A simple rule for starters: only ONE security software application per purpose. Ignoring this rule most likely will mess up your system. One Anti Virus Software, one Firewall. Why? Because these programs are running constantly in the background, monitoring network traffic or file access. Two of them for the same purpose doesn't help security but will lead to a competition about computing resources (which are limited). We've seen computers that were so loaded with Virus Scanners that they were slowed down to being non-operative - which, kind of, defeats the purpose.

If you actually encounter an infection with malware that slipped through your security in most cases it's too late anyway to assign the cleaning job to software that running within your infected system. The hard disk should now be scanned from a clean system, that starts e.g. from a CD (or a floppy). You can find a link to such a system in the Web Links on this site.

Anti Virus Software

Whichever Anti Virus Software you're using (and you should be using one): keep it up to date! Make sure it updates itself on at least on a daily basis. "Isn't that a given?", you might ask - no, it's not, that's why we mention it.

Here's why: Do you remember when your computer was new and it was so conveniently loaded with pre-installed software that would run on a 60 day (or so) trial basis? Most likely an all-in-one security solution was among them (signature color probably yellow). It would keep your computer safe for 60 days. After that? Yeah, it would still start up, and monitor your computer in the background, it just wouldn't download the vital virus signature updates any more.

This is exactly the state we find a lot of customer computers in. This is even worse than no virus protection at all, because most of our customers thought they were safe (the software is still running!). Well, they were not, which is why they called us. An anti virus program that's not updated at least daily is worse than worthless. It's dangerous, because it lulls you into a false sense of security.

Personally we think that this sort of marketing should be banned at least for security software, because empirically it produces dangerously unsafe computers. For you that means: after the trial period either buy it or get rid of it and install an anti virus program of your choice.

How does it work?

Anti Virus programs use a file system based approach to protect your computer.They compare whatever they find on your hard disk against a daily updated list of virus signatures, sometimes implementing algorithms that recognize behavioral abnormalities (heuristic) in addition to the simple list comparison.

Normally there's one online scanning module that's running constantly in the background and monitors actual file system activity. Every file you access or write to the disk is being scanned to make sure nothing fishy makes its way into your system.

In addition to that they come with an offline scanning module that lets you scan you hard drive completely. A complete offline scan is recommended at least immediately after the installation of the program to establish a secure baseline.

Which one?

Pretty much every Anti Virus Software does its job and it's hard to recommend one specifically. E.g. Comcast, as well as Verizon (through AOL) provides a McAfee suite for its customers for free. That's a very good idea, we think, and you should probably choose it if you're a comcast cumtomer. It's an all-in-one solution and it covers even things like parental control. The downside is, that it is quite resource hungry and if your computer is, say, 3 years and older it will slow it down considerably.

Our choice is the free version of Avira Antivir, which has been in the market for a long time and has proven to be reliable in various tests, without slowing the computer down. It provides basic virus protection which is enough in most cases. The non-free version provides extended features, but keep in mind: there's no absolute security anyway. You can find the link in our Web Links section, if you want to give it a try.

Unlike some other security software it's easy (as opposed to almost impossible) do uninstall, just in case - which is a plus in our opinion.

Firewalls

When we talk about firewalls, we mean the personal desktop firewalls that you can install on your machine. Although they sport the fundamental flaw of being just another program on your computer (as opposed to a real firewall that's running on a separate machine and therefore is less vulnerable by whatever runs on your computer), they can be useful and add some quality to your security level.

Basically a firewall monitors network traffic to make sure only desired traffic gets through, and unwanted traffic is blocked - like a gatekeeper. There are different approaches as to how network traffic is monitored (kind of traffic, which program initializes it and so on) and the firewall therefore needs "rules" it applies then to the monitored traffic.

So, what do you need to know about this? The good news is: nothing, basically, if you're running a fully updated Windows System. Since Service Pack 2 Windows has a built in firewall, that does its job inconspicuously in the the back ground, without asking too many questions. It has a simple rule editor to add additional rules and exemptions for programs you might have installed on your system and when in doubt presents a dialog in which you are asked, if you want to grant the right to access the network interface to the respective program.

Moreover and even more important, Windows monitors, if the firewall is up and running and warns you if it's not. Make sure it is.

There is a plethora of third party firewalls you can purchase, remember only one at a time.

If you have any questions about Software Saecurity that haven't been answered in this article, please feel free to contact us, so we can complement this article or add an article in the FAQ section.