FIREWALL
I had been a big fan of Zone Alarm for
years. I have purchased licensing for full featured product.
Windows Firewall is too easily defeatable IMHO and not as stealthy as I
prefer.
For you tech toddler's out there, a Firewall
guards the ports of your PC. Imagine an old time switchboard with the wires
and plugs for connections. You don't want just anyone plugging into
your switchboard and listening to your internet business. The Firewall
stands guard and inspects where info is coming from and going to.
The best ones go one further ... it ignores unwanted incoming pings and
prods so the internet actually doesn't realize that your computer is even
on the internet. Cool beans, right?
I had two problems with Zone Alarm.
They removed the easy and convenient STOP button that disconnected your
PC from the internet while you went to pee. And they auto billed
me via PayPal by surprise (to me) at a higher cost than they were offering
on their homepage. Buh-bye.
I recommend COMODO FIREWALL.
It is less annoying while learning your internet needs and allows, and
if you want, it displays much more network information than it's competitors.
It also allows you to stop new traffic and work on what you already have
going (Downloads) or shutters the connection until you tell it to go online.
You can test your Firewall on a handy site
called
SHIELDSUP! by GRC.COM
It will test common ports, all service
ports, Windows annoying messenger service and much more. Try it out
once just to hear it tell you that you are completely stealth on the internet
and how cool it is that you ignore errant incoming requests. Makes you
warm and fuzzy.
ANTI-VIRUS 
Surely you know something about AV's.
Basically what information you do allow into your PC is checked by your
AntiVirus This works by comparing the information to a list of sites
and algorythyms known to be harmful. If there is a match, it will
be quaranteened and you will be notified. If you cannot be sure of
what you have downloaded then accept it's wisdom. There are rare
false-positives but do not fool yourself because it sounds really cool.
Other things like certain core utilities and serial cracks will get flagged
because they behave badly by design.
People are misled a lot when one program
finds things or doesn't find things and another finds a few more.
Does this make the second one better? Not neccesarily, This
is because they do not all work from the same lists. Each company
develops their own. This is why you should not go with just one.
But the rule of thumb is, it is unwise
to run more than one live as an up-to-the-minute sentry. Mainly because
AntiVirus programs also are fiddling in a way that sets off alarms for
other AV's. It's the nature of the beast.
Ask any good tech and they will tell you
Norton, the leading corporate AV solution has sunk to a new level of craposity.
It basically blows now. If you ask a soft bellied bearded tech, he
will wax on about how great Peter Norton was and what a godsend NAV was
when he built, owned and developed it. then he wrote a couple hundred books,
sold it and it's declined ever since.
There are many free solutions that are
more than capable to do your dirty work. I have recommended and loaded
AVG
on clients system, and AVIRA. Either of them work in a live environment.
They offer some Spyware coverage as well. Recently I have taken a
look at an old friend that I thought was down for the count. AD-AWARE.
Any of these three should be sufficient for your needs. I apologize
to the Gateheads but I can't trust Microsoft's light, late additions to
the game, though using them as well shouldn't be a problem.
STATIC ANTI-VIRUS
It doesn't hurt to run a full scan now
and then with a secondary stand alone AV program. New to the game
are one's that use "CLOUD" servers to analyze suspected files. A
problem with infections is the more clever ones either shut down your AV
program or in Norton's and others, make s it look like it's updated and
doing it's job, but it isn't.
I suggest trying out and purchasing HITMAN
PRO 3.5, which will do a quick scan at startup and whenever requested
by you. By checking the files on a set of Cloud servers means the
infection cannot screw with it. And it can be run without being in
safemode or Cmdline.
The other favorite is Housecall by
TrendMicro. It is a web based java scan that has brought back more than
a few hopeless blue screened losers from the brink of format and restore.
The online scan is free.
Note: Never never freaking ever click on
a free PC scan pop up, especially if it looks all Microsoft official. Get
to know your security pop up styles and refute all others.
When browsing and you get one, carefully check that the mouse icon osn't
a fingered hand all over the box instead of just over the corner X. Better
yet, do like I do and hit Alt-F4 to close the box abruptly.
UTILS
TO USE WHEN INFECTED
I recommend loading these product to have
at the ready when trouble strikes.
-
MALWAREBYTES (Other kinds of
Malware, trojans, backdoors)
-
CCLEANER (Removes histories,
temp files, internet caches...etc)
-
HiJACKTHIS (Creates a snapshot
of your PC for troubleshooting)
When infected, use them along with HouseCall
and HitmanPro. Then whatever is found, "Google" it to see how to
be sure it is completely removed. Clever trouble makers will morph
into new named files at every use making it harder to nail down and destroy.
Some need secial instructions and programs. (Just don't get fancy and click
on advertised scans on these pages. Even if they really scan they
won't help until you dish out 29.95 and you don't need to.
Make sure you always update the definitions.
On a side note: CCLEANER has some
nifty free tools built in. There is a registry cleaner but I caution
you to use it sparingly. While a clean registry is admirable, there
is always the slightest change something needed might slip through.
The average user cannot always tell what the gibberish means and one deleted
system entry can render your computer OS useless. Capish?
HiJackThis! scans a snapshot of
what is going on in your PC. Make one right away (Save it as a text file)
and if malware is plagueing you, make another to compare. Basically
it is very useful for geeks who try to help you online when your at your
wits end.
SPYWARE
Mainly the difference is ... Virus', Greyware,
Malware, Trojans, BackDoors are viciously coded buggers that either try
to destroy your computer or extract info from it. Other times it uses it
to do it's dirty work such as server attacks and so forth.
Spyware may have elements of the same,
but it's main attraction is to disturb you by opening the door to errant
attacks of adverts for Viagra and Mail order Brides. Scams and more scams.
Most security programs cover a variety
of protection but there are programs mainly for one and for the other.
Also browsers now have started helping out (Like when Firefox stops a page
from loading because it is unsecure or flagged for being a malware site
in disguise.
AdAware is a good example of a product
that tries to handle a variety of trouble. I find most Spyware programs
to be over colorful and talkative. But I have been using SuperAntiSpyware
for a while. SPYBOT S&D seems to have outlived it's
usefulness. The free version of SuperAntiSpyware is run on demand
and only the paid version runs live all the time.
BROWSER
Don't kid yourself, there is a browser
war going on. Microsoft's IE (Internet Explorer) cannot be
removed (clever anti-trust move) but should never be seriously considered
as a safe browser. At least not yet. IMHO.
As you may of heard, FireFox is
again a hearty competitor in the browser wars. (Mozilla-Spyglass-Netscape
... remember Netscape?) Now Mozilla is back with FireFox, It
is faster and cleaner and safer to be sure, but damn, it updates soo often.
And for me it changes my homepage with every major version auto update.
Google Chrome has made a splash
as well and is a rising star. With it's hipster Web 2.0 and HTML 5 chrominess
... hard to resist? TRY HARDER! Google owns about half
of everything technical now and is determined to mine every bit of information
out of you as it possibly can. Google is the Facebook of browsers
and Facebook is the Google of social media.
Now if you really must taste that Googly
Chrominess I recommend COMODO DRAGON. It is a wonderful browser
built on Google Chrome API. I am not sure if Goog has it's greasy
meat hooks into your information via their API, and it wouldn't surprise
me, but it just feels better to shun the industry leaders. And you
will love COMODO DRAGONS settings and layout. Very clean and very fast.
And Opera is still out there as
well along with a hundred others. Way back I reviewed a slew of browsers
mainly to view web page differences in client's sites, and it really ran
the gamut from "Okay" to "Okay, how do I uninstall this mess?"
My preference in order from best to least
-
Comodo Dragon
-
FireFox
-
Opera
-
InternetExplorer
SEARCH
ENGINE
I'll be brief here.
Google Search has amazing interactive
doodle things on notable dates and unless you fudge it all up with iGoogle
crap, it is still pretty clean. Before Google a site caled AltaVista
was all the rage. They invented clean interface. They are still
around but no idea how their search algarythym functions.
Yet, Google who had an amazing system of
finding and sorting your searches has now fiddled the hell out of it. Corporations
now pay for placement, hackers try new ways of upping their sites.
When you search for Grateful Dead you may get top returns from Euthanasia
adverts to Pet Cemetaries. Balderdash, I say.
Bing? Bang! Burn!
Yahoo, MSN, AOL and the other dozen?
Cluttery old school crap. They are "all-in-one" mine fields of ads and
clutter, news and infotainment ... you went there for something specific
didn't you?
If you have heard of DuckDuckGo.com
then consider yourself slick. You hipster you. A one man developed
tour-de-force, this search engine works fine. Culling info from it's self
and others behind the scene. Ultra clean and even has a goofy logo.
You can even target other engines from the input ...such as ... BUSH
SR. PUKING IN JAPAN !bi This will return images from
Bing by adding the !bi
Most importantly it is dedicated to your
privacy by not saving anything from your usage. It is this policy
that caused it's usage to triple just a few days after Google annouced
they planned to collect and combiner all your info (your emails in and
out, all your youtube watched histories, all your search engine entries,
Your Google+ convos) in order to more efficiantly deliver you relevant
ads that you never click on. Trouble is with recent laws passed allowing
the government to peruse these dosiers along with phone company information
and ISP internet usage, it's just an easy easy abundance of personal information
in which to "misunderestimate" one's intentions. Comedians know what
I am talking about.
Okay, screw it, I wasn't brief. I
recommend you try DuckDuckGo for a week and you'll adopt it as I
did.
MUST
HAVES
I whole heartedly recommend these
add ons
VuePrint for photos and slideshows.
It's now free! I have used it since 1997. It's not suppose to be photoshop
but it's one tiny file, no installation needed. Drop it in your Windows
directory and it delivers a very fast huge job. Can be easily shared
on photo CDs and such. You'll thank me, really.
Media Classic Player for videos.
Windows Media Player usd to be great ... about 5 years ago. Now it's
a gigantic mess that tries to do too much ...poorly. If you bekon
for the days of yore when the product did just what it was supposed to
do, then I recommend Media Classic Player or the newest version Media Classic
Player - Homecinema which also plays DVDs.
WinAmp for music files. The first
and still a top contender. Although plenty of skins and addons, keeping
it simple is keeping it real, It's not a freaking summer home, you
just want to play CDs and MP3's.
InternetOff
Even though COMODO Firewall has an on
off switch for your internet connection, This tiny program will make it
easy to do such. It runs in your bottom right taskbar and simply
disables your net card which severs your internet connection. then toggles
it back to enable.
MAJOR
FREE ALTERNATIVES
Open source programming is a collective
endeavor to create entire suites of programs where the code is available
for inspection and changes encouraged. Some groups adopt a version
and take off their own way. This is how the OS Linux works, survives and
improves. Some favorites:
LibreOffice Can't afford Microsoft
Office but want all the tools? And would like to be able to share Microsoft
documents along with most others? Well Microsoft isn't keen on this
idea but here it is. It even opens and saves .docx files and has
all the same suite tools as MS Office 10.
GIMP Can't afford Photoshop
CS5? Gimp is a powerful powerful photoshop like program that does
have a learning curve but the price is well worh it. Free. Heck, if you
never had Photoshop then it has the same learning curve. Enjoy.
PrimoPDF by Nitro. Want to
read PDF's? Well use Adobe Reader like the rest of the world. Ah, but want
to edit and create PDF's? Use PrimoPDF. easy and breezy and works
likea charm. Integrates with your browser as well. When installing
go slow and uncheck any toolbar add-ons and say no to installing Nitro
PDF Reader because you probaly have Adobes already.
COOPERWEB
APPS, UTILITIES, GAMES
I'm a tour-de-force. Check out my freeware,
Just ignore the unobtrusive handy PayPal donation links. Who wants a few
bucks out of gratitude for hundreds of hours of trying to make the internet
smile? Besides me, that is.
WORDS
OF WISDOM
Adopt safe surfing habits. No combination
of security tools can absolutely keep you safe so don't develop a false
sense of security.
-
Only download files from major reputable places
like Cnet Download.com, MajorGeeks, Gizmodo Freeware and companies like
HP, Dell, Microsoft ..etc.
-
Keep your programs clean and simple, don't
yuck it up with add-ons, gadgets, things less pertaiing to what it is for.
-
Always scan your friends USB drive before
copying and running files from it. (Easy to right-click the drive and choose
Scan with ... from menu)
-
Stay away from BitTorrent, Limewire and P2P
sites as they are rife with infections ... really bad ones too. Never click
on a site advertising Serials and Cracks. Always check the address of a
site you have "Googled" before clicking. Opt for the official sites or
reputable over others.
-
Don't run things attached to emails that you
weren't expecting. Some clever ones are in .zip files and addressed
from either your bank, UPS or FEDEX.
-
Always "Google" names and programs you haven't
heard about. See if SCAM and TROJAN comes up on the first few pages.
-
Never accept toolbars when installing programs.
Even mainstream apps like Flash and Java which try to get you to
install their or other tool bars. When installing READ EACH SCREEN before
proceding.
There you go. Suggestions for other
tech articles?
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