Do I need more protection on my laptop?

Adapazari

Hi everyone,

I'm a self confessed technopleb, so I hope someone out there can help me.

I recently moved ISP from BT Internet to Orange Home. BT say my email address will expire after 60 days, no problem as I've taken steps to ensure all contacts etc. have my new email address.

What I want to know is related to security. With BT I automatically had McAfee and this is also the same with Orange. What I want to know is this . . . is this sufficient security? Or does it only relate to email? I know that the McAfee I have does scans from time to time but when I asked the ISP during a phone call I didn't really understand what she was saying. She said she had extra protection, but I don't know if it's necessary or not.

Is anyone else with Orangehome? Do I need extra security? If so, what about AVG and will the security I have try to block any new security I try to add?

Many thanks in advance.

C_Mababejive

There is a lot of paranoia about security.

All you need to do is..

Ensure you have a router between you and the internet and ensure it is securely set up.

Ensure that your pc has one admin account and that it is passworded. Ensure that everyone else in the household are set up as users without admin rights

Install avast anti virus for free.

Be very careful about anyone using filesharing proggies and downloads on your pc.

lucylucky

AVG used to be good but seems not to be as good anymore.

I use avast, but other people have their favourite free ones, such as avira, MS Security Essentials etc.

I have never used Macfie and have removed any trial versions from any machines I have ever dealt with.

Don't try to run two anti-virus software programmes at the same time.

The_Grandmaster

I am under the impression that this board is against Mcaffee as it gives false postives. Also AVG for me was useless (the full internet security package which there is a month free trial available of) and detected a trojan but could do nothing. I used to use norton which I found OK but it does slow down the computer massively - removing norton means fast computer!

I think avira is very good. I also am slightly worried about how good a free programme can be, but it is excellent. Also you might want to run malwarebytes too - also free.

The_Grandmaster

If you are running two antivirus it is bad as suggested above - remove one (AVG I assume was free) from the control panel and remove any bits left. http://www.avg.com/download-tools

C_Mababejive

People need to realise that anti virus software is not the perfect solution and fixer of all ills.

AV software is simply the last line of defence and a rescue tool which may fix what is happening.

The thing to do is ensure that nothing reaches your pc in the first place.

aliEnRIK

Mcafee slows computers down and over the last year has had some truly awful false positives (Thinking somethings nasty when its not)
I wouldnt touch it with a bargepole

Use the MCAFEE REMOVAL TOOL
http://service.mcafee.com/FAQDocument.aspx?id=TS100507

I really wouldnt install AVG either

Choices are AVIRA, AVAST or MSE (Microsoft security essentials)
Avast and MSE perform similar but MSE is lighter. I assume MSE has email scanning (Not actually looked at specs on it), avast certainly does
Avira is what I use and has better virus definitions (More likely to identify threats) than the other 2. But doesnt have email scanning (If you think an emails dodgy, put the attachment on the desktop and scan from there)

Whatever you choose, use MALWAREBYTES as a secondary scanner (far better than all the av programs for spyware etc)

To prevent browser based attacks I use FIREFOX with the NOSCRIPT plugin. Without it, your wide open to infection if your av program doesnt recognise it as such (Happening all the time these days)

A._Badger

aliEnRIK wrote: »

Whatever you choose, use MALWAREBYTES as a secondary scanner (far better than all the av programs for spyware etc)

To prevent browser based attacks I use FIREFOX with the NOSCRIPT plugin. Without it, your wide open to infection if your av program doesnt recognise it as such (Happening all the time these days)

That last carries the real sting of truth. Despite running Avast, Malwarebytes, Superantispyware and a firewall, two weeks ago I picked-up a malware attack from, of all things, a site pretending to offer dictionary definitions (no, really).

None of the repair programmes I tried was able to fix the resulting mess which eventually ended in a complete loss of Internet access and a hard drive that I simply couldn't trust not to have an infection lurking somewhere.

Fortunately, I had good backups and needed a new hard drive anyway, so I bit the bullet and re-installed XP on the new drive, using my (Thinkpad) recovery discs

The moral, if there is one, is that even the apparently best protection won't always save you.

I'm Disappointed by Avast, though, so I may try Avira next time.

Strider590

I don't fun any anti-virus on ANY of my PC's or laptop's.....

The best anti-virus is common sense.

Buying AV software and assuming it'll protect you from everything you carelessly do, is just asking for trouble.

RussJK

McAfee and AVG aren't great according to independent testing (http://www.av-comparatives.org/). You should remove McAfee, and install something decent like Avast or Avira (http://www.free-av.de/en/trialpay_download/1/avira_antivir_personal__free_antivirus.html). You can uninstall McAfee using AppRemover (http://download.cnet.com/AppRemover/3000-2096_4-10909880.html).

You probably already have Windows Defender (antispyware guard) and Windows Firewall running by default, and these are decent enough. I would just leave them running.

You can secondarily have 'extra protection' by using Threatfire (http://www.threatfire.com/download/) which is a complementary realtime guard that you can use at the same time as your main antivirus. It does sometimes give false positives though, and you'd need a bit of knowledge to tell the difference.

You should have Malwarebytes AntiMalware for manual scanning (http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php) as this is an excellent program.

Lastly, if you install Spybot: Search and Destroy (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html), update it and install the Immunisations, it will protect your browsers from a lot of things. Don't bother with the scan though unless you have a lot of free time, as I think it is becoming obsolete.

tronator

Strider590 wrote: »

I don't fun any anti-virus on ANY of my PC's or laptop's.....

The best anti-virus is common sense.

Buying AV software and assuming it'll protect you from everything you carelessly do, is just asking for trouble.

I agree with your last sentence, but I still wouldn't let a Windows PC connect to the Internet without anti virus. There are ways to get infected without direct user interaction.