Terri218
Member
My free trial of Zone Alarm is about to expire. This time it seems to be working pretty well but on my old computer Zone Alarm let a very bad virus get in before it warned me and I had to do a factory restore on the computer. Should I buy it or does anyone have any good alternate suggestions? I did a search but could not find a recent discussion of firewall programs.
Thanks for your help.
ChrisS
Administrator
I use Avast! Antivirus, PC Tools Firewall Plus, and PC Tools Threatfire (anti-malware) for real-time protection plus period scans with Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and SuperAntiSpyware.
You can get all, plus others, from Major Geeks, Top Freeware picks: http://www.majorgeeks.com/page.php?id=20
triphammer
Member
I won't recommend one anti-virus/anti-spyware over another because the truth is... I'm constantly trying new programs and there are a few good ones out there. Right now I'm using Microsoft Security Essentials
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security_essentials/default.aspx
No complaints. It's free and I don't notice any drag on my system. I'm a serious gamer so I need every bit of resource I can keep.
Just wanted to jump in and put in my two cents on the issue of buying this stuff. Nowadays... there's plenty of freeware out there. The only reason someone should buy this kind of software or renew, is if they're happy with their protection and software. TBH, I was never a fan of Zone Alarm myself. Don't know how old your old computer was but Zone Alarm used to be more of a firewall than virus protection. I haven't tried it recently, but a firewall won't stop a virus from getting on your computer... and if you indeed did have virus protection with it, then one incident is too many. Change.
Major Geeks listed above is an excellent resource for this stuff as well as other free software.
Michelle
Member
I use Antivir, along with the Windows firewall, with Malwarebytes Pro. My isp offers a security package for free but I once had a problem with it because this computer. I had to use the power switch on top of the computer to turn the computer off because the computer wasn't loading and Norton started blocking internet access. So till I get a new computer I will stick with this.
Though you really should check your isp they might offer you something. Mine is Comcast and they offer Norton Security Suite for free.
Whiterabbit-uk
Games Guru
pavid recommended Windows Security Essentials to me a while back and I've been very pleased with it. :)
Terri218
Member
Is Microsoft Security Essentials only a firewall or both firewall and anti-virus? My anti-virus is currently BitDefender which is still in effect. It is only the firewall from Zone Alarm that is expiring. Do you think I should replace both with Microsoft Security Essentials?
Thanks for all of your thoughts and advice.
Microsoft Security Essentials is an AntiVirus/AntiMalware only. It's what I use also.
I recommend using the Security Wizard at Gizmos' - for some customised help on what (Free) products are recommended for your own situation.
Anonymous
Unregistered
http://www.av-comparatives.org/
http://www.anti-malware-test.com/
Antivirus self-protection test under x64 platform
Failed Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0 (30%)
Testing of antiviruses for the treatment of active infections IV
best only (81%) allso see Failed, Antivirus performance test
Nobody needs powerful but too resource-intensive protection with which you just cannot use your computer for doing what you would like to.
Failed Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0 (30%)
Those results are obsolete now - Microsoft Security Essentials 2.0 was released in June 2010 (Beta) and the final release was in December 2010.
Review of MSSE Version 2.0
http://www.brighthub.com/computing/smb-security/reviews/100565.aspx
Guide to Microsoft Security Essentials
http://www.brighthub.com/guides/microsoft-security-essentials.aspx
GMMan, Hexadecimal Blacksmith
Blocked
I'm using avast! and COMODO Firewall. But perhaps the greatest protection is diligence. Don't download from places you don't know, don't give out your password, you've heard it all before.
Anonymous
Unregistered
http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/9546
http://blog.fireeye.com/research/2011/03/who-is-exploiting-the-flash-0-day-cve-2011-0609.html
A detailed investigation of the code and functionality inside the malware payload 'a.exe' (1e09970c9bf2ca08ee48f8b2e24f6c44) shows that this is zero day malware. As of Mar 15, 2011 none of the AV on VirusTotal were able to detect it.
http://antivirus.about.com/od/antivirusvendors/Antivirus_Vendors.htm
http://www.auscert.org.au/render.html?it=2260 (Choosing good passwords)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_antivirus_software
http://antivirus.about.com/od/antivirussoftwarereviews/a/antivirustests.htm
http://www.eicar.org/anti_virus_test_file.htm (some anti virus not find like AVG)
http://www.av-test.org/ http://www.av-test.org/certifications.php
http://www.virus.gr/portal/en/ very good info
http://www.westcoastlabs.org/cm-av-products.asp?Comp_ID=82&Cat_ID=3
http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal/Shared/AwardsAndCertifications.aspx
http://www.readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2010/06/antivirus-product-testing-changing.php
Test all downloads with Virus Total size up to 20 MB
http://www.virustotal.com/stats.html
http://www.virustotal.com/about.html#importantnotes
Currently, there is no solution that offers 100% effectiveness in detecting viruses and malware. You may become a victim of deceitful advertising, if you buy such a product under those premises.
sukibabe
Games Junkie
Thanks BuBBy
I dumped McAfee( I can hear the applause now), went with the free AVG, don't like it! When it updates the definitions, it starts quarantining the games that have been on my computer for over 5 years and absolutely hates BFG(doesn't mess with the games, but brings up corrupt .exe all the time) , lol, now I have got back some of the games that McAfee quarantined
That little quiz said I should try Avira, have the MS one downloaded and saved just in case! It also recommended Malware Byte, which I already use...
I guess nothing is perfect, it's just what works for you!
Suki
Anonymous
Unregistered
I stick with AVG free 2011 for anti-virus and the free Comodo firewall program (for firewall cover only).
I've had serious problems of one sort or another with both Avast and Avira, not to mention masses of emails about updates from these. I used to have system resource problems with older versions of AVG, but thankfully AVG free 2011 is not a resource hog, in fact quite the contrary as I hardly notice it running!
I do have to exclude some older programs that I know are clean form resident scanning, but that is the case with practically any AV program these days, as they are all capable of generating false positives!
I also keep MalwareBytes, SuperAntiSpyware and SpyBot to hand and updated as being the very best free antimalware products! You can't be too careful these days with 73,000 new bits of malware each week, and the chance that any website you visit might have a drive-by malware infection - as in visit the website and if either java or activeX are enabled, you catch the malware - not nice!
Anonymous
Unregistered
no java or activeX no my PC use Firefox NoScrip
Spybot - Search & Destroy Safer Networking Limited 1.6.2
SpyFlush 0.90 Newmitech Corp. 0.90
SpywareBlaster 4.4 Javacool Software LLC 4.4.0
SpywareGuard v2.2 Javacool Software LLC 2.2
COMODO Internet Security COMODO Group Inc. 5.3.50343.1263
DieHard Emery Berger, UMass Amherst 1.1
ESET NOD32 Antivirus (Full Time)
BitDefender Free Edition v10 SOFTWIN 10.2.9 (XP Only and Scan only)
WinPatrol BillP Studios 20.0.2011.0
watcher13
Member
Of course, Terri - if she's still interested - was actually asking about firewalls. The consensus opinion is that ZoneAlarm is starting to lag behind. Although the following article was written in April 2010, it has a lot of links to other sources, some of which have definitely been updated since then:
http://www.consumersearch.com/firewalls
In the latest tests by the number one firewall testing site, matousec.com - http://www.matousec.com/projects/proactive-security-challenge/results.php - ZoneAlarm wasn't in the top tier. It seems to boil down to a handful. The top two are Comodo (free) and Online Armor (pay - and now called Online Solutions Security), which has been given away here in the past. Comodo seems to be a slight leader, but is considered less user friendly, which is why Online is sometimes recommended. Two others to consider are Private Firewall, which is free and considered quite user friendly, and Outpost free.
The only one I've tried is Outpost (and one of the original versions of ZoneAlarm, which is foundly remembered, and people have lamented when it was redesigned a few years ago.). I put Outpost on a very old computer which couldn't run Comodo and I like it. I consider it mostly straightforward. It also has a HIPS (Host Intrusion Protection System). Basically, as you know, a firewall warns you when something bad is trying to get in or out of your system. A HIPS warns you when anything is trying to make fundamental changes to your system, which can be even more useful. Of course, that gives you a lot more messages, but you can turn it off.
Outpost has a learning mode, so if you tell it that a program is trusted it allows it to do what's necessary. However, it gives you a quick fading bubble notice every time it generates a rule, just in case. If you think a program's got too many rules allowing stuff, you can go in and delete some or all. And, like most firewalls, it has Allow Once and Block Once options, so you can experiment.
Good luck!
That is one of the nicest things about MSE in terms of the "annoyance factor" - MSE is not intrusive & you will probably forget that it is running at all. It just sits in the background and does it's job - no need for pop-up windows so it can pat itself on the back, or advertisements begging you to buy the "real version". It can get updates from Windows Update if you want - which is nice not having to run multiple agents in the background to monitor and install definition updates.
Only problem (for some), you need a "geniune" copy of Windows. That will make some users not like MSE at all.
I have a number of stories (that I won't go into detail here) about AVG and their support and how they will deliberately introduce false positives for software that is neither a virus or malware. Other vendors (such as NOD32) introduce another category called PUP (Possibly Unwanted Program) which you can turn off detection. All such programs are treated as Malware or Trojans with AVG - something I do not agree with.
In my opinion between Avira, Avast and AVG - AVG is the worst of the three.
Deserthead47
Member
Terri218,I have a spare licence for BitDefender AV 2011 that I can let you have,send me a pm if you are interested.
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