"Internet-Security"

[willair]

Just wondering what is the best-safe software out there too be safe against online threats,i have been using Norton for several years now
but over the last few weeks i have been hammered several times within
the last few weeks even the mobile was shut down yesterday,with the day too day systems that i run,i don't do any banking online,or everyday service bills ,nor any day week equities trading all that is done face too face to keep people employed..

When i check within Norton Security History,and watch it after i log on the system gets hit within a mili second,unauthorized access,some sort of trogan,open process token,then acess thread data,Norton blocks eveyone and i'm pretty sure this all came from a email i opened from someone that needed help with a building related matter a week or so ago..


So if anyone knows of something better then Norton i would like to know..

 

[DaveM]

Kaspersky or Sophos is what I run for most clients.

 

[willair]

Thanks Dave,i'll have a look into those,i'm not worried about the cost factor the "ATO" picks up the tab for all those items,thanks again..

 

[Macca]

Hi Willair,

I am not a PC wizz but I have opened up straight after you posted and if you are locked out you could try these while we wait for an expert.

I am on the net a lot and use the following freebies to keep my PC running sweet and so far so good in 12 years or more.

Malwarebytes Anti Malware
http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free/

SuperAntiSpyware

http://download.cnet.com/SuperAntiSpyware-Free-Edition/3000-8022_4-10523889.html

Spybot
http://download.cnet.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10122137.html

Edit: I left out Avast Anti Virus, another freebie that works for me.

I run them all once a week and my 7 year old PC is faster than the new ones at my wifes workplace that are 6 months old.

 

[Sim]

I run ESET NOD32 Antivirus on all my machines and those of my immediate family, plus Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.

For the antivirus, I buy multi-year multi-computer licenses for over 10 machines, works out a lot cheaper on a per-machine basis. I prefer to buy this stuff for my family - I figure the financial cost to me to have good software on their machines and make sure the licenses are kept paid for, is far less than the time and inconvenience cost to me should they have problems and come to me for help (which they would).

I run my family's computing like a small corporate IT department - I insist on a SOA (standard operating environment) and dictate what software and hardware they should run. I have TeamViewer installed on all the machines so that I can connect in remotely and fix problems as required. I also get them all on the same ISP and set up their routers and networking.

The only problem I've had is from my sister, who is a secondary school teacher at a country high school in South Australia. Their work network is almost sentient with malware and viruses brought in by the kids on their USB drives ... so it's difficult to completely protect yourself when connecting to such a virulent network.

My advice to my sister was never to connect to the network directly, never to plug a USB drive into her computer which has been used at school, and never send anything home via email or anything ... but all that makes life rather difficult!

 

[hobo-jo]

I've been using AVG Free for around 5+ years (with Windows Firewall) and haven't had a problem (occasional, blocked website due to security risk or similar).

Might be hard if you have kids using the computer, but if only adults the best advice is simply to be wary of what you are clicking, educate yourself on the risks such as dodgy looking Facebook links, torrent & porn sites, etc.

 

[willair]

Thanks for your time,Macca-Sim-Ho-Bo,, it's all a bit above me i'll look into both today..i don't use face book or anything like that
don't want any of the old girlfriends finding me..
thanks again..

 

[Jake D]

The guys who wrote these articles know what they are talking about.

http://lifehacker.com/5401453/stop-...ity-microsofts-security-tools-are-good-enough

http://lifehacker.com/5714508/micro...released-still-the-best-darn-antivirus-around

 

[NedKelly]

Isn't "Internet-Security" one of those oxymorons, like "honest politician" and "United Nations"

 

[Peter_Tersteeg]

When i check within Norton Security History,and watch it after i log on the system gets hit within a mili second,unauthorized access,some sort of trogan,open process token,then acess thread data,Norton blocks eveyone and i'm pretty sure this all came from a email i opened from someone that needed help with a building related matter a week or so ago..

None of the internet security applications is perfect, the companies are always playing cat-and-mouse with the underworld.

It looks like your machine is heavily infected and the malware may be directly attacking and disabling your security software. This occurred in our office a few years ago and we had to go to the extreme of manually removing the trojan piece by piece - there simply wasn't any automated security software at the time which could do it.

Unless you're VERY IT savvy and willing to dig into the operating system registry, I suggest the next thing you should do is turn off your PC, unplug it and take it to an expert.

 

[MaxwellSmart]

I have not found a problem with the free antivirus put out by Microsoft.

Micrsoft Security Essentials.

 

[myoung]

Have used Windows Firewall, Avast Anti Virus and Spybot for malware on several computers and friends computers for years, never had an issue.

 

[redwing]

I use Kaspersky also

Though Windows Punjab Division has been calling me about viruses and malicious software on my computer

 

[Olly]

Just wondering what is the best-safe software out there too be safe against online threats,i have been using Norton for several years now
but over the last few weeks i have been hammered several times within
the last few weeks even the mobile was shut down yesterday,with the day too day systems that i run,i don't do any banking online,or everyday service bills ,nor any day week equities trading all that is done face too face to keep people employed..

When i check within Norton Security History,and watch it after i log on the system gets hit within a mili second,unauthorized access,some sort of trogan,open process token,then acess thread data,Norton blocks eveyone and i'm pretty sure this all came from a email i opened from someone that needed help with a building related matter a week or so ago..


So if anyone knows of something better then Norton i would like to know..

There's heaps of freebies available - they're just not suites of programmes.

Malwarebytes.
AVG or any of the other free anti viruses.
Spybot
Zonealarm firewall

There are plug ins for browsers that let you know if a site is safe to go to. McAfee and WOT being 2 of them.

Free AV scan for now - http://www.freedrweb.com/cureit/?lng=en
You download the software and can run it from a USB if you like. No installation.

Or free online scan of a particular file - https://www.virustotal.com/

Maintenance of all your programmes and system is important too.
CCleaner for clearing out all your crap - does a much better job than the clean up tool in MS. CCleaner can also uninstall programmes.

Update all your drivers with Slim Drivers - http://download.cnet.com/SlimDrivers-Free/3000-18513_4-75279940.html

Keep all your programmes updated with - http://secunia.com/vulnerability_scanning/personal/

What starts automatically on boot up? Find out with this programme and deal with unwanted start ups - http://technet.microsoft.com/en-au/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

Obviously get rid of Norton if it's failing you. Make sure you do a proper uninstall - it's a ***** to uninstall manually.

 

[TingTong]

Windows Punjab Division has been calling me about viruses and malicious software on my computer

Friends in Oz have also told me about this telemarketing thing and say the best response is to tell them you don't own a PC.

Willair, in your situation I would connect an external hard drive to the USB port and backup all of your important data. Copy all your important files to the hard drive including a backup of your browser bookmarks. Format your PC and reinstall Windows.

Download one of the free antiviruses mentioned above then copy all the data back.
Ensure your AV is up to date before connecting hard drive in case the virus got onto it when you copied your files across.

 

[wylie]

What are people using to protect their Macs?

My sons keep telling me my computer is full of crap and I need to clean it. Is there a cleaner I can use or must I go through and send individual files to trash?

Can you tell I'm a bit of a Luddite?

 

[willair]

Thanks everyone for your help,my daughter is going to buy me a new lap-top this afternoon from office-works,then this one is geeting thrown off the 2nd level into the gum tree in the back yard..

 

[Olly]

What are people using to protect their Macs?

My sons keep telling me my computer is full of crap and I need to clean it. Is there a cleaner I can use or must I go through and send individual files to trash?

Can you tell I'm a bit of a Luddite?

Hopefully you've got your crap in just a few folders and not all over the place........

Download Ccleaner and run the cleaner to get rid of crap.

As for getting rid of files -
when inside a folder make sure you have the columns of Date Last Modified & Type. To do this - right click on any of the other column headings and it will bring up a list. Pick the ones you want.
Click on the column heading Date Last Modified so it sorts by date. Do you need all the old dated files? You can also sort by Type if it's specific types of files you want to get rid of.

To choose a list of files - hold down the Shift key and click on the top file, then hold down the Shift key and click on the last file. All files in between will be highlighted. Press the Delete button.
To choose individual files - hold down the Ctrl key and click on the ones you want to choose. Once highlighted - press the Delete button.

It pays to keep organised with your files so you don't have to go through this. Make folders and sub folders and save your files in them as you go so they are easy to find, manage and save/delete.

Once you've cleaned up, do this and move your files into appropriate folders then try to keep on top of it.

 

[wylie]

Thanks Olly. I'll print your answer out and see how I go.

It is very easy for my son to tell me I have lots of crap on my computer, but never stick around long enough to show me how to fix it in such detail. He tells me "this, that and the other" and then I'm supposed to be able to understand what he just said, and carry it out .