Which Antivirus, Antispyware & Firewall You Use?

[ProtoMan 0]

I am using :Spy Sweeper 5.0Bit Defender 9 Internet SecurityOutpost Firewall ProSame as becibear , I was uing Norton Anti-virus but it really sucked , slowed my Computer seriously , nearly crashed it . I really like Spy Sweeper for its Spy Shield .

[torres1287 0]

Spybot - Search & DestroyLavasoft Ad-Aware SE PersonalWindows AntispywareWindows FirewallNorton AntivirusBazookaCisco Clean AccessRegistry Mechanic (Not really antispyware/antivirus, but for those nasty ones that like to get in the registry!)You can tell I have NO tolerance. :-)Have a great day everyone!

[Kyro 0]

You can tell I have NO tolerance. :-)

torrest1287 i suggest you take another look at your "defense/repair" setup.

 

Norton Anti-virus does not detect, block or remove infections anywhere near the standard that you should be expecting from a package that costs that much. Try uninstalling Norton and moving to a more comprehensive software package. For example, NOD32, Avast or even BitDefender. Each of these out perform Norton, system resource wise and virus treatment wise. Not to mention the added bonus that each of them cost a lot less than Norton does.

 

Windows Firewall is not a true firewall. It will stop basic TCP requests, but can be easily bypassed.

It also doesn't have the ability to block Outgoing connections.

I would suggest you take a look at some of the stronger firewalls, ZoneAlarm (http://www.zonealarm.com/), Tiny (http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/).

ZoneAlarm has been one of the industry leaders in personal firewalls.

Ranging from their Free version to their Security Suite.

Tiny is a very light (1.28MB) firewall but provides extremely strong protection from Incoming and Outgoing.

 

Registry Mechanic, Spybot - Search & Destroy, Lavasoft Ad-Aware SE Personal and Windows Antispyware are only required if you have poor restrictions on what you do and do not allow on your system. If you are constantly needing to use these software packages then you should take a look at your own policies and try and make changes, for example migrating to a more secure Browser (or locking down the one you already have), creating for the users on your system a Limit account in which they will do most of their work, and if they need to install something or change a system file then they will have to do it under the admin account, resulting in another level of security for your system.

 

For myself personally my setup is as follows:

N.A.T Firewall (hardware) --> DHCP Linux Server with software firewall --> Personal Computer(s)

 

Personal Computer(s) setup:

Limit-access user accounts.

ZoneAlarm Security Suite

NOD32 Anti-virus

Note: On my systems all programs that can access the internet are being logged on the Server Firewall, or the Personal System Firewall.

I do not allow any programs apart from NOD32 and ZoneAlarm to run on startup, I tend to be rather annoyed when a program sets itself to run on startup when i didn't tell it to, and it normally ends up being removed. I have a stripped down version of Windows XP Pro (no games, message programs, etc) and i keep a regular System Image so if by some will-of-god my system becomes damaged, i can re-image it to exactly how it was before.

 

On top of this my data is kept secure in a Encrypted Volume, I use TrueCrypt to do this.

-Creates a virtual encrypted disk within a file and mounts it as a real disk.

-Encrypts an entire hard disk partition or a storage device such as USB flash drive.

-Encryption is automatic, real-time (on-the-fly) and transparent.

-Provides two levels of plausible deniability, in case an adversary forces you to reveal the password:

1) Hidden volume (steganography – more information may be found here).

2) No TrueCrypt volume can be identified (volumes cannot be distinguished from random data).

-Encryption algorithms: AES-256, Blowfish (448-bit key), CAST5, Serpent, Triple DES, and Twofish.

Mode of operation: LRW (CBC supported as legacy).

Quote Direct from http://truecrypt.sourceforge.net/.

 

I highly recommend TrueCrypt to anyone who is interested in Encryption or wants to keep sensitive data extremely secure.

Anyway that is what i use and recommend.

[djXternal 0]

What Antivirus software, antispyware software, and firewall do you use?
I currently use AVG Free, Spybot: Search & Destroy, and Windows Firewall. [/color]

AVG Free, Spybot: Search and Destroy Along With Windows Defender, Only the firewalls in my routers

[torres1287 0]

Nice setup Kyro! I am behind Cisco Clean Access. The university has that set up and it scans everything for viruses and the like. That thing is like the god of firewalls. (LOL) Plus, we are on an internal type network that nothing but students and university people can access.I usually never find anything on those scans when I'm connected to the internet via the university. I will look into what you said about those other programs. They look pretty slick. :-) Thanks!Have an awesome day everyone!

[sujith 0]

I am currently running NOD32 on my PC with ZoneAlarm Pro firewall before that I was using Kaspersky Anti virus 6.0 it was really good and doesn't have any problem but every one was talking about NOD32 so I want to check it..it is extremely light and functional.Currently I am not running any Anti Spyware but will install Windows Defender, Spybot S&D , Ad aware SE etc

[slothin 0]

Nice setup there Kyro. I might actually try it when I have the spare time to do it.I use Antivirus : Antivir, antispyware: Lavasoft Adaware,S&D Firewall : Zonealarm Pro. And router's NAT/firewall to go with. I made the switch from Sygate to Zonealarm, since sygate have stopped updating their firewall.

[Quatrux 4]

Well, as I am using Windows and didn't really have any viruses, except for one time when I tried to use a crack for a game, but that was a long time ago.. For security I just use NOD32 and think it really "does" something.. Don't have any problems with it and it doesn't take all the cpu time.. I also have ClamWin Free Antivirus installed just for fun, even though it is not recommended to have two antivirus applications.. Who cares.. For spyware I have Spybot search and destroy and Lavasoft Adaware, but the main purpose for it is to protect my registry. Also I ma using Spyware guard, I read that it is good for protecting holes in Explorer.. and the last thing I have is Zone labs Firewall which with time becomes a really good Firewall, even though now when I am behind a rooter I don't really need to be afraid about this. :)So my setup looks like this:NOD32,ClamWin Free Antivirus,Spyware Guard,Spybot Search and Destroy,Lavasoft Adaware + Ad-Watch,Zone Labs Firewall..

[talktime 0]

I use E trust antivirus package. This includes zone alarm firewall. and k9 security pack which prohibit access to certain sites.I bought it at staples for $ 40 with $40 rebate (i havent received it yet). I think this is a better choice because relatively fast operation than norton and the best firewall of zone alarm included for cheap price.

[torres1287 0]

Rebates are great things. So, how does Zone Alarm and K9 security compare to Spybot - Search & Destroy, Lavasoft Ad-Aware SE Personal, Windows Antispyware, Windows Firewall, Norton Antivirus, Bazooka? If you don't know, that's okay...just wondering. :-)Have a great day everyone!

[unimatrix 0]

Mac OS X

[tezza 0]

I use Norton System Works. I think its great. The first time I installed it I had problems when opening Word. However I fixed these issues and find it great.As for spyware I use Spyware Doctor.

[iGuest 3]

I use Zone alarm free firewall and avast home edition for anti virus and spy ware terminator for spyware

[Grafitti 0]

I had been running NOD32 for a long time. But when this virus came out, (creates a file called RavmonE.exe) NOD32 just wouldn't catch it. it spread over flash disks and pgp disks, and pretty soon every computer in the house was infected. So when i upgraded my computer, i thought i'd try Kaspersky. It really is good, and it does catch everything, but everything slowed to a crawl with that running. I went for the complete suite of protection options, not just the antivirus, so maybe that had something to do with it, but still it was annoying, because i have a dualcore 2.8 machine now, and it was running at the same speed as my P3 laptop. And so I had this frustratingly slow machine, that in addition would always pop up warnings for everything. It was the anti-hacker, and it had either almost total access, and the next level of protection was learning mode. but even with that, every time i would open any program it would make me go through at least 3 different warnings, and sometimes 5 or more. So while it was great for security, it was useless because i got so frustrated i ended up turning it off. The same thing people complain about Vista for. So i gave up on KAV, and went back to NOD32, which at least lets me run my system as it's supposed to, and so far has only failed me in that one virus.

[tansqrx 0]

Currently I have Norton 2005 installed but I am in search of better things (the reason that I am reading this thread). I think the whole line of Norton products help to protect your computer very well. I would feel very safe recommending it to my own mother or grandmother. It has found absolutely everything that has come in its path and that is exactly the problem.Norton has become somewhat of a dictator when it comes to anything suspicious on your computer. It’s Norton’s way or the highway. This is fine as long as you only use your computer for routine tasks, for power users this becomes a problem because “hacktools” are found and dealt with very harshly. Some tools that I consider useful has fallen prey to Norton and it has become a massive headache every time Norton finds one of them. I have taken to installing some programs into an encrypted drive and I never run a full system scan.Norton is great for your grandmother. It will find EVERYTHING. Since this I think I will install AVG and Kerio. Wish me luck.