line. I need and AV and firewall for a laptop I picked up yesterday. I am still running the desktop I had back in the day happily running along on Kerio and NOD32 but thought I would look around a bit for this new one plus I will soon be replacing this old XP box. I was fairly certain I would purchase ESET Internet Security for this laptop -- I7 quad processor, 8GB RAM, 64 bit Win 7 Pro -- but did a little reading around and noted ESET has fallen out of favor a bit -- or maybe not. At the same time, I was reading how great Bitdefender and Kaspersky both are now and that clouded the process a bit. Then I read a little deeper finding the questionable business practices of both companies and realized the same writers saying ESET has fallen were the very ones promoting the other two. Sounds like some cash changed hands to buy some favorable comments, huh! Dirty SOB's.

Anyhow, what say you guys -- what is the best route for AV and firewall. Is it ESET considering the impending release 7 or something else? I've been out of touch for a time and need a little guidance. Help me out.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts. Experience counts in the PC security world!

Phil

 

I was in the same boat as you a month ago or so. I ran Kaspersky before on my old laptop and I run it in an corporate environment using their Business Security Center software and it just seems to bog even the most high end machines down. It cripples boot times pretty bad even with a SSD. I wanted something that didnt do that and I ended up with Eset Smart Security. Boot times and speeds arent crippled on my Samsung Evo SSD. I barely notice its there.

Here is my thread for some other helpful suggestions:

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=353126

 

Yours sounds just like my old Win98 and XP systems where I used Kerio and NOD32 (v2/v4) for quite a while because it was a fast & happy combination.

[My attempt to avoid an A vs B thread -- which is not allowed -- is to relate my experience and not get into "this one is better because". Also I believe that asking "what is the best" is generally not allowed and you'll be told to do your own searching because it's already been discussed to death.]

I dropped NOD32 after a few new versions I didn't like (and poor sales support), and under XP I had to replace Kerio due to BSODs with the Kerio driver. Eventually I landed on Outpost FW, mostly because a lot of what I learned with Kerio I could use in Outpost and way back I had originally started with Outpost before using Kerio. Another XP computer I supported was getting temperamental under Kerio; when I replaced that with Outpost FW I was told it was a huge improvement.

So then I was using Outpost FW + Avast AV for a while, and they worked well; but when I got a new notebook (i7, Win7 x64) I wanted to simplify (getting tired of updating/supporting two security products) so I thought I'd try Outpost Security Suite. It (OSS 7.5) has been running smoothly ever since and I haven't looked back. I've used Kaspersky and Bitdefender previously under various environments (Vista laptop, WinXP and Win7 desktops) but found both security suites heavy; I've been happy with OSS for over a year and now I basically ignore anything about the big names so I'm not exactly up on their current statuses or general user acceptance levels.

All vendors seem to go in and out of favour at some point and Outpost is no exception (I recall a few poor versions). For me, OSS has what I want, and Agnitum has always been quick to reply to support emails, so I'm content to not chase after what could be the ultimate solution.

I still support systems with Outpost FW + Avast AV, but I don't like some of the directions that Avast is going in and it seems to really have a drag on the system; I'll probably migrate those to OSS. I also recently recommended OSS 8 for a new Win8 notebook and it seems to be working smoothly and efficiently. (On all systems I also install MBAM Pro resident, and have not had any conflicts.)

As a caveat, I practice (and espouse to those whom I support) surfing safely first, so my security suite probably isn't as heavily stressed as some systems (I and none of my users do a lot of wild surfing) and your experience could be very different. I don't know if any of that helps, but good luck. Unfortunately, the more you look for opinions and advice on this stuff, the more confused it gets. Like Dirty Harry said (modified for public TV), "Opinions are like offices; everybody has one."

 

You can try Webroot SecureAnywhere for your new laptop. It's the fastest, lightest and most effective security solution. Just give the trial a run and you'd understand.

 

Thanks for the info and the link, WD. They are greatly appreciated. Our needs are slightly different. Being a gamer, you *need* every once of performance you can muster while I don't want my performance crushed, it's not critical since I am not a gamer and my new laptop will not be used for CPU intensive applications. I will carefully weigh your info before making any decision. I gotta tell ya -- even though I have said I will NEVER use another Norton product, Norton 360 is looking pretty good from what info I can gather. ((shrug)) we'll see I guess.

 

GREAT info, T-RHex, and I do appreciate the effort. I'm really not after an A vs B reply but instead looking for some current experience with these products. Things change. Just like I said to the poster above, at one time I absolutely despised Norton products but now am considering one -- Norton 360. I may be totally off base and wasting my time looking at it therefore am looking for experienced info.

As for someone telling me to do my own searching, well I have done that and found a bunch of fanboy type info with little substance. Assuming somebody wants to play internet god by attempting to tell me what to do, fair enough -- have at it. I can politely tell them to KMA while meaning precisely what I say.

Outpost -- I have certainly considered that product sine I purchased a "lifetime license" a few years back and have never used it. At this point, I think they have a good firewall but are a little weak on the other features. Still, I have not yet truly studied their offering so I really don't know. Hence, my questions.

As for "safe surfing" -- yep. I have been on the 'net since the late 80's and have *never* caught a nasty -- knock on wood. My AV has little to do and my software firewall never gets hit since I also run hardware. I am primarily interested in what is trying to call out and to whom than I am keeping people and/or packets out. They simply never get to my PC.

Again, thank you for your help! I am taking your opinion to heart and will use it while making my decision.

Phil

 

Thanks, PII -- I may do just that. I looked at the Webroot product this afternoon but didn't see mention of a firewall. I am really after an "all-in-one" solution but will take another look at Webroot. I'm not adverse to running products from different companies. That's what I have been doing on this machine for years.

Phil

 

Hello Phil,
You can't go wrong with ESET AV. It's still a great product. Light and effective.
Version 7 will be released in a couple of days. Probably before Windows 8.1.
I'm not even using it but I still think it's one of the best solutions out there. And you can pair it with your Outlook FW, it should be a great combo.

 

Thanks for your reply, c2d. Yeah, I know NOD32 is a good product. I have been using it since about version .5 (that's point 5) and even did a fair amount of beta testing for them in the 90's. I have not had any issues with it for years now with release versions and that why I was surprised to read it has fallen out of favor somewhat. I may still end up with their new V7. We'll see.

Again, thank you

Phil

 

Webroot Secure Anywhere includes an outbound firewall that complements the windows inbound firewall, you don't have to deactivate it.
They say that windows FW is perfect and there is no reason to substitute it by full firewall.
In my gamer PC I use Webroot and windows firewall control, you can complement this with hitman pro alert and malwarebytes antiexploit, or if you miss not to have an HIPS try spyshelter.

BTW I would rather prefer a layered security approach using different vendors than a full suite of only one vendor. Also you can basically have an excellent layered security for free using something like this:

Avast Free AV
Comodo FW (HIPS; SANDBOX; AV CLOUD FILE CHECK; FIREWALL)
Exploitshield // Hitman Pro Alert
Bitdefender traffic light (browser addon only)

 

See here http://www.webroot.com/En_US/SecureAnywhere/PC/WSA_PC_Help.htm#C4_Firewall/CH4a_ManagingFirewall.htm
Just take a look at Webroot SecureAnywhere Complete as you're looking for an all-in-one solution.

 

Internet Security 6 months endurance test

-http://www.av-test.org/en/news/news-single-view/artikel//the-best-internet-security-suites-for-windows-complete-an-endurance-test-lasting-6-months/-

webroot was the only one that get full score on "system load", but got low protection score

this test conclude that bitdefender is the overall winner, since it got full score on protection, and also got second place (behind webroot) on system load

 

Another vote for WSA, light and solid protection

 

@fax
+1..

 

Webroot or ESET will both do wonders for your system performance

 

Two tips

Paid solution

WSA is the winner, with a few tweaks

a) set all your internet facing software as monitored (this will put them in a sort of limited user box)

b) increase the firewall protection one level (warn for new untrusted/monitored programs to go outbound)

c) go into details of identity shield. change the http:\\ default to protect the browser from changes

d) set popularity within heuritics to high, this will act as a whitelist (WSA had it long before Avast introduced hardened mode).

This 4 tweaks will not impact performance, just security. As some of you know I get fresh samples from a friend who is a malware reverse engineer working for a banking corporation. So these tweaks are tested really well in daily practise.

Nothing beats WSA in security with these tweaks against real world threats. I have it on my wife's laptop (who allways clicks YES and demands security to be removed when it impacts useability or functionality).

I really have no idea why WSA does not offer these simple changes as a "secured or hardened" mode. I applaud the new (simplified) interface, but really can't understand why WSA does not offer these tweaks out of the box. As said it is like having AppGuard and Faronics AntiExecutable on board without the power user knowledge needed for AG and AE.

Free solution
Try Avast free beta, the new hardened mode and deepscreen analysis are the best (free) solution on useability/security scale. Only one tweak, set hardened mode to moderate. Add a freebie tinywall as firewall

 

Being a brand new user of WSA (1 day), I am having difficulty finding the above-mentioned settings. Could you either post more details or PM me to walk me through these suggestions?

Thank you.

 

Me too, the newest update from WSA released like 2 weeks ago and I don't know if all these settings are still available.

Btw I'd vote for WSA too, it's very efficient and light-weight!

 

Will do that tomorrow (Amsterdam time zone GMT+1)

 

You don't have many adjustments in the 2014 products anymore see Here: http://www.webroot.com/En_US/SecureAnywhere/PC/WSA_PC_Help.htm#OpeningPage.htm also see this post to your tweaks and Techfox1976 is correct in what he says! https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=2291588&postcount=167

TH

 

Most of these are no longer needed for the 2014 product, but we're getting off-topic here.

This isn't required because of the new Infrared engine (and will likely result in a considerable amount of disk space used unnecessarily).

While some users like this, it produces a prompt and frankly, if software is malicious, it should be blocked from running at all - a firewall warning is a bit of a "last ditch" effort, but WSA will have already seen the network behaviors and taken them into account to block if malicious.

This is no longer required (and these settings don't exist anymore): WSA protects every website all the time.

You can have WSA warn on any new/untrusted application, but the standard heuristics (defaults) should be more than sufficient. You can raise them up one level if wanted but you'll probably just end up with more prompts in the end.

 

Plus doesn't apply to Win 8 and Win 8.1 anymore.

 

Hello,

Every security suite has a free trial version these days, so why not shortlist a few, test them in your environment to see what works best for you, and then purchase that?

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

 

Well, guys -- I'm back and thanks to you -- with new software installed. WSA and Malwarebytes Pro. I'm going to run this way for a while to see if this is the way I want to stay. Looks really good so far but we'll see. If this doesn't work out for me, I will fall back on my old standby -- ESET.

Another plus was Webroot is running an online purchase special for today only. Saved several greenbacks -- always a good thing.

I can NOT believe I was contemplating installing a Symantec product!! I plead temporary insanity. I got to thinking about how many PC's I have had to rescue by ripping Norton out by the roots. It's not easy. Anyway, THANK GOD I came to my senses.

So, guys --THANK YOU very much for your assistance. I think I'm going to be very happy, and my new laptop too!

Phil