Antivirus, antispyware and internet security
We here at Wood's Computers spend a large portion of our time fixing computers that have been overcome by some sort of preventable internet related viral dilemma. As a result of this we have decided to post this page our network security information page which will have our latest antivirus/internet security related advice.Once upon a time you could get on the internet without any protection whatsoever and surf to your hearts content and be reasonably well assured that nothing would damage your computer. Those days are gone! Now you need some combination of antivirus, antispyware, firewall, antispam, antiphishing, privacy protection etc....
Recommendations
FREE ANTIVIRUS -You can't beat free and some top notch antivirus solutions are free. Topping the list is Grisoft's AVG Download Here. This handy little antivirus program updates daily, provides real time protection and scans daily. It detects just about every virus known to man as well. The free edition is only available to home users and if you are in doubt don't hesitate to look through the licencse, did you bring a lawyer?
COMMERCIAL ANTIVIRUS - according to Australian PC Authority magazine (our favourite), the pick of the bunch of pay for solutions is Kaspersky Antivirus Download a 30 day trial here.
SPYWARE TOOLS - You may need a whole bunch of these, our favourites are Spybot S&D, the S&D stands for Search & Destroy, Lavasoft Ad Aware and AVG Antispyware click on the respective names for the links. You can use those listed above for free however some are asking for donations and some are offering purchasable versions of the software.
What is the difference between a virus and spyware? - Both are bad and you need to be covered for both. Use a combination of one antivirus and two or three different antispyware programs. Don't install multiple antivirus tools at the same time they conflict with each other and all manner of things may go wrong. If you are already using multiple antivirus tools at once remove some and leave only one.
Antispam - Spam is the viagra advertisements and assorted unsolicited mail that you get in your e-mail. If you are using your ISP's e-mail address then you should use their e-mail protection, they may charge you extra for it but they will filter out most of the crap before it get's through to you. Westnet's antispam solution is 99% effective.
If you're a control freak and must have your own antispam solution then it's hard to go past Mailwasher Pro
I'm out of time, more soon, including Firewalls, complete suites and other security nick nacks.
Also please don't hesitate to check out our spywarelist.php (advanced) and spyware articles.
For any requests please don't hesitate to call us on (03)5033 2360 or e-mail us here.