OT - Calling PC security gurus

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:10 am

I bought a new laptop about a month ago and it came with a 30- trial of MacAfee which ran out a couple of days ago.

I did some research to try and determine what internet security software is best and the more I researched the more indecisive I became. Norton has some wifi security feature which I am attracted to but some of the reviews trashed Norton as being too bloated and a CPU resource hog. Kaspersky was rated as very effective but difficult to use. BitDefender also got good marks as did ZoneAlarm, TrendMicro, Panda, CA, and MacAfee. It seems each of the reviews favored different software products for various reasons … I assume that they are somehow biased. At Amazon all had bad reviews as well including the blue screen of death and being unable to uninstall and numerous nagging pop-ups, etc. All seem to be good and bad at the same time.

So does it matter which one? Should I decide on price and features alone? Anyone have a good unbiased source/link of reviews? Better yet, are any of you professional PC/network security folks that can paint a clearer picture of the various security software products currently available? I just know I can get better and more accurate info from the forum members here than PC World, PC Magazine, or CNET.

Thanks.

mindy · Post by **mindy** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:14 am

I've never found one security software that is the best and remains the best. There was a time (way back) when Norton was really good and not bloatware. Trend Micro seems to be fairly popular right now. There are also some decent freebies.

I don't believe there is a single "best".

Mindy

GumbyCT · Post by **GumbyCT** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:27 am

Agreeing with Mindy - all the biggies are pretty good as are some of the freebies you mentioned.

Norton Anti-Virus is good tho the rest of their package is what/why the bloatware - if you just don't install the rest, it will be fine, cuz it WILL take over your PC.

Price & Availability have long been my decision makers - until the next time.

I have a theory that claims these Anti-Virus Companies are the ones who keep viruses, malware, trojans, & spyware alive. If we didn't have new problems - they would just go out-of-business.

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:28 am

Wow! what the heck happened? All those Kaspersky posts just before I made my post?

Maybe that's one software I should stay away from?

So if there is no single best then I suppose it really does not matter then? Thanks Mindy.

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:35 am

DreamStalker wrote:I did some research to try and determine what internet security software is best and the more I researched the more indecisive I became.

Understandable. I bought the McAfee Office package a few years back. It was so awful that I had to reinstall Windows and reload everything. It was every bit as bad as any virus could have been. In my opinion the criticisms you've read are valid.

Mainly, the problem is Microsoft Windows though. If you're concerned enough about viruses, worms, pernicious websites and other assorted malware to want security software (and you should be), then you need to know that the best solution is a different operating system.

Regards,
Bill ( ... happily using Linux)

DreamStalker · Post by **DreamStalker** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:44 am

GumbyCT wrote:Agreeing with Mindy - all the biggies are pretty good as are some of the freebies you mentioned.

Norton Anti-Virus is good tho the rest of their package is what/why the bloatware - if you just don't install the rest, it will be fine, cuz it WILL take over your PC.

Price & Availability have long been my decision makers - until the next time.

I have a theory that claims these Anti-Virus Companies are the ones who keep viruses, malware, trojans, & spyware alive. If we didn't have new problems - they would just go out-of-business.

Based on all of the spam the forum just got hit with ... I think you are absolutely right about your theory. I was just starting to wonder if my post actually triggered the bot but looks like they spamed 10 minutes earlier while I was drafting my post.

NightHawkeye wrote:
DreamStalker wrote:I did some research to try and determine what internet security software is best and the more I researched the more indecisive I became.
Understandable. I bought the McAfee Office package a few years back. It was so awful that I had to reinstall Windows and reload everything. It was every bit as bad as any virus could have been. In my opinion the criticisms you've read are valid.

Mainly, the problem is Microsoft Windows though. If you're concerned enough about viruses, worms, pernicious websites and other assorted malware to want security software (and you should be), then you need to know that the best solution is a different operating system.

Regards,
Bill ( ... happily using Linux)

Yea, I would like to go Linux but the most important software I use only comes in bill gates version. I guess I need two pooters, one for internet and one for my important software ... what a mess

BarryKaraoke · Post by **BarryKaraoke** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:51 am

We have been using McAfee for several years (Enterprise Edition) and it has worked very well for us. I use it at home as well with no ill effects.

mindy · Post by **mindy** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 8:10 am

For those who want to run Linux and Windows (or Windows XP and Windows Vista] but want to use a single PC, there's "VMWare" and there may be other products as well. This one is aimed at businesses and I'm not sure if a single user can run it at home but if you're interested, you might want to check this out:

http://www.vmware.com/products/ws/

From the web site:

Use Multiple Operating Systems Concurrently on the Same PC
VMware Workstation 6 makes it simple to create and run multiple virtual machines on your desktop or laptop computer. You can convert an existing physical PC into a VMware virtual machine, or create a new virtual machine from scratch. Each virtual machine represents a complete PC, including the processor, memory, network connections and peripheral ports.

VMware Workstation lets you use your virtual machines to run Windows, Linux and a host of other operating systems side-by-side on the same computer. You can switch between operating systems instantly with a click of a mouse, share files between virtual machines with drag-and-drop functionality and access all the peripheral devices you rely on.

Some people where I work use this.

Mindy

NightHawkeye · Post by **NightHawkeye** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 8:22 am

DreamStalker wrote:Yea, I would like to go Linux but the most important software I use only comes in bill gates version. I guess I need two pooters, one for internet and one for my important software ... what a mess

Hmm ..., important software ... oxymoron? (just kidding)

Yeah, I like a few of the software packages for Windows too. I just run 'em in Virtual Box under Linux now. MS Office I run directly in Linux though via CrossOver Office. Games don't do well either way.

It took a while to get up to speed with Linux, but I can't imagine ever going back. Linux keeps getting better (one of the virtues of open source transparency), while Windows just keeps causing headaches.

Regards,
Bill

dmstangu · Post by **dmstangu** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 8:28 am

BarryKaraoke wrote:We have been using McAfee for several years (Enterprise Edition) and it has worked very well for us. I use it at home as well with no ill effects.

Ditto.

GreenIce · Post by **GreenIce** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 8:36 am

DreamStalker wrote:Yea, I would like to go Linux but the most important software I use only comes in bill gates version. I guess I need two pooters, one for internet and one for my important software ... what a mess

It's too bad, you have already bought a laptop PC. If not, I suggest you buy a Mac running Mac OS X, MacBook Pro to be exact. You can use Mac versions of Microsoft office or other commercial software, which most are not available on Linux. If is still not enough, you can run Windows under VMWare like what Mindy says.

My colleague runs virtual machine of XP on Mac. He install a XP virtual machine, make a backup copy. Everytime XP starts qiving problems, he backup the data. Trash the XP, copy a fresh XP from backup. Works like kleenex .

I have been using OS X since the first beta version came out. Due to my programming work, I have been using OS X for many years now. No virus, needless to say no need for anti virus.

mindy · Post by **mindy** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 8:43 am

Interesting about Macs and viruses (viri?). Although Macs generally don't get them, they are not impossible - saw a government cyber alert about a Mac virus just recently!

I used a Mac for awhile some time ago and found that when running many things at once (which I usually do), it was actually *less* stable than Windows! There are pros and cons to each.

Mindy

ozij · Post by **ozij** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 9:01 am

I've been using Kaspersky on my PCs for the last 2 years - after giving up on the - then - highly recommended ZoneAlarm.

I wouldn't call it the difficult to use. And what you need at home may be different than what you use in the enterprise - enterprise versions rely on perimeter protection that you don't necessarily have at home.

And then there's ESET NOD32 - http://www.eset.com/download/free_trial ... ad_int.php

O.

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 9:05 am

I personally don't use any of that stuff on my home computers. I'm careful where I go and what I open......and like to "live dangerously" ......but I've never been infected. I DO occasionally run AdAware to check for spyware, though.

However, I've used the software from this outfit to pull some of my clients' asses out of some bad situations at times (I downloaded the free versions for those cases).

http://www.grisoft.com/

If I was going to use something, THAT would probably be it. My ISP uses software by Postini/McAfee for e-mail filtering and at work we use Symantec for the desktops and some other stuff (by Barracuda Networks) for e-mail filtering. Any of them are only as good as the updates.

Den

GreenIce · Post by **GreenIce** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 9:13 am

mindy wrote:Interesting about Macs and viruses (viri?).
Mindy

Macs may not be immune to virus, no systems is but for the record, I have yet to encounter one. Even if there is a reported one, how many Mac virus(es) vs Windows viruses ?

IMO I find windows are more unstable than mac. For example, I have reinstall my home XP/PC more than 5 times and it is not just my PC, my friends and relatives, uggh ! At work, although there are many macs, hardly need to reinstall. Only install because of new versions of OS.

As for application unstablity, what were you using ?

OT - Calling PC security gurus

OT - Calling PC security gurus

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Re: OT - Calling PC security gurus

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