Best Security

Background:



My old laptop has been essentially crippled by some nasty virus (I think it will take a total wipe to fix it), but because of some other problems I'd been having prior to this infection I decided to purchase a new laptop, rather than get it fixed.



I want to be extra careful with this new laptop, and make it as virus-proof as possible (especially as I am uncertain as to how I got such a nasty rootkit on my old laptop.)



I'm going to make sure to create a recovery disc, as well as follow the advice presented in this thread and this article, but I've got a few questions for you guys, if you'd be so kind to advise me.



Laptop Info



The new laptop will be running Windows 7 (64 bit)



If you require any other information let me know.



Queries:



1. What antivirus would you recommend?



I want a powerful (but not too system-slowing) antivirus to help guard my computer. I considered ESET NOD32, but after some research found that it can crash some Windows 7 computers.



Is Microsoft Essentials an effective enough antivirus prevention, and if not, which do you feel is best? (I would prefer a suite, with firewall, anti-phishing, etc)



2. Would you recommend KeyScrambler



3. Any other suggestions?

Reply 1 : Best Security

Hi,

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kitti My old laptop has been essentially crippled by some nasty virus (I think it will take a total wipe to fix it)

Flatten and rebuild.

Quote:

I want to be extra careful with this lovely new laptop, and make it as virus-proof as possible (especially as I am uncertain as to how I got such a nasty rootkit on my old laptop.)

Restricted user accounts and software restriction policies is what you want.

Quote:

Queries: 1. What antivirus would you recommend?

It doesn't matter. Some are light on ressources, others do not flag system files as malicious, and some others might have a slightly better detection rate this week.



AV software can be a piece of your security strategy, but not the only one. You can not buy security, you have to live it. It is your behaviour that decides if malware is installed or not. It is not the "security software" you bought.

Quote:

(I would prefer a suite, with firewall, anti-phishing, etc)

[/quote]What for? There is no benefit from such a suite.

Quote:

2. Would you recommend KeyScrambler

What for?

Quote:

3. Any other suggestions?

Brain.exe



Michael

Reply 2 : Best Security

Well thanks, although the sarcasm wasn't completely called for.

Reply 3 : Best Security

I'd suggest not using IE. Use firefox or Chrome. If you use firefox try using sandboxie. If you use Chrome enable "xss auditing" in the about:flags page.



Using adblock plus you can stop certain malicious sites from loading, or you can do this through custom firmware in your router.



Here's one of the lists I use:

http://malwaredomains.lanik.us/malwaredomains_full.txt



For an antivirus I would suggest MSE. If you automatically download windows updates it should update itself. It's lightweight as well.



UAC should be turned to MAX if you want to be extra-careful.



Keep everything up to date! I suggest using a file-hippo autoupdater to keep as many applications up to date, such as flash, java, or whatever else on your computer.



If you do everything above you'll be fine. I don't even do everything above and I'm fine.





edit: link to sandboxie

http://www.sandboxie.com/



It gives firefox a really big extra layer of protection, similar to what Chrome has built in (except Chrome takes it quite a few levels up.)



If you use firefox with sandboxie it should be pretty secure. If you want to be super paranoid about it you can go ahead and use noscript to block javascript on sites.



Ummmmm what else....



DON'T have more than one realtime antivirus installed at once. You can have a real time + scanner, but not two real times. Two of them will make you LESS secure because they will interfere with eachother.



I personally keep a .exe of SUPERAntiSpyware on my computer just in case I want to install it/ can't download it because of a virus.

Reply 4 : Best Security

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kitti 3. Any other suggestions?

- If you are not sure about what to use and you are willing to spend money, simply buy NIS2011 and be done with it.

Just look for the best rebate/deal available.



- Use a user account for your daily routine.

Do NOT use an admin account for this. An admin account is meant for just that; administering stuff.



- Create 2 partitions; a separate partition for your OS+progs and one for data, e.g. pics, docs, music, movies etc.

After installing and updating the OS+progs, make an image of this partition.

If you bork your system despite whatever security software installed, you can easily restore the image in minutes and have a clean notebook again.

This will require you to learn about partitioning and imaging but it's time well spent.



- Like already mentioned, keep all progs up-to-date. F.i. with Secunia PSI.

Outdated software is one of the easiest ways to get accidentally infected.



- If you'd like to use free software, an AV (MSE, Avast, Avira), the Windows firewall and Sandboxie should be enough for 'normal' usage.

But be prepared to learn a bit about Sandboxie. It's a lovely program but it does take some time to configure and understand it well.

Reply 5 : Best Security

Honestly, you don't have to be paranoid to stay safe. Don't click popups, dno't go to suspicious sites... you should be fine.



For a while my only defenses were the ones provided by Chrome and MSE. Never had any problem with those alone. I've recently added additional security by forcing certain sites to route to a nonexistent IP instead of my computer. Basically any ad sites or malicious sites go to my router and my router goes "Hey, the computer's at 0.0.0.0" and they never get to me. Obviously it's not a complete list, but it helps, and no ads!



Really though if you want to be safe:

1) STAY UP TO DATE, flash, windows updates, java, antivirus

2) Install MSE

3) Use a popup blocker



you should be fine with those.

Reply 6 : Best Security

For free antivirus, I typically use eith Avria or MSE, and for paid, I use ESET NOD32. If your concerned about it crashing your system, just try the trial first.



Most other things have already been mentioned.



Another things I recommend is find a program you like to make images of your system. I have a large external drive that I use just to store images, and I only connect it to either backup or restore the images (so it's less likely to get infected).



Virtual machines are a really good idea to. They're easier to manage if they do become infected. I haven't used sandboxie before, so I'm going to go try that myself.

Reply 7 : Best Security

I've never used sandboxie, but it should be pretty good. Not quite what Chrome does but a start.



I wouldn't bother paying for an AV, they all have essentially the same detection rates, but NOD32 is an excelled one.



I personally feel that VM's just take too much away from the system. I would definitely suggest making a system restore point once in a while as well as a system image. I have a 250GB hard drive for all of my stuff and I keep an image on there.



edit: Oh, and don't bother trying to run Chrome in sandboxie. I don't think it works and it would be pretty useless anyway.

Reply 8 : Best Security

Thanks for all your helpful responses, I'll definitely take them into account.



I am a bit paranoid I'm afraid Hungry Man! I tried to be as sensible as possible on this laptop (it's had no notable virus issues in two years) so it freaked me out a bit getting such a bad one.



And I'm sorry if I seem a bit clueless about this stuff, but to be honest it's because I am! That's why I came for help, we can't be experts on everything right? :]



Thanks again.

Reply 9 : Best Security

If you only take 2 pieces of advice from the above posters...



1) do not use internet explorer, use chrome or firefox and keep up to date



2) do not use an administrator account, use a user account