New 'Protect Your PC For Free: No-cost Anti-Virus and Other Software' discussion

[Deleted User]

optiMISER wrote: »

Threatfire looks good if it works - of course this behavioural stuff is the promised land for virus software. The fact that a virus has to be defined before it can be caught has been argued to render AV next to useless. The cynics say that behavioural algorythms could have been much better if as much money was put into them, but more money is put into defs because they require more constant updates, which enable the more profitable subscription system.

Whether such radical software would fulfil the requirements of the banking code or not . . .

I'm sure that all mainstream virus scanners perform heuristical based algorithm scans on files, however heuristic scanning is inherintly complex and unfortunately, does give 'false positives' based on the actions of a file, which although may technically be correct the file may be present no risk to the user.

There's evidence on these boards due to the volume of posts regarding spyware and security that a portion of the users of internet banking have little or no computer literacy, therefore are unaware or technically able to secure their own system. There is an expectation that the bank will bail them out when their blazê attitude leaves them out of pocket. Much in the same way, I wouldn't expect Audi to give me a new CD Player for my car if I forgot to lock the doors.

Back to the Live CD idea, it would be a severe inconvenience and the complexity of ensuring the system works well enough on 100% of your customers systems would make it unfeasable. I, for one, wouldn't be happy having to take a CD around with me to work, home, my parents house or on holiday. I would imagine a lot of IT departments would be concerned if everyone is rebooting machines and setting up VPN connections over lunchtime.

tradetime

optiMISER wrote: »

Threatfire looks good if it works - of course this behavioural stuff is the promised land for virus software. The fact that a virus has to be defined before it can be caught has been argued to render AV next to useless. The cynics say that behavioural algorythms could have been much better if as much money was put into them, but more money is put into defs because they require more constant updates, which enable the more profitable subscription system.

Whether such radical software would fulfil the requirements of the banking code or not . . .

Even Threatfire itself suggests it should be used alongside other AV.

The major risk to any computer's security will always be the end user. Until people take the time to educate themselves they will always be at risk whatever software they use.

I have experimented with most of the major groups of security applications over the years and eventually settled on a setup I am happy with,
I have an AV which is set as an on demand scanner so it has little impact on resources unless scanning. I have a boot to restore virtualisation software which essentially removes any changes to my computer upon a reboot, and within that I browse using a sandbox so anything that could exploit the browsers is dumped when the sandbox is emptied. In the unlikely event that malware were to defeat the sandbox it will be removed on reboot. To date afaik there are no reports of this setup being defeated by malware, again the weakest link in the chain is the end user, and I think that will always be the case.

Incidentally Threatfire is owned by Symantic

Ice_2

Incidentally Threatfire is owned by Symantic
How do you work that one out...
it's owned by this company...actually...:D

http://www.pctools.com/

tradetime

Ice wrote: »

Incidentally Threatfire is owned by Symantic
How do you work that one out...
it's owned by this company...actually...:D

http://www.pctools.com/

And who owns that company?

Ice_2

tradetime wrote: »

And who owns that company?

Sitehttp://www.pctools.com Last rebootunknown Uptime graph Domainpctools.com Netblock ownerAkamai Technologies IP address84.53.177.57 Site rank243 Country EU Nameserverasia1.akam.net Date first seenOctober 2001 DNS adminhostmaster@pctools.com Domain Registrygodaddy.com Reverse DNSunknown OrganisationPC Tools Research Pty Ltd, Level 6, 80 Arthur St, North Sydney, New South Wales 2060, Australia, Registered through: GoDaddy.com, India Nameserver OrganisationAkamai Technologies, Inc., 8 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, 02142, United States Check another site: Netcraft Site Report Gadget
[More Netcraft Gadgets

[Deleted User]

Ice wrote: »

Sitehttp://www.pctools.com Last rebootunknown Uptime graph Domainpctools.com Netblock ownerAkamai Technologies IP address84.53.177.57 Site rank243 Country EU Nameserverasia1.akam.net Date first seenOctober 2001 DNS adminhostmaster@pctools.com Domain Registrygodaddy.com Reverse DNSunknown OrganisationPC Tools Research Pty Ltd, Level 6, 80 Arthur St, North Sydney, New South Wales 2060, Australia, Registered through: GoDaddy.com, India Nameserver OrganisationAkamai Technologies, Inc., 8 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, 02142, United States Check another site: Netcraft Site Report Gadget
[More Netcraft Gadgets

http://www.symantec.com/about/news/release/article.jsp?prid=20080818_02

Symantec to Acquire PC ToolsSymantec expands consumer portfolio to better enable and protect consumers’ digital life


CUPERTINO, Calif. – Aug. 18, 2008 – Symantec Corp. (Nasdaq: SYMC), today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire PC Tools, a global provider of innovative software products designed to protect the privacy and security of Windows® computer users. The financial terms of the acquisition are not being disclosed. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the calendar year and is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals..

tradetime

Ice wrote: »

Sitehttp://www.pctools.com Last rebootunknown Uptime graph Domainpctools.com Netblock ownerAkamai Technologies IP address84.53.177.57 Site rank243 Country EU Nameserverasia1.akam.net Date first seenOctober 2001 DNS adminhostmaster@pctools.com Domain Registrygodaddy.com Reverse DNSunknown OrganisationPC Tools Research Pty Ltd, Level 6, 80 Arthur St, North Sydney, New South Wales 2060, Australia, Registered through: GoDaddy.com, India Nameserver OrganisationAkamai Technologies, Inc., 8 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, 02142, United States Check another site: Netcraft Site Report Gadget
[More Netcraft Gadgets

http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/technology/symantec-acquire-pc-tools/

Ice_2

anewhope wrote: »

http://www.symantec.com/about/news/release/article.jsp?prid=20080818_02

ok I give up you win...lol...:rotfl::D

april2590

if you use online banking with barclays you can get a free kaspersky internet security for one year. once your logged into your online banking just select kaspersky on he left hand side an follow the instructions.

Zeitgeist

april2590 wrote: »

if you use online banking with barclays you can get a free kaspersky internet security for one year. once your logged into your online banking just select kaspersky on he left hand side an follow the instructions.

What happens after the first year, do you get another year free or a discounted subscription? Can you use it on more than one PC?