what security utilities should I have?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Carl
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Carl

I have windows Xp, which as everyone knows, is hackers
paradise without its updates and a battery of other
security programes to go with it. I have installed Panda
AV/firewall and spybot. Is there any other useful
utililties that I can install to icrease the level of
security on my machine? I understand there is at least
one other utility which complements spybot in preventing
spyware from entering the system in the first place. Can
anyone tell me what it is and may be suggests other
programes? Thanks
 
Carl said:
I have windows Xp, which as everyone knows, is hackers
paradise without its updates and a battery of other
security programes to go with it. I have installed Panda
AV/firewall and spybot. Is there any other useful
utililties that I can install to icrease the level of
security on my machine? I understand there is at least
one other utility which complements spybot in preventing
spyware from entering the system in the first place. Can
anyone tell me what it is and may be suggests other
programes? Thanks
Click to expand...

Ad-aware and Spybot are great for cleaning up spyware and Spybot has an
innoculate feature that works like SpywareBlaster by prohibiting a long
list of known browser extensions and controls from being installed or
run. SpywareGuard also watches in the background to prevent home page
hijacks and such.

Of course, you know to keep your AV up-to-date on a daily basis, keep
Windows updated using Automatic Updates and use a firewall, either a
hardware cable/DSL router or one of the great third-party firewalls or
just use Windows Firewall to block some vulnerable ports that are
difficult to impossible to turn off.

And get Quik-Fix from www.pivx.com to help guard IE from known threats.

And don't forget: don't trust anything -- not the To: address, not the
From: address, not the Subject: line and not the attachment. And don't
click on free software downloads without reading the entire user
agreement. And don't install Kazaa.
 
Hi Kent
Thanks for your prompt reply and the invaluable advice.
SpywareBlaster and SpywateGuard were the utilities I had
in mind but could'nt think of them. Just a couple of
queries if you don't mind:
Can installing all the utilities mentioned in your reply
together potentially cause conflict and instability in
win xp?
Why is Kazaa such a threat as not to be installed? I had
used it before extensively in other win xp systems to
download all sorts without noticing any problems or
breach within my system? Is other P2P alternative to
Kazaa which is more secure? Downloading is now an
essential part of computer us. P2P downloading is the
most effective way, or is it??

Thanks again
Carl
 
Greetings --

Given today's widely-publicized and well-known hostile Internet
environment, only a fool or a masochist would go on-line without both
a firewall and antivirus protection. To deal with issues caused by
any sort of "adware" and/or "spyware," two products that are quite
effective (at finding and removing this type of scumware) are Ad-Aware
from www.lavasoft.de and SpyBot Search & Destroy from
www.safer-networking.org/. Both have free versions. It's even
possible to use SpyBot Search & Destroy to "immunize" your system
against most future intrusions. I use both and generally perform
manual scans every week or so to clean out cookies, etc.

To learn more about practicing "safe hex," start with these links:

Protect Your PC
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/default.asp

Home Computer Security
http://www.cert.org/homeusers/HomeComputerSecurity/

List of Antivirus Software Vendors
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;49500

Home PC Firewall Guide
http://www.firewallguide.com/

Scumware.com
http://www.scumware.com/


Bruce Chambers
--
Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on
having both at once. - RAH
 
Carl said:
Thanks for your prompt reply and the invaluable advice.
SpywareBlaster and SpywateGuard were the utilities I had
in mind but could'nt think of them. Just a couple of
queries if you don't mind:
Can installing all the utilities mentioned in your reply
together potentially cause conflict and instability in
win xp?
Click to expand...

No, they all work together just fine because no two of them are doing
exactly the same thing, except Spybot innoculate and SpywareBlaster and
you end up with the sum of their innoculations, a good thing.
Why is Kazaa such a threat as not to be installed? I had
used it before extensively in other win xp systems to
download all sorts without noticing any problems or
breach within my system? Is other P2P alternative to
Kazaa which is more secure? Downloading is now an
essential part of computer us. P2P downloading is the
most effective way, or is it??
Click to expand...

So many of the files available via Kazaa have really nasty trojans that
cannot be removed by typical AV or anti-spyware software. You either
need a fresh install or a sophisticated anti-trojan tool like TDS-3 from
www.diamondcs.com.au to remove stealthy trojans downloaded via Kazaa.
You aren't guaranteed to get these badwares, but from my experience, it
is highly likely.
 
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