[Guide] Computer Security Basics

[tsghmike]

This guide was written to provide a foundation of security on your system. It will not guarantee you 100% safety, but it will reduce the risks of infection greatly. I will update this guide as I find more relevant information.

Table of Contents:

• 1. Basics to being secure on the web
• 2. Antivirus
• 3. Antispyware
• 4. Firewall
• 5. Prevention
• 6. List of Security Software
• 7. External Links & Information

1. Basics to being secure on the web

First of all, no security in the world can keep you completely safe from every single unique malware created. The number one way to stay safe is having safe surfing habits. Remember, preventing a virus from ever winding its way onto your PC in the first place is the best way to keep safe.

Safe surfing habits means you don't just Google something and click on the first result that comes up. It would be good to get in a habit of checking websites you browse to. You can easily do that with a quick Google search of " [website URL] good or bad?". The way I do it is checking on McAfee's Siteadvisor website: Siteadvisor. Do a quick search on there, read some of the reviews, and make your decision on if you should go onto that website or not.

Another thing is checking file types when opening email attachments. For this, I shall link to a fellow HF member's topic, as he gave me the idea. Credits to $WhiteRaven$, I think he has done a great job explaining the dangers of opening emails/files.



2. Antivirus
**Note: Do NOT install and run more than one antivirus per PC. Having more than one antivirus does not secure your PC any more than having one does. All it causes are conflicts on your PC.

There are plenty of good antiviruses out there. Though this is biased in my opinion, I have researched a bit on several vendors and come to a few conclusions. I have seperated the comparison into two categories: freeware and paid software. Do note, paid software isn't necessarily better than freeware.

• Starting off with commercial products, I believe the top two competitors would be Kaspersky Internet Security and ESET Smart Security. I personally have only used Kaspersky, ESET, McAfee, and Symantec commercial products.
  
  
  • Kaspersky has been noted for its high detection capabilities, and it is not a memory hogger. It comes with several features, including an antivirus and antispyware engine, a firewall, spam filter, parental controls, and a few other tools.
    
    February 2009 AV Comparatives Results
    Award received: Advanced +
    Number of False Positives: Few
    On demand Scanning Speed: Average
    Total Percentage (Detection Rate): 97.1%
    
    Screenshot:
    
    Spoiler for Hiden:

    
    
    
    
  • ESET is also known for high detection rates. In addition, it is recorded as the most lightweight antivirus in its market. ESET has a sleek interface and includes features such as an antivirus and antispyware engine, a firewall, a spam filter, and a few other tools.
    
    February 2009 AV Comparatives Results
    Award received: Advanced +
    Number of False Positives: Few
    On demand Scanning Speed: Average
    Total Percentage (Detection Rate): 97.6%
    
    Screenshot:
    
    Spoiler for Hiden:

    
  [/spoiler]
  
  
  
  
• Next are the freeware programs. I personally have only tried AVG, avast! and Avira Antivir. I recommend either Avira Antivir or avast! Antivirus.
  
  
  • Avira Antivir is rated number one in detection rates for 2008/2009. Based on tests by A*Deleted*mparative, Avira detected over 99% of the threats that were set on the system. The only thing I can criticize is Avira's updating system is a bit on the slow side. Features of Avira (free version) include an antivirus and antispyware engine, with a couple of other features.
    
    February 2009 AV Comparatives Results
    Award received: Advanced
    Number of False Positives: Many
    On demand Scanning Speed: Average
    Total Percentage (Detection Rate): 99.7%
    
    *Note: The reason Avira Antivir did not receive Advanced + is because of the high number of false positives.
    
    Download link for the Avira Antivir Personal Edition: Download Avira
    
    Screenshot:
    
    Spoiler for Hiden:

    
    
    
    
  • avast! Antivirus is a free antivirus that comes with an antivirus, antispyware, and anti-rootkit engine, along with online protection. It too has a high detection rate.
    
    February 2009 AV Comparatives Results
    Award received: Advanced
    Number of False Positives: Many
    On demand Scanning Speed: Fast
    Total Percentage (Detection Rate): 98.2%
    
    Download link: avast! Antivirus Home Edition
    
    Screenshot:
    
    Spoiler for Hiden:

    

3. Antispyware
If you are using a commercial antivirus product, chances are you already have an antispyware engine bundled with it so skip this section.

However, if you are using a free antivirus, here is a list of a few antispyware programs you may be interested in.

• Malwarebytes' Antimalware
  A new antispyware program, this small program is recommended for several reasons. One, it has great detection rates. Two, it uses minimal system resources. Three, fast updates, quick scans; it also produces a log after each scan. Malwarebytes' Antimalware comes with an extra tool, FileAssassin. This is used to securely delete locked files, or persistent malware files.
  
  Download link: Malwarebytes' Antimalware
  
  Screenshot:
  
  Spoiler for Hiden:

  
  
  
• Ad-Aware
  Though Ad-Aware isn't as recommended by security experts anymore, it is still good to have as a backup scanner.
  
  Download link: Ad-Aware Free
  
  
  
• AVG Antispyware was removed from this list due to the recent decision to not have AVG Antispyware as a stand alone product. It is now included in the AVG Internet Security Suite
  

4. Firewall
**Note: Just like an antivirus, do not run more than one firewall per PC. It causes conflicts on your PC.

Again, if you are using a commercial security suite, a firewall should already be included. Firewalls are vital to a computer's security. They help monitor incoming and outcoming connections, etc. There are many free firewalls out there, and the few that I recommend are ZoneAlarm and Comodo Firewall.

• ZoneAlarm is for a less computer savvy user. It has the basic features of a firewall, with antivirus monitoring included.
  
  Download link: ZoneAlarm Free
  
  Screenshot:
  
  Spoiler for Hiden:

  
  
  
• Comodo Firewall comes with an antivirus engine. It is a bit more advanced than ZoneAlarm. It also has basic firewall features, along with the bonus feature of an antivirus. I wouldn't rely solely on Comodo's antivirus though; you should still have an independent antivirus.
  
  Download link: Comodo Firewall
  
  Screenshot:
  
  Spoiler for Hiden:

  
  
  
• Online Armor is a well recognized firewall. It is also considered a HIPS program, and is very useful in detecting malware.
  
  Download link: Online Armor
  
  Screenshot:
  
  Spoiler for Hiden:

  

5. Prevention

This may be one of the most important parts in this whole guide. Prevention is the key. A couple of things I recommend to finalize your computer's security:

• MVPS Hosts file
  
  A HOSTS file is basically a file that blocks websites. For this reason, it is very useful. MVPS Hosts can be used to block malicious websites. This means when you go on one of the malicious websites, your browser should show a "Page load error" instead of loading the page.
  
  Instructions and download link is here: MVPS Hosts
  
  
• SpywareBlaster
  
  SpywareBlaster is a program that creates a list of restricted sites, and it blocks cookies in Mozilla FireFox and Internet Explorer.
  
  Download link and more information here: SpywareBlaster
  
  
• WinPatrol
  
  WinPatrol is a handy tool that monitors any unwanted changes to your system, including changes in startup programs, HOSTS file, etc.
  
  Download link and information: WinPatrol
  

These last couple of programs can be useful too, but I won't go into details about them:

SandBoxie - a sandbox for running programs in
CCleaner - clearing out temp files, etc


6. List of Security Software
This may be incomplete, so please reply or give me a PM if there is something to be added. This is meant as a reference list if ever needed.

Antivirus Security Vendors:

• McAfee (McAfee products)
• Kaspersky (Kaspersky products)
• Alwil (avast! products)
• Symantec (Norton products)
• Sophos (Sophos products)
• ESET (NOD32 and ESET Smart Security products)
• AVG (AVG products ; AVG Antispyware was bought by AVG, originally named Ewido)
• BitDefender (BitDefender products)
• Panda (Panda products + new Cloud Antivirus)
• F-Secure (F-Secure products + Conflicker worm removal tool)
• Kingsoft (Kingsoft products)
• Microsoft (Microsoft Live OneCare ; to be discontinued soon)
• Norman
• PC Tools
• Rising
• ZoneAlarm (ZoneAlarm products; specialty is in firewalls)

Antispyware Vendors:

• Webroot (SpySweeper)
• Lavasoft (Ad-Aware)
• Sunbelt (Counterspy)
• Prevx (Prevx CSI)
• Microsoft (Windows Defender)

Firewall:

• ZoneAlarm
• Comodo
• Sunbelt (Kerio Firewall)
• Agnitum (Outpost Firewall)
• Tiny (Tiny Firewall)
• Online Armor

HIPS (Host Intrusion Prevention System):

• PC Tools (ThreatFire)
• Crawler (Spyware Terminator)
• DefenseWall

Anti-Trojan:

• Trojan Hunter
• a-squared

Anti-Keylogger"

• KeyScrambler

Rootkit Removers:

• IceSword
• F-Secure BlackLight
• GMER
• AVG Anti-Rootkit

7. External Links & Information

SWW Rogue Antimalware Link
Malware Advisor
SiteAdvisor (for checking websites)


I hope this helps.

[IronHiDe]

I would like to point out that Avast is not good.Get AVG instead.

[newton_alex]

I would like to point out that Avast is not good.Get AVG instead.

Avast is very good.

[IronHiDe]

Avast is very good.

Lol, i had the full version and it detected random stuff (A MP3 file i have had in the pc for like a year)

[newton_alex]

Lol, i had the full version and it detected random stuff (A MP3 file i have had in the pc for like a year)

Of course it did... Of course it did....

[9r2e5i3k]

MSE appears to be good, but it's a pain in the ass. When it starts updating, it can eat up your whole CPU. And you can't change the updating schedule, nor set it to only manual updating. Only way to not lag out by surprise is to manually update and not do anything else, before it decides to update itself.

I remember having Norton back in the day. Apart from eating up a lot of my resources, it didn't make the PC completely freeze and was the least annoying anti-virus I had yet.

[tsghmike]

MSE appears to be good, but it's a pain in the ass. When it starts updating, it can eat up your whole CPU. And you can't change the updating schedule, nor set it to only manual updating. Only way to not lag out by surprise is to manually update and not do anything else, before it decides to update itself.

I remember having Norton back in the day. Apart from eating up a lot of my resources, it didn't make the PC completely freeze and was the least annoying anti-virus I had yet.

I am going to go much more into detail about computer safety, I never used a AV. I am going to be showing you guys what I have been thought and what I learned, most infections are what we White hats call "FUD" which means a fully undetectable. That means that the virus no won't show up on your AV when it runs it background scans. 

[Wayne]

I use Bitdefender total security 2012, awesome software
It offers full protection with performance boosts.

[Freeborn]

You forgot to add quick heal to the list, and i personally recommend the Guardian antivirus.

like with all Indian products, guardian provides a great customer care support.From free phone calls to their station to take out any malware that the antivirus cant detect for HOURS, you can also ask them to take control of you pc if you wish and then can manually take out the virus.This customer support translates for great technologies..

[tsghmike]

I use Bitdefender total security 2012, awesome software
It offers full protection with performance boosts.

The Methods I am posting are from my group, HJT. We are the ones who are finding most of the infections and reporting them to the AV providers. No AV will pick up a "FUD" Fully undetectable virus, that's where my methods come in.

[speedboy]

I suggest making this a sticky since it's very useful for unexperienced computer users. BTW I'm using avast! and I like it

[KhornateMonkey]

McAfee is good.

[.Tony]

McAfee is good.

[tsghmike]

Its good if you feel like paying for it, the programs I provide are free and almost always on top on the new virus's, because they are always constantly being updated from the Hijackthis crew, which I am a teacher for, for all of the new people joining the team.