Mr Bill,
I read your input about computer security. I am familiar with pretty much all you mentioned. One item, Comodo BOClean was new to me. But, I wanted to share my computer security with you and see what your resulting response. I have Kaspersky Internet Suity (KIS) for my “primary” firewall, anti-virus and root-kit detection. I know about NOD32 but no very keen on it as it is not the most “user friendly” piece of software; particularly for those who are not computer savvy. I use Windows Defender and Trojan Hunter Guard (running in background). I have installed, but not running, AVG Pro, AVG Anti-rootkit (free), Spybot S&D (v1.5), Spy Sweeper, Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool and VCOM Fix-It Pro. All these I use as a “second opinion” scan either when curiosity sets in and I just want to check my computer, or when I suspect maybe there may be something that my KIS didn’t detect. This may be “over kill” or paranoia. I use to run Zone Alarm Internet Security Suite (ZASS). ZASS didn’t detect a virus one-time where Kaspersky did. To my knowledge, I believe that NOD32 and Kaspersky are the two best products on the market today! That’s it. I wanted to share with you what I have and read what you think about my computer security. Hope to hear from you. Thanks for you time.

[...]   My Choices For Computer Security [...]

I use most of the stuff that you have listed to protect myself from viruses and malware and I love NOD32. This is the best Anti-Virus program that I have ever used. Here is my all time favorite program for preventing infections on my machine. MailWasher Pro, I can check my email right on the server and anything suspect is marked automatically for deletion or I mark it to be deleted before I download it. Since I’ve been running this program I have never had a virus.

Thanks for your great newsletter

Les Byers

I’m a long way from being a computer expert; I’m really more of a researcher of other folks’ expertise — sort of a techno-leech.

It sounds to me like you are well- if not over-protected. As long as all those programs aren’t interfering with each other, there’s certainly no harm in it, and I suppose there’s a chance your system might pick up something that another wouldn’t, as long as they aren’t slowing down your system or eating other resources. I’m running a 3.2 GHz Pentium D with 2 gigs of RAM, and I think it might slow mine a bit.

It seems that you could do away with some of the redundancy and save some money, but as the 60’s song goes, “Different strokes for different folks.” Whatever works for you and makes you feel good, as long as it doesn’t also make you feel too brave.

It’s important to remember that common sense is the number-one protection. I have a friend who is far more an expert than I who uses NO security beyond a physical firewall. He is willing to curtail his surfing and opening of attachments, etc. to that extent, and has had no infections in years. Not me. Life’s too short, and the Net’s too big.

The purpose of the article was to show how you can get good protection for very little outlay. My system (or the same one with minor differences) has protected me well for years, because I don’t go stupid places and do stupid things. For those who do, there is NO protection that’s sufficient, and cleaning up after the fact is a fool’s errand that will eventually lead to a crashed system and lost data.

I meant to add, with regard to NOD32, that I’ve had no user issues with it at all, friendly or otherwise. I just installed it, ignored it, and it does its job. The default settings work fine for me.

I’m not one for tweaking software setting unless there’s a specific reason. I figure the guys who write the programs know more about it than I do. The exception is Comodo Firewall. If it displays too many warning, one should go to Advanced, Miscellaneous, click Configure, and set the Alert Frequency Level slider to Low. It’s supposed to be low by default, but sometimes will be reset by an update.

Michael,

I sent an answer to your comment earlier, but for some reason it didn’t post. That’s where the “I meant to add” part came in.

Given my propensity for running Google Earth, OpenOffice, Firefox and often PhotoShop Elements 5 at the same time, I suspect an additional load like that would be unacceptable, even on my dual-core 3.2 with two gigs of RAM. It seems to me as though you’ve got an overkill thing going, but if it’s working for you and not causing conflict or system slowdowns, that’s fine. My article was meant to show how you can get good protection cheaply and, as I noted I’m not much for suites, but again, “Different strokes for different folks.”

In the final analysis it’s up to the individual. I have a friend — a well-known computer guru whom I will not name because I consider the following to be bad advice — who uses only a hardware firewall, and has no antivirus or other protection on his machines at all. He is willing to put up with the limitations imposed by such a system, and points out that if stupid people go to dangerous places they’re going to have problems regardless of the software they’ve installed. He considers it to breed false confidence. I don’t agree, except about the stupid people part. As they say in the 12-step groups, “If you don’t want to slip, stay out of slippery places.”

The reason I don’t agree is that the Web is a huge, diverse place. If I totally limit myself to known safe sites, I’ll miss a lot. Also, there’s new stuff coming out all the time that might just get onto one of those safe sites, or my brother’s computer. If it does, and if I get careless, I can look forward to some busy time, if not a total crash and meltdown. Life’s too short, and the Web’s too big for me to put up with such limitations.

That said, there’s no substitute for caution. Just remember, the software means nothing if you don’t back it up with common sense.

Weird, the way this posting goes.

Les: That’s why I use Gmail. Everything happens on the server, and it scans attachments for viruses before it lets me download. I haven’t had an email-borne virus for the 3+ years I’ve been using Gmail (the last 2 as my exclusive mail service). Given the number of unsophisticated users I correspond with, this kind of protection is absolutely essential.

I do everything on the servers, although I do use Thunderbird to download and store my mail in case I want to access something offline at some time — and for redundancy. So far I haven’t used it once, so call me compulsive about backups. (Like, my computer’s safer than Google’s half-million or so redundant servers.) NOD32 does a great job double-checking the downloads, but hasn’t yet found anything. Gmail finds something occasionally in an attachment and 86’s it.

Hi Bill,
In response to your comments on computer security, could you further elaborate on what measures a computer user can take to secure their internet and email communications in light of the privacy lawsuits against companys like AT&T and Verizon. It appears they will not protect their customers privacy and security when using their services. Furthermore, do you know of other companies who will protect their customers and not allow themselves or third parties to snoop?

I was very intersted in your selections for security, and promptly downloaded both the mentioned COMODO products. I found both to be as advertised - quick, thorough, and complete with no “side effects.”

Imagine my surprise when I booted up the next morning and got an error box stating that a configuration could not be found and would be removed. How can something be removed that can’t be found? I clicked the “OK” button (no other option) and immediately was presented with another box - “I/O Error 32″ (also with the solitary “OK” option). I found the remnants of my clock software (World Time v.6 - Paw Print.net) sprawled across the top of my screen completely reconfigured with seven new fields with the nomenclature “New Location”

I have spent the last fourteen hours trying to fix this bug with Norton’s “Go Back” (didn’t work since it wouldn’t go back far enough), and uninstalling not only the COMODO crap, but also WT6. After d/l WT6 again, and making sure all vestiges of COMODO were gone, I still had the same problem.

Ultimately, I uninstalled WT6 again, and d/l WT5.5 which I installed and configured successfully. It’s not as pretty as WT6, but it works. End of rant.

I do have a residual question though. What the heck is “I/O Error 32″? What generates it, and why did it corrupt a program I’ve been using without problems for three years? I Googled it and the consensus I found is that nobody knows.