Spyware and Antivirus

perrin82

Good evening community.  I just got done building my new computer and I had a few questions. 

The first one is do I need a spyware program if I have AVG 2012 free edition anti-virus?

 

If I still do, which free program do you suggest that I get?  Also, are there any other programs that are musts?  Thanks.

Oh, if you could rate my system too I would appreciate it. I know it is not top of the line, but besides the case and psu (from my old one) I spent 580 dollars.

Specs (from my head) -

Antec 900 case

850 PSU

8 gigs ddr3 1600 Corsair

I5 2500k 3.3 ghz

Artic cooler 7 heat sink

560 ti 448 FTW edition

1tb 7200 Western Digital Caviar Black

ASUS motherboard P8Z68

 

Thanks.

 

Krypty

Personally, I used to use Avira AV. But since I know what I'm doing - I actually run Microsoft Security Essentials - seems lightweight and really I dont need an antivirus, so lightweight was top priority.

 

I stopped liking AVG a couple years back, but some people still like it.

 

Besides that, look at adding Spywareblaster, Spybot (for the Immunization), CCleaner, and Malwarebytes to complement your AV. No need for a firewall beyond Windows Firewall.

Quesa

Microsft Security Essentials, BitDefender, AVG and AVAST! all have free versions that rated rather well.  Install ONE AV program.

Superantispyware, Malewarebytes and Spybot are all great anti-spyware programs that have resident shields.  You can install multpile anti-spyware programs but usually not needed - I prefer Spybot or Malewarebytes on general consumer computers.

Lithuanian

To get quality protection, you may consider using paid antivirus. Your data is worth it (I use NOD 32).

From free ones you may consider Avira. I used it too when my NOD32 expired (and I resubbed).

Spyware protection: so far, SpyBot is the best for me.

waynejr2

I would highly recommend using virtual box (or your favorite vm) to run a linux for all your online risky activities such as browsing.  You can take snapshots as a backup and if the vm os gets hit, you have quick options to get back to the previous state.

Ridelynn

My opinion:

No anti-virus can overcome ignorance or stupidity. Although if your going to be going out on the net, it's better to have a safety net than not.

As long as your running something (and AVG isn't any worse than anything else out there), you at least have some protection.

But nothing will substitute for safe and educated computer use. If you click on a bad link and enter your credit information, open a bad email attachment, run a pirated program that's loaded with trojans, etc. Your going to get hit with viruses and malware. And sure, AV/Anti-malware will catch some of it, but nothing can catch all of it.

If you are running a firewall (either the built-in Windows Firewall, or hiding behind a router), and have UAC enabled, and use smart and safe computing habits - your protected from 99.8% of the stuff out there. The ~vast~ majority of viruses and malware require the user to install the virus (and many require you to acknowledge the install and elevate them to administrator privileges) to get around built-in protections. The other 0.2% are patched as zero-day or critical flaws, an staying current on patches and updates will mitigate your risk of getting hit with them.

VirgoThree

I'd suggest using some sort of sandbox environemnt. Another poster already suggested virtual box which is free for personal use. I have to say that I use virtual box for all of my QA tasks at work and I definitely like it. It helps that I can trash a machine and re-image it in a minute.

I know my company was looking into a app called Sanboxy which is apparently quite popular. It sounded like it allowed you seamlessly run applications in a virtualized environment kind of like parallels (another app we used to publish, not sure if we still do). Basically you can run the questionable application or browser via a virtual environment that is seperate from your own host environment. So say the application is a virus or you browse to an unsafe site. You can simple toss the session with no or rather minimal risk to your host environment. 

Now with that said, you should still take precautions even with the added layer of protection. It is just better safe then sorry, because I do not want to be held accountable for someone thinking they are invincible behind a virtualized environment

stayontarget

I use Microsft Security Essentials & Threatfire,  both are lightweight and free.

Cleffy

Just remember to get a good one.  All anti-virus do not protect against all viruses.  They all have a hole in how they work.  Getting protection from most threats is possible with most of the popular anti-virus.  Personally I like Microsoft Security Essentials, Eset NOD32, and Malware Bytes.