Another Newbie asking "Which Anti-Virus Sofware is the Best?"

[jimrainfordson]

Thanks Phil. Between you and Art and a little online study I think I'm
getting this down.

Yes, a router with Network Address Translation (NAT) hides the IP addresses
of the LAN (Local Area Network, home) side and blocks transmissions from the
WAN (Wide Area Network, Internet) that can't be paired with a request from
the LAN side.

The cost of a 'firewall appliance' can be as little as a few hundreds of
dollars US. A 'firewall appliance) will likely include the functions of a
router. For your purposes go for the 'firewall appliance' that is the
easiest and quickest to setup, rather than for the highest possible
protection. A properly set up simple 'firewall appliance' is superior to a
poorly set up complex 'firewall appliance'. A 'firewall appliance' is a
computer with a CPU, ROM and flash memory for the operating system and
applications, RAM, and Ethernet I/O. The operating system is likely to be a
flavor of Linux. It is setup and modified through your web browser. You
may not really benefit from a 'firewall appliance' because some of your
programs may not work (on-line gaming, for example) through the more
protective 'firewall appliances'.

Well, that certainly sounds the most secure, but I don't know if I'm
willing to shoulder all that expense and trouble. A few hundred USD?
Ouch. I was hoping to get something a little simpler like a more
passive NAT Router that doesn't need it's own PC. I can still use a
software firewall to track outgoing transmissions. I don't doubt your
advice offers better security, but I'm more likely to change my banking
habbits than spend that kind of money. I'm hoping to pick up
something from Linksys for around $75 USD give or take $25.

One of the flavors of 'Vista', the next Windows operating system, may
include security features that are more suited to your needs than a
'firewall appliance', though certainly a 'firewall appliance' couldn't
hurt - you can always allow on-line gaming programs, for example, to bypass
the 'firewall appliance'.

I can think of only three advantages to a wireless LAN;
* no wiring required
* protection from lightning induced surges on phone lines or cable
service
* mobile operation within your home, workplace, etc.
A wireless LAN does put data 'over the air' and those signals can be
received over short distances (not more than perhaps 100 feet.) Within that
distance the signals can be received by anyone with a computer with a
wireless LAN card in a notebook (or desktop.) HOWEVER, the signal can and
should be encrypted. WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) offers complete
protection against casual scanning. BUT, with technical knowledge, easily
available programs, and lots of patience the encryption key can be
discovered over a few days of constant monitoring. If you don't have WEP
enabled, within the distance limit your data can be received and casual
users can join your LAN and use your Internet connection. Thus, distance is
absolute protection; WEP is good against all but determined attacks, and
newer wireless LAN hardware devices offer even more security than WEP. Most
wireless capable routers also have wired connections.

Thats just the kind of info I was looking for thanks. I can tell you
right now I'd rather have the peace of mind and get a wired router.

Finally, NO malware can survive reformatting and restoring a drive image
UNLESS the malware had already infected the system before the last image was
saved.

As a matter of trivia, I thought there was at one time some kind of
malware that survived reformatting. Didn't sound true when I heard it,
maybe because it wasn't. Perhaps it was a quick format or perhaps the
virus hid out in one of the non-active partitions and later reinstalled
itself.

Do NOT make security a bigger hill than it is. If you make the security
hill steeper than is necessary, you will not climb it. Pick the basic
protections and put them in place. Don't worry about the more complex
procedures - that's for folks with long experience with computers and
networks, or with IT support available.

Good and appropriate advice. I'll admit I'm feeling a little
overwhelmed and ignorant, but it's getting better.

DO NOW what you can do now.

* Purchase and install a good antivirus program with automatic updates. Set
it to always be active, and do a complete scan once a month.
* Use several free anti-malware applications to backstop the antivirus
solution:
- SpyBot Search&Destroy
- Ad Aware SE by LavaSoft
* Use a method to view email in text only mode ( I use Magic Mail Monitor to
download email headers to cull spam, and to view suspicious email before
using my email program, Outlook. Any spam I identify, along with suspicious
email I delete directly from the ISP mail server without ever downloading.)
* Install a router with NAT.

I'll check out Magic Mail Monitor. I might change but I've been using
Outlook Express using the typical security options (including text only
email). Maybe I'll stick with it. Time will tell.

Consider your exposure, risk, and consequences to evaluate cost/benefit
ratio of protection. Count your time as part of the cost of protection.

I don't really mind putting the time in now. But once it's in place I
want to automate as much as possible so I don't have to do a lot of
regular matience.

Consider that the vast majority of Identity thefts do not involve malware or
the target's use of personal computers.

I know you're right. I've been online for years and years and never
once had a virus or a trojain or anything. But who wants to roll the
dice on getting their bank account cleaned out? Ha Ha

I think I pretty much know what I need now. I just have to get it
done. I'm not trying to launch us into a public debate, but if you
have any software recommendations before I break out my wallet, I'm all
ears.

Thanks again,

Jim

 

[edgewalker]

As a matter of trivia, I thought there was at one time some kind of
malware that survived reformatting. Didn't sound true when I heard it,
maybe because it wasn't. Perhaps it was a quick format or perhaps the
virus hid out in one of the non-active partitions and later reinstalled
itself.

Reformatting does not remove (overwrite) malware in the MBR (Boot Sector Infector).
This is probably what you were thinking about. BSI's are very rare now and don't even
work with the more modern OSes.

Re-imaging the drive from a backup image (including the boot sector) will overwrite any
malware in the MBR (but there probably isn't any anyways).