Important security application for Windows Part 1

There are two very important things that you should look after in your computer system. One is Backup – Backup and Backup your system, I will be doing another article on backup systems. But now is securing your computer system. There is not one system that is secured, Linux is one of the better one that is the most secured from “Out Of The Box” install, and MS-Windows is the worst. There are 6 different groups, anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, file encryption, Wi-Fi security and parenting software. I looking at some 3rd party software that is “Freeware, Shareware and Commercial software”.

One thing that should be done, you should update your Operating System on a regular bases. Most OS now a days have a an automatic updates. This will fix any problems with the OS or security issues.

Anti Virus:
This may be a funny picture, how ever it's true! It's all about protecting your computer system. The first program that you should install is an anti-virus program. There are many different one out on the market, that includes commercial, shareware and free ones. I found that majority of the commercial one are big and require a lot of system resources to run. Some of these ones are McAfee, Trend Micro and Symantec Norton. One of the best free one is AVG.
It is very important to remember that any anti-virus program is only as good as you keep it updated. And scanning your system on a regular bases. If you do some downloading you should scan files before opening the file, most virus come in Zip files MP3 etc.. It's also a good idea to setup your anti-virus program with your email program. This will scan your incoming and outgoing email. Why outgoing? Well if you misted virus you don't want to spreed the virus to your workmates, family and friends.

Malware:
This should not be confused with a computer virus, how ever it may have a virus. The term “Malware” comes form malicious and software. Malware generally come with virus, worms, trojans horses, rootkits, spyware and adware. Malware is self-replicating, witch makes it hard to remove off or your system. Malware can be just to spy on the site that you go to or it can hijack your computer and take it over. Other notable things that it dose is it steal your system resources making your system slower and slower. To get more information on Malware: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malware. There is no simple way to remove this, some can be removed with anti-virus, but in most cases you'll have to remove it manually. Other software that could remove this is Adware, SpyBot and HijackThis. Microsoft had created a program called Windows Defender to prevent Malware form installing on your system, how ever it never worked for me and I had to clean up computer with other application or manually remove it.

Firewall:
I have Windows XP and Vista and they both came with built in firewall, and I also use Linksys Cable/DSL router and it also has a built in firewall ..... So I am protected. Right? No you are not fully protected, both will protect you from outside attack. But what about the Malware? It can still call home so that some one can take over your computer system. So how can you protect your computer system? You will need another firewall that can blocks incoming and outgoing connection. Just like the anti-virus programs there are may different firewalls on the market. The one that I like to use is called COMODO. It is pretty small so it dose not take up all of my system resources and it was really easy to setup. One other nice thing about this firewall, it comes with a scanner for malware as well. Later I will do another blog on the setup, configuration and managing COMODO. At first it is very annoying asking you premonition for application to connected to the Internet or programs modifying your computer settings. But you will know what is happing in the background of your computer ... who connecting to your system and where your system is connecting to.

This is the end of Part 1
Louie