Security: Best solution for your PC

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Do you really need to pay for computer safeguards?
The best of the free security software available online didn't perform quite as well as the best for-pay programs, which offer the greatest margin of safety against any or all online threats.

But no-cost programs are worth considering as supplementary protection, or even as primary protection providing you practice safe computing (see Best ways to stay safe online) and fully use the security tools built into your operating system. A few caveats, though: Compared with for-pay suites with a single interface, you'll need to manage a myriad of programs even in the best free anti malware applications. And some freeware may become for-pay eventually.

Drawn mostly from our test results, here's a miser's suite of security freeware, arranged by type. See the relevant Ratings for more on how they performed and see protection software contact information, for Web addresses from which you can download them.

Antivirus Alwil Avast Home Edition 4.7.

Antispyware/antiadware Install both Microsoft Windows Defender and SpyBot Search and Destroy 1.4.

Antispam SPAMfighter standard or Microsoft's Outlook or Windows Mail with Junk Mail Filter.

Browser security toolbar McAfee Site Advisor. Not rated, but free anti malware worth trying. See tip No. 4 in Best ways to stay safe online.

Software firewall ZoneAlarm 7.0 (Windows XP, 2000) and 7.1 (Vista). See tip No. 1 in Best ways to stay safe online.

Rootkit detection AVG Anti-Rootkit. Not tested, but worth trying because other free programs don't claim to protect against this insidious type of malware.


PROTECTION SOFTWARE CONTACT INFORMATION
Alwil Software: support@avast.com; www.avast.com. Apple: 800-275-2273; www.apple.com. BitDefender: 954-776-6262; www.bitdefender.com. CA/e Trust: 888-423-1000; www.ca.com. Check Point: 877-966-5221; www.zonealarm.com. Cloudmark: online support; www.cloudmark.com. F-Secure: 866-295-2725; www.f-secure.com. Grisoft: online support only; www.free.grisoft.com. Kaspersky Labs: 781-503-1800; www.kaspersky.com. Lavasoft: online support only; www.lavasoft.com. McAfee: 866-622-3911; www.mcafee.com. Microsoft: 800-642-7676; www.onecare.live.com or www.microsoft.com. PC Tools Software: 800-764-5783; www.pctools.com. SmithMicro: 831-761-6200; www.allume.com. SPAMfighter: 561-962-4166; www.spamfighter.com. SpyBot: N/A; www.spybot.com/en. Sunbelt Software: 800-336-3166; www.sunbeltsoftware.com. Symantec: 800-441-7234; www.symantec.com. Trend Micro: 800-864-6027; www.trendmicro.com. Webroot Software: 866-612-4227; www.webroot.com.
 
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Net threats
Why going online remains risky

The lone-wolf geek you imagine hunched over a computer in his basement isn't the only one out to steal your identity on the Internet.

Cybercriminals increasingly operate in an elaborate networked underworld of Web sites and chat rooms, where they sell one another stolen account numbers, tools for making credit cards, scanners to pick up card numbers and PINs from ATMs, and viruses and other malicious software.

Such thieves pay $14 to $18 per stolen identity, according to security firm Symantec. They surely get their money's worth: In 2006 alone, identity theft cost consumers and businesses $49.3 billion, according to Javelin Strategy & Research, based in Pleasanton, Calif.

Our reporter viewed images from a Web site that until recently had been frequented by "carders," thieves who traffic in stolen credit- and debit-card numbers. She was aided by staff from RSA Security, a security firm in Bedford, Mass., that works with law-enforcement agencies to monitor such activity.

In a chat room, an identity theft defrauder bragged to another, "I have bank accounts ... discount if you buy in bulk." In a feat of credential burnishing, one criminal assured another that he'd been "uploading scams on hacked hosts for long time." The site also featured discussion forums, a news and how-to publication about fraud, and a Hall of Shame, where defrauders trying to cheat other defrauders were exposed.

Not all ID theft is carried out online, of course. The most notorious recent identity theft schemes involve hackers who broke into businesses' customer files. And for a look at how easily someone can obtain personal information from your used PC, see What your hard drive can tell ID thieves.

But given the prevalence of tools for cybercriminals on sites like the one our reporter viewed, it's clear that the kind of online threats we've investigated for this report--spam, fraudulent Web sites, and malicious software (malware)--have become important tools in the arsenals of identity thieves.

Despite stepped-up law enforcement and better security software, those threats remain potent, according to the 2007 Consumer Reports State of the Net survey. Findings from our fourth annual national survey of online threats, conducted this spring by the Consumer Reports National Research Center based on 2,030 online households, include the following:

Your chances of becoming a cybervictim are about 1 in 4--slightly less than last year because a few problems appear to be easing, though significant threats remain.

Consumers are still falling prey to phishing scams, in which bogus e-mails and Web sites ask them to disclose information about their financial accounts. The number who submitted personal information in such identity theft scams remained constant since last year, at about 8 percent of respondents. In the past two years, we estimate, a million consumers have lost billions of dollars to such scams.

Thirty-eight percent of respondents reported a computer-virus infection in the past two years, and 34 percent reported a spyware infection in the past six months. Based on projections from our survey, virus infections prompted 1.8 million households to replace their PCs in the past two years and spyware infections 850,000 in the past six months. Very few Mac users reported either infection type.

Defenses are still down. Seventeen percent of respondents didn't have antivirus software installed. Thirty-three percent didn't use software to block or remove spyware, which would help to stop identity theft. Most households had installed a firewall, which keeps out hackers. But based on our survey, we project that 3.7 million U.S. households with broadband still lack a firewall.

Wireless users face additional risks, our survey showed. Half of those who used their home computer with a wireless router didn't take basic precautions such as enabling encryption. Among those who used connections at public hotspots, which are at greater risk than home connections, 63 percent possibly exposed themselves to hackers or identity theft by logging on to password-protected accounts.

Many youngsters are at risk. Among respondents with minors online, 13 percent of their children who were registered at the giant networking site MySpace.com were younger than 14, the minimum age the site officially allows. We also found that many parents haven't prepared their children for online risks.


In short, in a world where online criminals have become quite sophisticated, consumers must become more wary of online threats. Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, believes that government and industry must step up their efforts to protect the public from online threats, including identity theft, though there's a lot consumers can do to avoid becoming cybervictims. For advice on how to protect yourself and Ratings of security software, see Best security software.

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Quote from 1flyfisher:

Anyone have any experience with AVG Anti-Spyware?
It is supposed to be a good one.
More...

I use the paid malware 7.5 version of AVG. I have been very satisfied with AVG. AVG does not seem to slow down older PC's. AVG is also cheaper than most of the the other pay for offerings. I will consider changing to AVAST free home addition when my AVG renewal comes due.
 
Not sure if anyone mentioned

NOD32 - one of best anti-virus progs I've used; low resource hog and - gets updated all the time.

Most computer related forums suggest NOD32 and kaphros(spelling) as being the 2 best ones out there atm.
 
I too really like Nod32. Runs silently in background with no system drag. Haven't had any virus problems last yr other than 2 that it caught in emails.

My first year sub just just ran out yesterday (about$40/yr/machine) and they offer additional 2 yr renewal now for $40...What a deal!
 
Quote from Catoosa:

I use the paid malware 7.5 version of AVG. I have been very satisfied with AVG. AVG does not seem to slow down older PC's. AVG is also cheaper than most of the the other pay for offerings. I will consider changing to AVAST free home addition when my AVG renewal comes due.
More...

Antivir free edition is much better
 
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