Comments on: Ask The Readers: Recommended Security Software

By: Mike J

Mike J — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 22:29:23 +0000

I try to keep up w/ this stuff & have tried a lot of utilities. Currently, I use Comodo FW, Avast AV, Spyware Doctor (free version), & Threatfire. I also use a variety of scanners such as Malwarebytes and a-squared; they can save your bacon if you get a trojan or something. Oh, also WinPatrol, which no one should be without. The start-up control is like a better msconfig.

By: Bruno

Bruno — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 11:14:13 +0000

all the time :
avast!
ZoneAlarm
my brain! :D

regulary :
IE Privacy Keeper => to clean up surf sessions
http://www.unhsolutions.net/IE-Privacy-Keeper/index.html

sandboxie => to surf everywhere
http://www.sandboxie.com/

eraser => to completely remove sensitive data
http://www.heidi.ie/node/6

vidalia bundle => to surf “anonymously”, it’s a GUI for Tor
http://www.vidalia-project.net/

User agent switcher =>
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/59

Bruno

By: Todd Schnitt

Todd Schnitt — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 02:23:44 +0000

I had been happily using the AVG $uite and it recently came time to renew. I tried out the newest version (8.0 I believe) and was disappointed to learn it has become bloatware in its own right.

I tried Norton 2009 and yes it’s less bloated than it has ever been, but that doesn’t mean it’s not bloated. I tried several other suites and it’s all bloat, as well as bog down from way too intensive resident or surf scanning.

I decided to go the free route and tried Comodo Suite. Didn’t like the AV portion but the firewall is rock solid. So I ended up with Comodo Firewall Pro and AVG Free AV (not the bloat of the latest suite)and so far so good.

Also use Spybot and WinPatrol

By: krishna

krishna — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:57:14 +0000

1)Comodopro for firewall
2)Avast antivirus.
3)Ashampoo burning studio 6 for cd/dvd/blu-ray writing softwares

By: Julian Knight

Julian Knight — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:20:17 +0000

TrueCrypt – my laptop is fully encrypted now & so I can worry less about loosing it with all of that valuable data.

KeePass – Keep all of your passwords and id’s safe.

LastPass – Just started using this. It shares ids and passwords between multiple browsers and machines. The data is sent/received/stored encrypted on a server and only decrypted in-browser. I don’t trust it enough to replace Keepass for my online banking but it has replaced FireFox and IE password stores. Really handy.

By: Jiggles

Jiggles — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:05:55 +0000

Oh, yeah DropMyRights – for those who like to run as admin in XP.

By: Jiggles

Jiggles — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:02:56 +0000

Some good ones not mentioned above:

Peerguardian/Moblock with bluetack lists.

UnHackMe – the single greatest piece of anti-crap software ever! Of the dozens of infected systems I’ve run this on, within seconds they’re clean.

Secunia PSI

Other than that, LINUX

By: raakii

raakii — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:17:44 +0000

Normal: Nod32+Sandboxie
Test: Shadowuser+AltirisSVS[Trying Comodo Diskshield BETA]
On-Demand: Superantispyware , MBAM
Recovery: DriveSnapshot
Edit/Delete Message

By: Lowlander

Lowlander — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:07:50 +0000

Comodo Firewall on main machine
PC Tools Firewall on Laptop
Both Excellent & FREE

I do not use Anti-virus software.
Had 1 virus about 8 years ago, since then have used
Mailbox Dispatcher (Free)
http://www.anti-spam-tools.com/?ref=About
Delete mail directly on the server, the best weapon to avoid infection.
An alternative is DreamMail which can also performs this function but it seems no longer supported. I still use it for 1 hidden mailbox I have.

By: shammax

shammax — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 21:40:23 +0000

some obviously don’t know the meaning of free

By: MB1

MB1 — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:36:38 +0000

Avira Antivir Personal
Comodo Firewall
Malwarebyte’s Anti-Malware
Spybot S&D
Hijack This
Gmer
The Avenger
Key Scramble

By: venkat

venkat — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:21:28 +0000

For antivirus
Avast
For anti-spyware
PC Tools Spyware Doctor Starter Edition
For malwares and Trojans
Malwarebytes antimalware

By: Syber

Syber — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:03:12 +0000

I am using these security software with my computer now:
Firewall: Outpost firewall
Antivirus: NOD32
Additional: Threatfire
Firefox Add-on: Noscript
ZoneAlarm ForceField

By: Twylyte

Twylyte — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:33:20 +0000

First of all… Great site Martin… You’ve got it together. ;)

Browser:
Firefox http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/
+NoScript https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722
+Flashblock https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/433

Firewall:
Comodo Firewall Pro http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/
ThreatFire http://www.threatfire.com/

Antivirus:
AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition http://free.avg.com/download?prd=afe
Clamwin Free Antivirus http://www.clamwin.com/

Antispyware:
SpywareBlaster http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
Spybot-S&D + Hosts file http://safer-networking.org/en/index.html
SUPERAntiSpyware http://www.superantispyware.com/?rid=3011
Spyware Terminator http://www.spywareterminator.com/download/download.aspx

Cleaners:
CCleaner http://www.ccleaner.com/
MRU-Blaster http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/mrublaster.html

By: Bill

Bill — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 09:00:40 +0000

For those who have kids :)
K9webprotection
http://www1.k9webprotection.com/
Returnil (I prefer this to Windows SteadyState)
http://www.returnilvirtualsystem.com/rvspersonal.htm
Glubble
http://www.glubble.com/

By: techandlife

techandlife — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:00:25 +0000

Antivirus:
AVG Free: http://free.avg.com/download-avg-anti-virus-free-edition

Antispyware:
SUPERAntiSpyware: http://www.superantispyware.com/
Malwarebytes:
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php

Firewall:
ZoneAlarm Free:
http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/catalog/products/zonealarm_free_firewall_b.jsp

By: ak

ak — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:30:11 +0000

No script,Avira free,Sandboxie(i like this app a lot).
No software firewall.Like them but have not found one that can deal with high speeds for utorrent and not eating cpu.
For paid Norton 2009 is a pleasent surprise beeing very light but it’s too expensive,and Avira Suite or Kis2009
And of course common sense.
Other good free programs that i’ve tried:returnil,threatfire

By: shamilbi

shamilbi — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:30:16 +0000

Comodo Firewall
Putty (ssh client)
ClamWin (antivirus)
NoScript (for Firefox)
Runscanner (search for suspicious stuff)
xp-AntiSpy (registry stuff)
Password Safe
a2Free (search for suspicious stuff)
WinPatrol (watcher)
Starter (startup editor)

By: g

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 03:43:09 +0000

Avira
http://www.free-av.com/

Spyware Terminator
http://www.spywareterminator.com/

Winpatrol
http://www.winpatrol.com/

All FREE!!

I have a list of tried and true freeware at my website.

By: Arp

Arp — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:21:36 +0000

+1 for the free Comodo Security Suite. otoh, I’ve never had a virus infection, so I dunno how well it works :-P