What is the best security software?

[crawlerbasher]

Which security software out there do you think is the best one?
I'm talking about all aspect like anti-virus, firewall, spy-ware detector etc...

And what do you use?

At the moment I'm trying something different and using the Virgin media security tool.

 

[Sleinous]

I have Bt Net protect plus (basically its McAfee suite) comes with option 3 of bt total broadband.

I also have Sophos Antivirus provided by my Uni. Obviously dont use it as I have mcafee so my brother uses that now.

Norton isnt too bad.

Avast pro, NOD32 is another good one.

As an essential, the microsoft one is a must, its way better than it used to be and atleast protects you from the usual spam and spyware ones, not so much the hardcore people that want to mess up your pc for good.

 

[Gishank]

I personally use ESET's Smart Security which includes ESET's NOD32, it's a great all-around protection system and uses very little resources.

 

[Sleinous]

Oooh, didn't realise ESET owned NOD32 Thanks

 

[MoshiMoshi]

No such thing as the 'perfect' antivirus out there. Go with what you're comfortable with and have confidence in. There's always free trials out there for you to try.

That's my recommendation to a lot of people.

 

[Al.Neri]

I personally use ESET's Smart Security which includes ESET's NOD32, it's a great all-around protection system and uses very little resources.

I use that, but I always wonder if it's actually doing its job. I don't get any warnings about successful/blocked attacks, and since I've been using it, it's only ever found one suspect file.

so either it's bulletproof, or it's not detecting viruses at all.

 

[brodle]

I,ve been using Zone Alarm for years now, Anti Virus, Firewall, Spyblocker, Cache Cleaner, Email Scanner , The Lot

It's now owned by Check Point, better then Norton, Black Ice defender and it alerts you too what's going out of your computer, Don't rob all your ram like Norton does, If you don't beleive me have a read up here http://grc.com

http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-gb/home.htm?lid=en-gb

 

[Gorman]

using the Virgin media security tool.

Ouch.

The best protection online is knowledge. Get a basic AV like MSE, turn the firewall on your router on and develop a healthy paranoia about suspicious pages / emails.

Despite what they market all security solutions are reactive, there is no such thing as security online. No security software can defend against a threat unless it has already been spotted in the wild and reported to the big security houses.

So if a trusted website has been hacked and malicious code is being delivered through it theres nothing you can do.

 

[Gishank]

@Al.Neri;
I find ESET's security suite does it's job well. It does pick up viruses before they get onto your system aswell as if they get on to your system and past any security defense, also it does protect you with its on-board firewall. The firewall however doesn't provide messages about blocked attacks, though you can view these in its logs via the program.

 

[brodle]

I agree with Gorman, Hardware firewall on your router is one of the best defences as long as it's configued correctly, Still need a software firewall and anti virus for the software side though.

I leant about firewalls in the old days before routers by using a packet sniffer after being hacked time and time again and Zone Alarms was the only one that was able to inform me what was going out on the ports.

Error with caution before opening attachments on emails and be careful if you download torrents, I don't have a lot of hassle with viruses and havn't been hacked for many years.

There's a free Zone Alarm, try it and it's not a trail version, These guys are good! Anybody that knows about security has heard of Zone Alarm or Checkpoint