Spyware Warrior

FatalChopstix

I'm trying to get a feel for what everyone uses as far as security goes Very Happy

. Please post your combination of security programs such as:

Firewall
Antivirus
Antispyware

I particularly have COMODO Internet Secuirty, Threatfire, SpywareBlaster, and MBAM.

Thanks guys Smile

Coldmoon · Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 7:30 am Post subject:

Hello FatalChopstix,
What I propose you look at is not specific applications, but those that best fulfill your overall strategy. What I suggest is to look for something appropriate in the following categories:

1) Prevention - Firewall, policy, and/or some form of behavioral analysis (HIPS is one type).

2) Detection - Any consistently solid scanner (Eset, Symantec, Kaspersky, Avira, Grisoft, Avast!, etc...)

3) Cure - some form of System level virtualization and/or application virtualization

As I am biased in #3 due to my affiliation with Returnil, I naturally recommend RVS for a System level virtualization solution but suggest you also read this excelent thread at Wilders Security that discusses a range of alternatives in this particular space:

Title: Light Virtualization - the first year....
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=230459

With kind regards
Mike
_________________
Coldmoon over Dark Water...

FatalChopstix · Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:17 am Post subject:

Thanks Mike, I'll have to check it out Smile

mikey · Posted: Fri Jan 16, 2009 8:08 pm Post subject:

Firewall; NAT/Snort

Antivirus None

Antispyware; None

I mind behavior and manage my processes across many OSs and many appliances. Since 2002, I have had no need for sys eating resource hungry apps that don't protect anything.

Any tool that reacts to infection instead of being proactive is worthless to me and my clients. If it can't intiate, it can't infect.

Just something to think of as you ponder the antiquated and obsolete status quo still being sold to users now.
_________________
-
W2K/2K3/XP/2K8/Vista/W7/RHE/DEBIAN/SUSE

Spyware/Adware is NOT freeware, it costs all of us dearly.

Mikey's Stuff

Fiddler and friends...essential web diagnostic, forensic, & development tools.
-

Coldmoon · Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 9:19 am Post subject:

Hi Mikey,
You know I also subscribe to a similar strategy for my personal systems, but some are not ready to take the leap as it were. So even if you do not use resident monitoring, there is still a need for effective (or as effective as you can get) feedback within that strategy.

This is why we/I still recommend some type of on demand scanning capability as a feedback mechanism, or at the least, a redundant verification of the system's clean state. This also applies for checking images, snapshots, and restore points...

There is also need for some form of incomming content monitoring, as it is best to swat the nasties before they get to your system in the first place...

Mike
_________________
Coldmoon over Dark Water...

mikey · Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 5:31 pm Post subject:

Personally, I find it very easy to teach a noob how to effectively secure their sys. Most of the regular users here remember the 'grandmother' story I told a couple years ago. Well, she still has NEVER had any unwanted wares on board and she spends very little effort maintaining that record.

However, I find it extremely hard to teach those folk who have been brainwashed by all the thousands of so called security experts who simply repeat the same garbage they were taught...the garbage that originates with those who peddle garbage wares.

Sure, I agree that if a sys has been compromised, some scanners can be effective to identify the malware. However, a user is much better off coming to one of the hundreds of sites like this one to seek help manually removing it.

Having a scanner remove anything is a good and likely way to damage or cause fatality in the sys and/or applications. You and I both have seen the countless instances of this very scenario so many times that it makes me sick to think that these same antiquated techniques are still in use.

A few quotes of mine from other threads;

mikey · Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 6:02 pm Post subject:

BTW Nice to see ya CM(Mike).

For those who don't know him; He's one of the old 'Becky' bunch and was my right hand when we were doing application support for AdAware back in the early days. Since then he continued to work for Lavasoft up until a couple years ago. Since then he has been working @ Returnil doing dev and app support for them now. IOWs he is an expert in the anti-malware field.

It would be nice to see him here on a regular basis. Smile

_________________
-
W2K/2K3/XP/2K8/Vista/W7/RHE/DEBIAN/SUSE

Spyware/Adware is NOT freeware, it costs all of us dearly.

Mikey's Stuff

Fiddler and friends...essential web diagnostic, forensic, & development tools.
-

suzi · Posted: Sat Jan 17, 2009 9:29 pm Post subject:

Coldmoon · Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 11:37 am Post subject:

Coldmoon · Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 11:44 am Post subject:

goldengreek · Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 12:03 pm Post subject:

I use to be real paranoid about spyware and had about a dozen programs on my pc along with Norton. After these programs deleted valid registry componets with all their false positives, causing me to reformat 10 times, I got smart. I practice safe surfing now and don't use any bloated AV or antispyware programs. I do download Kaspersky"s on demand scanner a couple times a year just to check, but it never finds anything. As long as one stays away from P2P programs, porn and crack sites, online casinos, etc and checks their e-mail before they open it, I don't think you need anything other than a firewall or hips. Smile

FatalChopstix · Posted: Sun Jan 18, 2009 5:25 pm Post subject:

Right. I think once I get my computer clean, I'll delete all of these Antivirus programs. However, I am going to keep the firewall.
Thanks goldengreek Very Happy

roger_m · Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 2:13 am Post subject:

Well personally I think that if you are very careful as to what you install on your computer, you need absolutley no protection other than the built in Windows firewall.

Based on my own experiences visiting hundreds of websites, with abosolutely zero real time protection or blocking, and visiting lots of "unsafe" websites too, and getting zero infections. And using the built in Windoze firewall and using Maxthon for my webbrowser (which is built on the "unsafe" Internet Explorer). Oh and also installing new software daily.

Well the only "infections" were false posatives, particuarly from Spyware Doctor and CounterSpy.

Or am I missing something?

However I don't recommend this for the average PC user.

Daveski17 · Posted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 6:05 am Post subject:

Hmmmm.... this is all food for thought. I have 4 anti-malware programs: MBAM, SUPERAntiSpyware, Spybot & SpywareBlaster (all freeware). I use the latter two as browser immunizers (Spybot works well with Opera) & SAS removed a trojan for me once, so I tend to trust it. Serves me right for surfing Russian newspaper websites using SeaMonkey's translator. I am fairly convinced that is where I got it from. MBAM has a good quick scan of about 5 minutes, which is convenient. I run full scans weekly or fortnightly, depending on how I feel & if I have the time. I am seriously thinking of running Ubuntu or Open Suse soon though so malware will be less of a problem.

compumoose · Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2009 4:19 pm Post subject: morning

Hi

I am new and know just enough to be dangerous to myself. I run Mcaffe Security Suite, Firewall set to tight and constantly updated AntiVirus. For spyware I run Spyware Doctor registered version updated. For on demand scanning I have superantispyware, and malwarebytes. This seems to cover me pretty well. Any suggestions about additions are welcome

Compumoose

aBenG · Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2009 4:43 am Post subject:

Compumoose, I'd give the boot to MacAffee (inefficient bloat) and SD (false positives).

I use ProcessGuard for execution protection with a couple of system hardeners (BugOff and Windows Worms Doors Cleaner). Also keep Avast and SpybotSD on board for scanning downloaded files only.

Currently trying out Online Armor fw but not convinced it is adding anything to the setup above.

Stay safe!
_________________
Inperfect.