Hello, Avast seems to be an excellent solution for anti-virus, anti-malware of all(?) kinds.
I am wondering what other areas of security are not covered by Avast for which other software is needed -- for example, Firewall (obviously Avast is not a Firewall).
Any recommendations of free software solutions for those security areas would be welcome.
Does anyone have thoughts also one whether there are any anti-malware type security applications which compliment Avast particularly well?
Thanks!
Hello,
Considering you're asking for free security software to complement avast! free AV, I'd like to make emphasis on a little thing:
Prevention.
This should be your main concern.
Based on this principle, you could make use of EMET (Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit) by Microsoft. (Link:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=c6f0a6ee-05ac-4eb6-acd0-362559fd2f04&displayLang=en)
More useful info on it:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/srd/archive/2010/09/02/enhanced-mitigation-experience-toolkit-emet-v2-0-0.aspxhttp://www.h-online.com/security/features/Damage-limitation-Mitigating-exploits-with-Microsoft-s-EMET-1102501.htmlhttp://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/windows-emet.html (Don't mind the recommendation advising not to use antimalware apps, like antiviruses. I, generally, disagree with it (depends on the user))
Note: EMET will not provide the same protection scope for Windows XP (Service Pack 3 required) as it does for Windows Vista and 7; still is does provide a few protection.
In the first link I mentioned (More useful info on it:), there's a video you can even download and watch whenever you want. I'd advise you also to save the URLs, to keep them offline. I find it a great practice.
My experience is that it should be easy for you to understand what EMET aims to do and how to operate it. But, unless you assimilate what you need, before applying it, don't do it, and you can ask for more info, which I'll do. I'd just like to keep focus on other stuff, as well.
But, go easy on EMET at first, don't go changing the "System Status" as you please. Under "Configure System", there's a Recommend Settings option. If I well remember, that's the default.
Under "Configure Apps", add the applications that are most likely to pose a threat, like web browser, pdf reader, media player, office applications like Word, Excel..., e-mail client.
For example, for Internet Explorer, you'd add the process "iexplore.exe". Every plugins like Flash Player would be automatically added under EMET's protection, since it is started by "iexplore.exe".
For Firefox, you'd also need to add the executable that handles the plugins... I'm not a Firefox user... I do not recall what's its name. Maybe someone could shed a light?
If you'd like to a have a sandboxing feature, you could make use of the Sandboxie free version. You'd need to manual execute the programs under a sandbox, and only one sandbox at a time, though.
There's more that could be said, but without knowing more like what web browser you use and operating system version, it would be a shot in a dark.
Regarding firewall, if you're using Windows Vista/7, Windows firewall is just fine. There's a great article here:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?s=75a7037ac6787aa7783dcdd5d69a279c&t=239750Any doubts regarding Windows Vista/7 firewall, you can always ask at that thread. There's a lot useful info there, though; including the rules that would be needed for certain apps. It's an ongoing thread, I'd say.
Anyway, if you could mention your web browser and operating system, it would be great. A great prevention starts, excluding the user, with these two factors.
Kind regards
