Antivirus And Firewall

[chishnfips]

Hi folks,

I am getting a new PC this week and want to load it up with a decent anti virus and firewall.. I am sick of using the FREE avast and avg ones as they are pants.

But what one do I get? I have a budget of £20 - £30. I have looked online but dont have a clue about the differences between them, to me its a minefield. Also what about the free Zone Alarm firewall is that any good or do these antivirus packages have firewalls built in to them.

CHeers for any help its much apreciated

chish

 

[Jonty]

My local Computer place recommends Kaspersky Antivirus. Seems to fit your criteria

 

[Verminator89]

I use BitDefender Antivirus 2009 and it works well. Tracks, finds and quarentines virus' often enough to keep me satisfied. Don't know if that says its good or my computer is weak and keeps getting them haha

 

[Darkstar]

Try Kaspersky or NOD32....the latter being my personal preference.

 

[chishnfips]

Okidoke, Iwas told by a friend all I really need is AVast Free, Windows 7 Firewall and adaware and spy bot search and destroy??

Does this sound ok, they reckoned buying an antivirus wasn't really worth it as you are only really paying for customer support. And the free ones are really just as good.

ALso another question I have is:

Once you have done a virus scan and say it picks stuff up and quarantines them, what do you do after that? Bin them or leave them in the quaratine folder?


cheers

 

[liamg1285]

i always use avast on m8s comps but personally use eset smart security and have done for the last 2 years and havent had 1 problem with it at all

 

[Curiosity101]

You dont need a firewall if you have decent anti virus + anti malware.

Personally the company I work for (an IT support company) uses ESET anti virus and malware bytes.

We used AVG for a long time until about 1 - 1.5 years ago when infections started getting through, we thoroughly tested ESET by trying to inflict a pc with as many virus ridden sites and pieces of software as possible.
We've recieved no support calls regarding viruses since the switch, and malware bytes catches 99% of the malware.

Once you have done a virus scan and say it picks stuff up and quarantines them, what do you do after that? Bin them or leave them in the quaratine folder?

With a good anti virus it shouldn't get as far as needing quarentining. But tbh it depends on what type of virus it is, many will reinstall themselves even if you click 'delete'. And they're the ones that need manual removal from the registry.

 

[Darkstar]

You dont need a firewall if you have decent anti virus + anti malware.

This is not true, you should use both anti-virus and a firewall as they serve different purposes.

 

[Curiosity101]

A firewall is only really there to examine out going information. If you have good anti virus and maleware then you wont have anything on your pc that is trying to send out passwords, key logs etc.
So no you don't need a firewall if you have decent protection (and encrypt your network).

I'm not saying the OP shouldn't get one if they want one, but just that in theory (and for many people I know in practice), they often cause more problems than they solve by blocking legit programs from sending info from your PC.

 

[Darkstar]

A firewall is only really there to examine out going information. If you have good anti virus and maleware then you wont have anything on your pc that is trying to send out passwords, key logs etc.
So no you don't need a firewall if you have decent protection (and encrypt your network).

I'm not saying the OP shouldn't get one if they want one, but just that in theory (and for many people I know in practice), they often cause more problems than they solve by blocking legit programs from sending info from your PC.

Sorry but your knowledge is severly lacking. A firewall is also there is prevent unwanted incoming connections, it's main reason for the average user isn't necessarily to examine outgoing information it's there to prevent unwanted incoming connections which neither anti-virus nor anit-malware will do. If I sit outside your house and attach to your network your anti-virus isn't going to do squat to prevent me from accessing your hardware and the information it contains. A firewall is an essential piece of kit and everyone should use one - this shouldn't even be being debated and I can't believe someone who purports to work for an IT company would even suggest such a thing.
As for encrypting your network - how can you say that many people in your experience have problems using a firewall but should encrypt the data flowing across their network. If they can't use a firewall they certiainly won't be able to adaquately set up any decent form of encryption.

What exactly do you do for this IT company?

 

[Curiosity101]

Sorry but your knowledge is severly lacking. A firewall is also there is prevent unwanted incoming connections, it's main reason for the average user isn't necessarily to examine outgoing information it's there to prevent unwanted incoming connections which neither anti-virus nor anit-malware will do. If I sit outside your house and attach to your network your anti-virus isn't going to do squat to prevent me from accessing your hardware and the information it contains. A firewall is an essential piece of kit and everyone should use one - this shouldn't even be being debated and I can't believe someone who purports to work for an IT company would even suggest such a thing.
As for encrypting your network - how can you say that many people in your experience have problems using a firewall but should encrypt the data flowing across their network. If they can't use a firewall they certiainly won't be able to adaquately set up any decent form of encryption.

What exactly do you do for this IT company?

Unwanted incoming connections wont happen if the network is encrypted. You wouldn't sit outside of my house and get on my home network... put it that way. I have MAC Filtering and WEP keys enabled for one and the network is hidden to anyone who doesn't know all the settings in the first place.

I never said the people who have had problems with firewalls can't use them. They can, they choose not to... and I'm not referring to business networks. The company I work for would never suggest a business didn't have a firewall installed. The OP isn't a business, they are asking as a personal user on a home network.

What I do for the company is web development and design. Nothing to do with technical support. Hence why the only thing I said which I mentioned that I worked for an IT support company was the recommendation for anti virus and anti malware software... I know that is what they use, I know why they use it, I know that they have thoroughly tested it and that we have enough customers that I feel happy to recommend it.

Who I work for has nothing to do with my own personal views of why a personal user on a home network doesn't need a firewall. I'm not continuing this discussion with you as clearly you are finding it hard to make the link between what is relevant and what isn't. And equally are making presumptions and slightly twisting what I'm actually saying.

I said it for the OP's benefit, if this makes them think twice and look into exactly what the alternatives are to just banging on a firewall which ends up causing little dramas every time it takes a dislike to a legit program trying to access the internet then great. Cause that's exactly what it was meant to do.

 

[Darkstar]

Feel free to leave the discussion whenever you like and accuse me of distorting your comments all you like too but the fact still stands - a firewall is esential whether your a business or a home user. I suggest you stick to web design and leave network infrastructure to others.
As for your network, hiding the SSID is always good practise but the fact that you're still using WEP says a lot. WEP is somewhere near useless since it can be cracked in minutes, in fact in seconds if you really know what you're doing. You'd be far better off using WPA/WPA2 if you have the choice.

As I said feel free to leave the discussion but please stop spouting off your opinion to others as though it's good practise - it's not, nowhere near it. If you want to go ahead and not bother with a firewall then so be it, your choice...but don't recommend ignoring good security to others, especially when they don't know any better and may take you at your word.

 

[chishnfips]

Guys guys guys, please.

Thank you, for coming onto the post and giving me your views its well appreciated, but please dont argue about it... say your piece and if you have a problem with what each other are sayinhg just pm me your points of view.

Would using avast free with zone alarm, adaware and malware bytes be a perfectly reasonable set up?

I was also told that windows 7 has a really good firewall built in and therefore have no need for zone alarm? Does that sound right?? I will be using a firewall as I reckon that I am better safe than sorry.

I appreciate both your opinions as you abviously both know more than I do. So thanks again,.

cheers

 

[Tech-Frog]

I find MalwareBytes AntiMalware + Eset Smart Security to be a rather bulletproof combo.

 

[kaivalagi]

Just thought it worth seconding Darkstars comments on firewalls, they are a necessary thing on top of anti-virus and malware software, especially when running Windows with it's various exploits that have been found over the years which hackers love to share .

Incoming connections come from a variety of sources, whether that be connecting to wi-fi (encryption helps but isn't 100% bullet proof) or through the internet when connected. Without a firewall protecting from incoming connections you can have someone port scanning your PC(s) looking for holes, which can lead to gaining access and stealing your browsing habits and logins and worse.

Now, if you are using a router with built in firewall that may be enough, but it will depend on the settings. Either using hardware or software firewalls, port forwarding should be restricted to known ports you have hardened etc if you know what you are doing. If not all incoming connections should be stopped allowing only outgoing connections to be made

I use Linux so don't really need a virus checker and malware suite as my PC is very locked down and Linux just isn't targetted for that reason and others. But even with a more secure OS by default I would still employ the use of a firewall.

That doesn't have to or need to be something like companies use such as a checkpoint firewall or alike, but something which can filter and block traffic on route before it can amount to anything...a lot of anti-virus solutions have software firewalls included, maybe one of those for windows would suit best?