Malware Programs/Topics

Malware Programs/Topics - Securing Your Computer

This page contains links to programs that assist in keeping your computer uncontaminated especially while using the Internet.

There are also some links to pages which give advice and further links to programs or additional information.

Caveats

This list of software can never be exhaustive as the threats change daily in a hostile world. If anyone has experience of other products, or finds this information is out of date, then please contact John Steele by email.

Last updated 2 Febrary 2009.

Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

Anti Spyware: This program provides protection against a number of threats associated with advertising and other malware intent on tracking your behaviour. It has been around for some time and has an excellent reputation.

Link update 22 June 2008 John Steele gxcc.techsupport soroban.co.uk Spybot Search and Destroy http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

Anti Spyware: This program identifies and removes a number of spyware threats from your computer.

This has often found items missed by Ad-Aware and vice versa.

Link updated 6 Nov 2007 John Steele gxcc.techsupport soroban.co.uk Avast! http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html

Antivirus: A free (for non commercial use) antivirus package with a good reputation. It has all the features one would expect including automatic updates, email integration, etc.

I STRONGLY recommend this antivirus package. I use this package on all my own computers and have found it to be reliable, and has little impact on machine performance.

Updated 2 Feb 2009. John Steele gxcc.techsupport soroban.co.uk AVG Antivirus Free Edition http://www.grisoft.com The free version of this program is being withdrawn. I no longer recommend it. I suggest that you uninstall it and change to Avast Note that two people have had problems installing the final free version leading to difficulties in uninstalling John Steele gxcc.techsupport soroban.co.uk Sunbelt/Kerio Personal Firewall 4 http://www.sunbelt-software.com/Home-Home-Office/Sunbelt-Personal-Firewall/

Kerio was bought by Sunbelt some time ago. It is a good firewall for home use.

Although the Vista Firewall is better than XP I recommend using this package for Vista. It has been my recommendation for some time for XP

I use this firewall on all of my machines (Vista and XP) at home. Modified on 2 Feb 2009. John Steele gxcc.techsupport soroban.co.uk ZoneAlarm http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/catalog/products/zonealarm_free_firewall.jsp

This was the probably the first free firewall and is still one of the leaders in this field. I do not use it myself but there are club members who do.

John Steele gxcc.techsupport soroban.co.uk Rogue/Suspect Anti-Spyware Products & Web Sites http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

Advice and Further Links

This page gives advice as to which programs to avoid. The overall Spyware Warrior web site gives sound advice. The following is a quote from their site:

"Rogue/Suspect" means that these products are of unknown, questionable, or dubious value as anti-spyware protection. Some of the products listed on this page simply do not provide proven, reliable anti-spyware protection. Others may use unfair, deceptive, high pressure sales tactics and false positives to scare up sales from gullible, confused users. A very few of these products are either associated with known distributors of spyware/adware or have been known to install spyware/adware themselves. Users are advised to rely on the short list of Trustworthy Anti-Spyware Products with deserved reputations for quality performance. John Steele gxcc.techsupport soroban.co.uk Trustworthy Anti-Spyware Products & Web Sites http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm#trustworthy

Advice and Further Links

This page gives advice as to which programs to select. The overall Spyware Warrior web site gives sound advice. The following is a quote from their site:

When choosing anti-spyware protection, you should rely on products with deserved reputations and proven track records. That means avoiding the new and unknown, and not succumbing to impulse buys of anti-spyware products that you see on the Net, esp. those included in the "rogue/suspect" l ist on this page or advertised on Google. John Steele gxcc.techsupport soroban.co.uk