Internet security features?

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I've never personally ran McAfee, but years ago I remember it having a lot of issues. The main issue being the program using up a lot of resources on your computer, and it would bog everything down. Otherwise, from what I've read/heard, it's considered to be pretty useful in recent times.

I used to run ESET Nod32 for years, and it was one of the best anti-virus programs at the time (in my opinion) as it ran quietly in the background and caught anything malicious that attempted to save data to my computer. It even caught files that I downloaded on purpose and knew were fine, it would just put them in quarantine since it had a trace similar to that of malicious files.

Norton is typically renowned as the "best" by many, although you have to update your subscription each year.

AVG is average at best.

Panda Anti-Virus used to be very good as well (although most people have probably never heard of it), but it can be somewhat of a resource hog.
 
You can set up file sharing from the Guest Account in OS 10.8 Mountain Lion. It is off by default. I have not used Windows 8 but I think it is similar. And you probably could save files to a USB memory device.

I often use the guest account especially if I am going to go to some website I have never been before. If some malware gets on the computer once you log out everything gets deleted. Unless the malware writers have somehow managed to get past that. In the very least it presents one more hurtle the malware writers have to get past.

It is getting so bad on the internet I am thinking about using the Guest Account most of the time. Unless of course you need to get something from the Apple App Store or the Windows Store or need to download updates or something like that. It makes simple sense to me. Like I said it at least presents another hurtle for the malware writers.
 
I think Bitdefender and Kaspersky are the two best internet security suites. But I have some issues with Bitdefender because it seems kind of buggy. ESET Smart Security is supposed to be pretty good. And according to what I have heard TrendMicro is getting to be pretty good.
 
I did not see mentioned one of the most effective means of protection, using a non administrator account. Not quite the guest account mentioned, but nearly as effective. Most Windows users use the account set up when the computer is first booted. That account, while convenient, has administrator rights, making it easier to install software on the system.

If you do day to day work without administrator rights that is one more hurdle for those looking to compromise your system.
 
That is probably an especially bad problem with people who use Apple Computers. Many of them seem to use the Administrator Account. I never use the Administrator Account except for rare occasions. I mostly use the Standard User Account for doing things and I very often use the Guest Account on the Internet.

According to what I have been able to find out, in both Windows 8 and OS 10.8 Mountain Lion once somebody logs out of the guest account everything is deleted-all files, downloads, etc. If that is correct it should make it nearly impossible for malware to get on a computer. And somebody with Windows 8 should be able to just use the Windows Defender and Windows Firewall that come with the operating system, and Apple Computer people could probably use no antivirus at all or else just get a virus scanner from the Apple App Store.
 
I'm not familiar with the Apple OS interfaces, but as for Windows, I've always been forcing my browsers and computer to clear all of the things that are cleared in a guest account on my administrator account.

Changing these settings manually may be a hassle to some, but it can be done.
 
I don't do that-I just go into the Guest Account and go to the internet. Once you log out, everything is gone.

But if you did want to download something, like a PDF documents, music, a photograph, or a video, you go put it on a USB memory device and then scan that for viruses.
 
There are typically red flags that should give some files away immediately, such as extensions and file size (this is in reference to downloading things on a guest account). These signs typically give away signs of malware/viruses quickly.

For example, as most have stated, be careful what you click on. Also, try to figure out how reliable a certain site/source of media is.

Now, compare extensions of files in relation to what you are looking to obtain. If you want a PDF file and it states it's an ".exe" extension, then you know it's no good (this also goes for any other extension that is not what you want, an execution file is a starter point though).

Then look at file size, such as a music file you are attempting to obtain. Depending on the quality of the tracks (192 kbps is standard CD quality, 320 is roughly the highest quality that is easy to obtain). So, you're looking at roughly a 3-6 MB file size. If you see a download that is 500 KB, then you know it's no good.

Red flags are all over the place, I'm not trying to bash anyone or anything like that but I just know that through being careful I haven't experienced a virus, or anything malicious on that note, on a Windows operating system in roughly 8 years.
 
Originally Posted By: Mopar618
I'm not familiar with the Apple OS interfaces, but as for Windows, I've always been forcing my browsers and computer to clear all of the things that are cleared in a guest account on my administrator account.

Changing these settings manually may be a hassle to some, but it can be done.


Clearing stuff like cookies and history (and using the "Do Not Track" feature of modern versions of popular browsers) after your browsing session is over does not mitigate against what a malicious web site can use your browser to do while you're still using it.
 
Well that's why I specifically stated that I force both the browser and operating system to do as much as they can to defend. I never stated that a browser does the work by itself; if anything, it does the least amount of work compared to human input and the defense on the operating system.

In the end, all I'm trying to say is set up a reasonable amount of defense, considering most people do not want to have their privacy invaded. If you want that, no one but yourself is going to prevent prying eyes.
 
IMO, the only real thing you can do besides being smart about what you click on is to stealth all your ports, enable SPI if you have it, lock down every other router security setting you have and avoid using wireless devices unless you have enabled a VPN connection.

These are not fullproof, but every little bit you can add helps. There are so many wide open potential victims out there right now that hackers don't waste much time with people that have taken a reasonable amount of time to protect themselves.
 
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