Best free internet protection sh'it?

It's something like if you want to stop the theif at your door by locking it versus leave the door open, have him steal some crap, then call the cops later and have a chance of getting your stuff back.

Only it's not, unless you're constantly downloading things 24/7, your door should only be open around the times you open it.
If you're smart on who you let in that door, you won't have much of a problem.

Only it's not, unless youy're constantly downloading things 24/7, yoyr door should only be open around the times you open it.
If youy're smart on who you let in that door, you won't have much of a problem.

Back doors and windows are ALWAYS free game whenever you have a connection to the internet. Oh this applies for the front door too, but that's more obvious =P

Back doors and windows are ALWAYS free game whenever you have a connection to the internet. Oh this applies for the front door too, but that's more obvious =P

It's not hard to protect yourself without real time protection. That's not to say that you shouldn't have it if you're extra cautious, but if you're worried about your system lagging with it then you don't really need it so long as you're using your common sense and have the scanner run annually for whatever slips past your judgment.

Back doors open if you're doing something wrong.
How many times does your real time protection tell you it got something on a daily basis? If it catches a lot of stuff, then you have a bigger problem on your hands that you should look into.

It's not hard to protect yourself without real time protection. That's not to say that you shouldn't have it if you're extra cautious, but if you're worried about your system lagging with it then you don't really need it so long as you're using your common sense and have the scanner run annually for whatever slips past your judgement.

Back door open if you're doing something wrong.

Apparently something called "hacks" doesn't occur to you. It's the axe or crowbar used to break down your door.

So let's say you have a router which you use to connect to the internet. It's protected by WEP encryption, a standard type readily available to anyone. Assuming viruses and the like don't exist, hooray, you're safe browsing the internet!

WRONG!!

Someone just cracks your encryption and gains access to your router, whether they're local or a million nodes away. It's already easy to see that they can compromise the router and do w/e the hell they want with it, and they're only a few steps away from fking over your computer.

WEP cracking is something an intermediate level computer programmer can do (I can't, but I understand the concepts behind it) and unfortunately it's pretty available for anyone looking for the software to do so. I only used WEP as an example; other encryption methods and protocols can be used, but who's to say they will be safe? No Such Agency might have already done so and are snooping around in your files right now (although they're much more successful at subverting security protocol than strongarming the encryption).

Them attackers don't care if your backdoor is open or closed. Spidey, I hope for your sake you don't keep anything valuable on that computer of yours, or you could be underestimating the attackers out in the world.


Usually in most security scenarios, people will just call it good when the value gained from attacking your computer is less than the value of the resources necessary to attack you. If said attack is only software, it's virtually free. If all they're doing is trying to compromise your computer and make your day miserable, they're going to jump at you.

Apparently something called "hacks" doesn't occur to you. It's the axe or crowbar used to break down your door.

So let's say you have a router which you use to connect to the internet. It's protected by WEP encryption, a standard type readily available to anyone. Assuming viruses and the like don't exist, hooray, you're safe browsing the internet!

WRONG!!

Someone just cracks your encryption and gains access to your router, whether they're local or a million nodes away. It's already easy to see that they can compromise the router and do w/e the hell they want with it, and they're only a few steps away from fking over your computer.

WEP cracking is something an intermediate level computer programmer can do (I can't, but I understand the concepts behind it) and unfortunately it's pretty available for anyone looking for the software to do so. I only used WEP as an example; other encryption methods and protocols can be used, but who's to say they will be safe? No Such Agency might have already done so and are snooping around in your files right now (although they're much more successful at subverting security protocol than strongarming the encryption).

Them attackers don't care if your backdoor is open or closed. Spidey, I hope for your sake you don't keep anything valuable on that computer of yours, or you could be underestimating the attackers out in the world.


Usually in most security scenarios, people will just call it good when the value gained from attacking your computer is less than the value of the resources necessary to attack you. If said attack is only software, it's virtually free. If all they're doing is trying to compromise your computer and make your day miserable, they're going to jump at you.

Too bad I don't use WEP because I know it's shit. WEP is pretty low level crap, it's pretty low tier. Also, learn to set up your network more securely and you won't have a problem at all. Restrict access to any MAC that isn't yours. Use a strong password, not "hotdog" or "my mom" or "hack me caus I suck cock". Set it up so your network informs you that someone else made a connection. Restrict it to only allowing x connections at a time. There are plenty of security options available to you, if you can learn to utilize them correctly then you shouldn't have to worry unless you're specifically targeted by dudes who know their shit. But in that case, you probably have some pretty important information on your system. If your information is that important then you're probably not some average joe.

By the way, your real time virus protection wouldn't be catching those dudes snooping around your system unless they're planting stuff in your system as well. A firewall is different from antivirus software. They often come bundled in with each other, but they're not the same so don't mix them up. Of course I have a firewall running 24/7, but that's not the same as having an antivirus program constantly looking if there's any viruses around. Most routers nowadays have a built in firewall for itself, coupled with the firewall you should have running on your computer.

The best security defense is never found within one single program. A multi-layered level of security is important if you wish to keep your computer safe and clean

For an antivirus I would recommend AVG Free... if you're looking into a purchase/non free program, I've also found NOD32 to be a pretty sufficient antivirus as well.

The Microsoft Security Essentials thing is new to me, I've been using it the past few days and it seems to work nicely. Sure, go ahead and install that one too.

For Anti-Malware/Spyware/Adware I use Malwabytes Anti Malware and Spybot Search and Destroy. Lavasoft Ad-Aware used to be good but then they sold out and started accepting payments from ad providers to not include their ads in the detection algorithm.

The Sygate Personal Firewall is also pretty good if you're trying to restrict access from certain programs to or from your computer. Current support has been discontinued but the program works fine.

Everything I just mentioned can be found at http://www.filehippo.com or a simple google search would do the trick.

Security is a pain, but so is keeping your stuff secure. More security = more hassle. Unfortunately that's just the way it works.

made of sh'it

Installing multiple antivirus solutions == FAIL.
They will interefere with each other, and also slow you down.

Software firewall == FAIL.
Router's firewall and DMZ should block the inbound stuff well enough. Software firewall is used for outbound stuff in that case, but the problem is that if you've got malware on your PC already, then you don't own the PC anymore and you've lost the game--good malware will just disable your software firewall.

Microsoft Security Essentials && Router with NAT (and DMZ disabled) && Common Sense™ == PROTECTION.
MSE is free and good enough. Your router's NAT blocks most of the network-based nasties thrown at your IP. Don't turn on DMZ for your PC just because you're too lazy to configure port forwarding on your router. And nothing beats common sense.


More importantly, you need to keep your software up to date. All of it. This is more important than having antivirus or whatever noob pomegranate people are suggesting.
Secunia PSI. http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/
Get it.
It will scan your PC for software, determine their versions to check if they are outdated and have security holes. Then you can know what software you need to delete/update.

Good luck!

I use avast, but sometimes get a little bit crazy with not trusting downloads... by little I mean a lot. Thats prolly why tho XD