Favorite Security Products for 2008 - 1 - Contenders

[kjv1611]

Based on a previous thread where I was asking about Spybot S&D and how it seems to have gotten TERRIBLY slow, I wanted to start a thread of what products everyone here thought was the best (or their favorite) security products, based on their usage.

To do this, I thought that perhaps we could use a system similar to what I have seen so many times on other matters over at Squaring The Circle. Basically, we'll build a list, and then on that list, we'll begin adding votes behind each product we support. We'll have to have some rules in order to make it even slightly beneficial.

Here is what I am proposing:
We have 5 categories of protection:
[ol]
[li]Spyware/Adware (Malware) Protection - Up to 3 votes per person[/li]
[li]Antivirus - Up to 2 votes per person[/li]
[li]Online Scanners - Up to 2 votes per person[/li]
[li]Firewall - 1 vote per person[/li]
[li]Linux Security Products (We'll just assume Windows products for the others) - Not sure how we should number these, as I am unsure as to how much is really available/necessary.[/li]
[/ol]

My reasoning is that for Adware/Spyware, I realize you don't want to just use one product. For AV products, it used to be that you would not want to use more than one, but it seems that nowadays, you can sometimes safely use two on the same machine (not all, but some).

In this thread, I'd like to start building a list, and add/edit categories as needed.

I'll propose a list to get started:

-----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------
ANTI-MALWARE
[OL][LI]Windows Defender[/LI]
[LI]Ad-Aware 2007[/LI]
[LI]Spybot Search and Destroy[/LI]
[LI]AVG Antispyware (formerly Ewido)[/LI]
[LI]Super Anti-Spyware[/LI]
[LI]SpywareBlaster[/LI]
[LI]SpySweeper [/LI]
[LI]Spyware Doctor[/LI]
[LI]Comodo BOClean[/LI]
[LI]Hijack This[/LI]
[/OL]

ANTI-VIRUS
[OL][LI]Nod32[/LI]
[LI]Symantec/Norton[/LI]
[LI]McAfee[/LI]
[LI]AVG[/LI]
[LI]Avast![/LI]
[LI]Antivir[/LI]
[LI]Kaspersky[/LI]
[LI]TrendNet[/LI]
[/OL]

ONLINE SCANNERS
[OL][LI]Kaspersky[/LI]
[LI]TrendNet[/LI][/OL]

FIREWALL
[OL][LI]Norton[/LI]
[LI]McAfee[/LI]
[LI]Comodo[/LI]
[LI]ZoneAlarm[/LI]
[LI]Windows Built-In Firewall[/LI][/OL]

-----------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------

Hopefully, this will be a decent start.

For your posting in this thread, please copy and paste the list, and add to the list any you feel worthy. They are not in any particular order YET.

When you post, please [HIGHLIGHT]highlight[/HIGHLIGHT] any additions/corrections, etc. If the spelling was off - very possible, please notate that with the abbreviation, sp.

Also, feel free to critique any additions to the list, such as if you think an Anti-Malware product is currently connected to a source of adware. Unless the note regarding a category or product is extremely short, please add that in your comment OUTSIDE of the list.

For now, I'd say we could give this 1 or 2 weeks to build - to cover for anyone on vacation anywhere, and then after that, we'll begin voting.

Anything at this point, is of course, open to discussion. For instance, if someone thinks we ought to be only allowed to pick one AV, or perhaps we should pick 4 anti-malware products, please put in your opinion towards that.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[kjv1611]

<cricket>
<cricket>
<cricket>

Well, I guess this idea is a no-go.



--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[sggaunt]

kjv
I think the problem is that all you can really do is vote for an application that your are using, even if you know its not necessarily the best solution.
Or one that you have seen a good report on.
There's also the difference between free and paid for solutions to consider.
Dispite all that I will give it a go.

Havnt I seen this voting format somwhere else?

ANTI-MALWARE

Windows Defender
Ad-Aware 2007
Spybot Search and Destroy
AVG Antispyware (formerly Ewido) 1
Super Anti-Spyware 1
SpywareBlaster
SpySweeper
Spyware Doctor
Comodo BOClean
Hijack This 1

ANTI-VIRUS

Nod32 1
Symantec/Norton
McAfee
AVG 1
Avast!
Antivir
Kaspersky
TrendNet

ONLINE SCANNERS

Kaspersky
TrendNet

FIREWALL

Norton
McAfee
Comodo 1
ZoneAlarm
Windows Built-In Firewall





Steve: N.M.N.F.
Playing the blues isn't about feeling better. It's about making other people feel worse.

 

[2ffat]

OK. After giving this much thought but still not certain of my methodology here's my votes:

ANTI-MALWARE
1) Hijack-This
2) Spybot (slow as it is)
3) Spyware Terminator (not on list)

ANTI-VIRUS
1) Sophos (not on list)
2) McAfee

ONLINE SCANNERS
1) Kaspersky

FIREWALL (hardware)
1) Firebox by WatchGuard

FIREWALL (software)
1) (tie) McAfee
1) (tie) ZoneAlarm


James P. Cottingham
-----------------------------------------
^{I'm number 1,229!
I'm number 1,229!}

 

[kjv1611]

Well, sorry I never got back around to this one. I've been really busy, and somehow didn't even see the thing again until recently - it didn't show in "My Replies" along with another thread or two.

But obviously it didn't have enough reason to make it really worth while I suppose.

Thanks for the couple of posts we did have. Maybe one day we can get one going with a different format, or perhaps one more focussed... or a few (AV, ASW, FW, etc).



--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[electronicsfreak]

As far as Antivirus goes, antivir is my favorite as it seems to do the best job at detecting for me. I am also very fond of ewido(the original ewido, not avg anti spyware) as it still finds things others miss.

I have also come to like super anti spyware. I use housecall(trend micro) online scanner every now and then to check behind things. It works good.

Hijackthis is a must no matter what program you use.

May or may not be what you were looking for but its what I use. Spybot I rarelely use and adaware no longer sees any attention from me at all.

I still use avg anti spyware however I am more and more turning away from avg. They seem to be going down a bad path to me.

As for software firewalls, I do not like them nor do I use them for most are not really strong at defending. I rely strictly on hardware firewalls.

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[sggaunt]

ef: in which case you may not have noticed that the poorly recived ADW2007 has now been superceded by ADW2008.
I dont know what has been fixed /improved if anything, but at least they have picked up on the comments?



Steve: N.M.N.F.
If something is popular, it must be wrong: Mark Twain

 

[kjv1611]

I still use avg anti spyware however I am more and more turning away from avg. They seem to be going down a bad path to me.

Yeah, sadly, I somewhat agree. They seem to be spending as much if not more time trying to advertise within their own software now than actually getting rid of problems.

I've not looked into the issue specifically yet, but I had a free program called Teracopy that AVG gave me a false positive on, and I couldn't move files around any longer until I uninstalled Teracopy! Talk about annoying.

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me

 

[sggaunt]

kjv: Yes totaly agree with that, Have you noticed pop windows appearing out of nowhere suggesting you upgrade to the paid version of AVG.
This sort of thing is very bad form (englishness sorry) and smacks of spam tactics in my opinion.


Steve: N.M.N.F.
If something is popular, it must be wrong: Mark Twain

 

[electronicsfreak]

Yeah avg appears to be blacklisting a lot of legit programs. Last time I used it, it claimed that the magical jelly bean keyfinder was a trojan. It missed the 3 trojans on the drive but said the keyfinder was a trojan. Annoyed me.

As for the new version of adaware, I did not realize they made an 08 version as I quit looking at them. I will have to check it out and give it a try. Thanks for the info on that. Hopefully some of the config is back.

There is a point in wisdom and knowledge that when you reach it, you exceed what is considered possible - Jason Schoon

 

[kjv1611]

I'll have to look at AW 2008 as well. 2007 added some neat features in a way, but seemed to be dumbed down more than necessary, and seemed to be less useful for what it's supposed to be for in my opinion.

I've sadly actually been thinking of swapping, at least for my own personal use, to Nod32 AV. I mean sadly, b/c it aint free! [SMILE]

--

"If to err is human, then I must be some kind of human!" -Me