Computer Security Software

by William Brister
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).

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