Changed Comodo Internet Security 4.1.x with ZoneAlarm Pro 9.3.x. Back in the past, pre-Checkpoint days, I loved ZoneAlarm, as it was the most effective piece of security software (at least the suite) in the early 2000s. Anyway, I’ll be trying out this firewall again.
Went back to my stable setup.
1. ESET NOD32 Antivirus – Still one of the best, if not the best, realtime antivirus applications out there
2. Comodo Internet Security (Firewall, Defense+) – Comodo now loves me, probably due to the lessenend popups, I’m still testing out Sandboxing since it’s still quite new to CIS. And not to mention that in general Sandboxing/virtualization is quite in its early stages.
3. Hitman Pro – Cloud multivendor on-demand malware scanner.
4. Trusteer Rapport – For banking safety, but I actually don’t do banking on this computer, in fact, I have never done online banking. I only use this to “protect” some sites like my web mail, my blog and etc.
5. Secunia PSI – for my system-wide security audit every once in a while
With my current setup, though it may seem that I’m using up more RAM/Virtual memory, there seems to be no system impact overall. Everything stays light and my system is still very responsive. I’m behind a router, still using OpenDNS, cleaning crap with CCleaner and liking Firefox.
All my security programs listed on the right are FREE and right now all of them are running on my machine. Seems like they’re all compatible though I’ve turned off a feature or two on some security programs)
1. Avira AntiVir Personal, currently being used as the real-time anti-virus engine
2. Comodo Firewall, didn’t bother to install Defense+ and Sandbox, but installed the Firewall
3. Hitman Pro, installed as a “second-opinion” malware on-demand scanner
4. Malware Defender HIPS, disabled the Network Protection, all other options are running for this HIPS program
5. Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware, installed as another malware on-demand scanner
6. PeerBlock IP Filter, my IP blocker, especially when I use uTorrent, currently blocking Spy sites, .edu list and Anti-P2P organizations
7. Prevx SafeOnline, for banking safety, also as a second layer as HIPS and malware scanner
8. Secunia PSI, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
9. Vba32 AntiRootkit, me being paranoid, and I’m also using the BETA version for this.
Not to mention that I use Firefox for browsing, using CCleaner for cleaning (I don’t know if this helps security) and set OpenDNS for my DNS.
Best regards,
ER
Added links for security software, just a few months ago, I only used NOD32 as my main security solution. Since I’m behind a router, I felt quite secure with just using the default Windows XP firewall. For some reason, I’ve become anal with my computer’s security, maybe because I do sometimes connect directly to the Internet using SmartBRO, but it’s probably because I’m now fathering a child — I’m a bit paranoid. So as NOD32 Antivirus as my main security option, I’ve built a security “supporting cast” around it — and since I’m not planning on paying for another security software, I’ve only chosen the free to use ones.
First up, is the Comodo Internet Security, I didn’t install its anti-virus component for obvious reasons, so I just chose the Firewall with the optimal Defense+ option. I chose this program because I’ve already used this before and am quite familiar with it, it has generally good reviews on popular tech websites and it sweeps the floor on the Matousec proactive security website. I am quite pleased with its performance and amazed with its compatibility with my anti-virus. I didn’t experience any slowdowns or hiccups on my Acer laptop.
Next is the open source PeerBlock. I’ve always been intrigued by it, by its features and capabilities most of. So I decided to give it a shot and “wow” it’s quite a powerful program in an almost 2MB container. It blocks a whole range of IPs from malicious sites, spyware, advertising servers and probably even known botnets! This program probably adds another layer to Comodo’s already formidable Firewall solution.
In addition to minimizing my “Paranoia”, I searched for easy to use anti-rootkit programs. I know that my NOD32 subscription and Comodo Firewall with Defense+ would help catch those rootkit nasties, but I want to add another level of protection just in case these two programs fail. Then I found Vba32 AntiRootkit, seems to be a solid anti-rootkit solution. I found a link online that compares 10 anti-rootkit programs, and this got a Gold award. (I also have Sophos Anti-Rootkit and RootKitRevealer as backup)
Finally, I’ve added Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware as an on-demand scanner for other nasties that were missed by the above security software.
Overall, I am very pleased with the security of my personal laptop. I barely noticed any degradation in performance. Hopefully this covers all the bases for now, and for additional information regarding this, you may follow the links on the right side of this page. Or if you don’t like doing that you may always use Google (or your favorite search engine), they’re just there waiting to be uncovered.