Posts Tagged ‘Computer Security Software’
Today’s market is cluttered with security software offering anywhere from 4 to 15 features. Which one of these software features is important? Which ones do you absolutely need? Which ones are already present on your computer? Almost all vendors sell a basic version and then have a premium package that costs more. Are the extra dollars worth it? Read on to find out.
The ones you absolutely, definitely need
Anti Virus – Detects and removes viruses from your hard drive, emails, & downloaded files. Needs to update frequently and automatically to keep up with the newest viruses.
Personal Firewall – Blocks hackers and other malicious network programs trying to attack your computer and network. Monitors inbound and outbound network connections from your computer.
Anti Spyware – Blocks and removes spyware / adware which is a malicious program or code hidden in acceptable files. This includes the latest rootkit programs which are used to hide the malware, spyware from other detection programs.
The Good to haves
Anti Phishing / Fraud Defense – Protects you from online scams designed to steal credit card and bank account numbers. This capability is already present in the most common browsers – Internet Explorer and Firefox.
Wireless Network Monitoring – Guards against unauthorized users invading your wireless home network. You can configure this facility in your wireless router with access IDs, passwords and network addresses.
Online Identity Protection – Guards against online identity theft. Again, most transaction sites provide secure authentication. Also most credit and debit cards today come with a online protection service with a full refund.
The Extras
Anti Spam – Filters annoying and potentially dangerous email. If you use a web based mail service like yahoo, hotmail or gmail, they already provide this service. Even if you open a bad email, you should be protected if you have the other tools running.
Pop-Up blocker – Blocks annoying pop-ups and potentially dangerous scripts. The most popular browsers (IE & Firefox) already have this utility integrated into them.
More recently, security software has been offered with data backup and system performance software. These are extras, and should already be part of your operating system. Most security companies offer more or less the same features and capabilties. Everybody knows Norton & McAfee. A couple more to consider are Trend Micro & Zone Labs. Almost all of these have free versions to download and test. Another company that offers a good free Antivirus is AVG (Grisoft).
Since a majority of people use the internet these days, it is wise to ensure that you have high-quality computer security software installed. This provides maximum protection of virus attacks on your computer. The market is filled with various antivirus software, anti spy ware software, and software and hardware firewalls. Since it is almost a parameter of sorts for computer users to use protection against virus, you may want to resort to antivirus software ratings and charts to understand market trends.
An antivirus software rating helps you analyze software that protects your computer from virus threats. These potentially damaging mediums can taint your computer or even make your computer drastically sluggish.
Antivirus software ratings help you understand which investments can protect your files from being damaged. A deeper awareness of the market allows you to realize that installing the right software can prevent damage to your hard drive, eliminate the need to reconfigure and reinstall your hard drive so that you could have things just the way they need to be.
Antivirus software ratings help you differentiate between the effective and dud software, and helps you finalize upon a brand that can work well for you.
When scanning through antivirus software ratings, make sure you read between the walls. This is vital because merely installing antivirus software is not really an absolute solution. Users need to constantly up date as everyday you need to have protection against new and novel anti virus epidemics. Hence users need to find a provider that permits you to upgrade your software programs let you update easily over the internet.
Antivirus software ratings discuss anti virus provider details. As such, you learn about damage causing virus. This includes dialers, spy ware, malware, Trojans, keystroke loggers, tracking cookies, and useless commercial software. Users need to be aware of their irreversible damage causing ability.
At all times, such data or recordings need to be deleted and wiped. This leaves no room for error or compromise. Antivirus software ratings help find a program that can guard your identity against dodgy people, scams, breakdowns and fraudsters.
Antivirus software ratings help compare and evaluate various computer firewalls. This refers to the multiple software programs and/or hardware gadgets that permit only authorised users to access your computer system. Apart from this, they prevent illicit users from gaining admission to your computer through the internet or a network. Whether one should use a software or hardware protection has long been debated. However, there is an established school of thoughts that prefers hardware.
So, in case you do not have such a choice, be happy, and invest in a program that is affordable. Prior to making a final decision, make sure u check all other available options. When you choose to refer to ratings and other measuring tools, make sure you are looking at reliable data. This is important because an incorrect database can cause potential losses, as you would never be able to pick the right stuff. Make sure you gather your information from sources that are genuine.
It seems an everyday that makes the news headlines about stolen iMacs or laptops containing critical and confidential information. Teachers at universities and schools most times were victims.
What would be the plight of the owner that has lost laptop having 5 years worth of important information. Its more than the laptop, the information that’s loaded in the system that’s worthier and need to be safeguarded.
Software developers believe that computer security programs designed to thwart the heists are just enough to deter the thieves who’d want to siphon the information present in the computer or prevent attempts of using the system.
Some tracking software programs enable your laptop to call your home if a stealer attempts to log into the system, and then a tracking signal that’s given by the laptop when it called you helps you to track back the system to its physical location. These computer security software works in conjunction with the police as well as a phone company, and also ISPs and the iMac or computer can be tracked and recovered.
Then, if you care to store the data, have a secure operating system and have it locked down each time you are done with using the system. The file-level security and to have the ability to encrypt private information is a good option to secure the information if not the laptop. But if you have a combo of tracking software and secure operating system, your chances of jeopardy are low (system recovery as well as deterring the phonies to lay hands on your private information).
Have BIOS password enabled to foil the attempt of data thieves especially by password protecting your BIOS. While laptop manufacturers offer BIOS protection, you may want to do your diligence before you can rely on their schemes alone. Check with your laptop manufacturer the procedure to reset the BIOS password. You can even look for BIOS password locks that secures the hard drive as it can’t be removed that easily and reinstalled into another machine.
You may want to register your laptop with its manufacturer. We became too lackadaisical in the recent times that we even throw away the registration cards of electronic goods we buy on regular basis. No wonder we are discarding junk mail, but having to register your laptop with its manufacturer will help “flag” the laptop should the phony sends the stolen piece for some maintenance. The odds of getting your back just increases, aint?
All said, the first line of defense against your laptop theft is to secure the laptop per se with a physical lock; a laptop lock to be precise. Although determined thieves cant be deterred by simple laptop locks, good high security laptop locks could prove good hassle to stop the stealers.