This week I'll be providing my recommendation for two software security suites. When I say the word "suite" I mean the product has much more than just antivirus capabilities...it could have anti-spyware, spam filtering, firewall, web site scanning, etc. Ultimately, each person will need to decide what works best for them and their situation; however, the following are my two choices for the best security suites of 2008.
Avira - or more specifically, the Avira Premium Security Suite http://www.avira.com/en/solutions/home_home_office.html (30 day free trail)
If you only want the AV and nothing more, you can download the software at http://tinyurl.com/8m2cc8 this is a free version with no limitations.
- Over the past year, Avira has posted the highest malware detection rate out all (single engine) AV products world-wide
- It has an extremely low CPU footprint (it runs between 5-17% CPU on my laptop while performing a scan)
- The outbound firewall is robust and easy to configure
- Built in Spyware and Adware engine
- 'Anti-Drive by' feature that protects your browser from downloading malicious code
- Fast AV scan engine (during manual scans)
- Daily AV definition updates
- Anti-Bot protection (must be configured appropriately with your ISP's email server)
- Non-obtrusive pop-ups (from the firewall)SAP's primary vendor of choice during enterprise-wide SAP implementations
- Company is based out of Tettnang, Germany
ESET / NOD32 - ESET's Smart Security http://www.eset.com/smartsecurity/index.php (30 day free trial)
- Highest AV "pass rate" out of all AV software engines over the past 10 years - per the Virus Bulletin 100 Tests (VB 100) - 54 Successes vs. 3 Failures. A failure might also equate to producing a false positive.
- Lowest false positive rating out of any AV product on the market, period.
- Solid outbound firewall protection
- Low CPU footprint on most modern pcs
- Great email scanner
- Built in Spyware and Adware engine
- Easy to use if you don't want to worry about doing much setup/customization (leave the default settings and go)
- Company is based out of Bratislava, Slovakia
Both of these products are top of the line AV / Spyware software packages. My preference is to use security "suites" that include multiple features such as a firewall, web protection, anti-spyware etc. vs. a stand-alone AV with either the Windows XP firewall or another 3rd party firewall.
Personally, I decided to use Avira over ESET (which I've also loaded onto a few other family member computers). The reasons were: 1) ESET was producing a slightly higher CPU footprint on my machine that Avira did. 2) Avira has built in bot protection (which you must configure, but it's well worth it). The anti-bot feature ultimately sold me on the product. 3) Avira provided me with slightly more advanced user customizations. 4) Avira has the highest malware detection rate out of any other single engine product.
I tested each product out for over a month before making my final decision and (if you're looking for a new security suite) I would recommend that you do the same. You can download 30 day test trials for each on their respective websites. This gives you 60 days of free AV protection.
Quote of the week:
Robert Duffner, Senior Director of Platform and Open Source Strategy at Microsoft (how's that for a title), said that Microsoft was the "Wal-Mart of software companies." And that "We are a good choice during this economic downturn."
Humm, I'm not sure that I've ever seen any cost similarities between Wal-Mart and Microsoft...or anything else for that matter. What I find the most amusing about this is when have we ever seen the terms Microsoft and Open Source in the same sentence?
Misc. News of the week:
Not dead yet -
Microsoft has once again extended the licensing of Windows XP for most computer dealers and distributors to May 30, 2009. The last deadline was Jan. 31, 2008. Look to see the May deadline get extended once we get a little closer.
IBM said that based on data from its 3,700 managed security services customers worldwide, the number of security events had risen from 1.8 billion to 2.5 billion per day over the past four months.
Using the same type of nanotechnology that enables hard drives to read and write data, researchers at Stanford University have developed a system that should be able to detect cancer in the human body.
The blood scanner, which is still in the prototype stage, is designed to find cancer markers in the blood stream in the early stages of the disease, when they can be treated more easily and successfully. The research document also noted that the sensors can detect cancer markers in a blood sample in less than an hour. (lets hope this works)
Browser News of the week:
For Internet Explorer users - an emergency off-cycle patch took place on Wed. 12/17 at 1pm EST that patched up several critical IE7 vulnerabilities.
Firefox also released a patch around 1:30am EST on 12/17 to secure a few different vulnerabilities as well. The new FF version is now 3.0.5.
For Google Chrome users - UnChrome keeps your web-surfing habits anonymous (basically it removes your unique user ID with a null value) so that Google is unable to trend your browsing habits. If you use Google's search engine (like just about everyone else on the planet), this might not really matter much.
Product of the week:
A hard drive docking station that allows hot swapping! (I want this for Christmas!)
Tool of the week:
Self destructing message
Ever wanted to make sure that a message you sent someone never got re-read? Check out this online tool that can be used for email and IM.
Something Extra:
Have you ever wanted to learn a foreign language? Now you can...over the internet of course.
Website of the week:
VideoLAN - VLC Media Player
Would you like to be able to watch MP4's on your PC? You can do that and much more, just check out my website of the week to download a cool free tool.
Next Week:
Online storage options
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