Author Topic: Seeking opinions about combination antivirus/firewall products (Read 53,043 times)

Grorgy · « **Reply #25 on:** July 17, 2007, 08:18 PM »

Gizmo had some stuff on this recently

At this site they test all the major firewalls using leak-tests. Now outbound leak-testing is only one criterion for assessing firewall performance indeed some would argue that inbound protection is more important. My view is that both are important as are user friendliness, resource usage, software compatibility and resistance to termination by hostile agents. That said Comodo, Jetico and ZoneAlarm Pro top he list while the Microsoft XP SP2 firewall get the wooden spoon. ZoneAlarm free was another notable poor performer.
http://www.matousec.com/projects/windows-personal-firewall-analysis/leak-tests-results.php

Interestingly, and perhaps not surprising, most of the suites dont do so well, with the exception of Kaspersky and Ghost Anyway gives you more to look at and to think about before parting with the hard earned $$$$s

Mark0 · « **Reply #26 on:** July 17, 2007, 11:05 PM »

BitDefender surely have some interesting features...

Armando · « **Reply #27 on:** July 17, 2007, 11:32 PM »

Quote from: Mark0 on July 17, 2007, 11:05 PM

BitDefender surely have some interesting features...

Oh my.

laughinglizard · « **Reply #28 on:** July 17, 2007, 11:36 PM »

Quote

Nowif I go back to NOD32, I won't have any spy ware detector or firewall. This is where I need some opinions...

Nod has been expanding its repertoire quite a bit.
Gizmo has it listed as one of the best all in one type programs that is paid software.
I've been running it for some time now, with the Windows Firewall as the only other security program.
On the other hand, I am behind a router.

Nod doesn't seem to make my system take any performance hits or slow it down.
I've tried several other firewalls, zero day programs and anti-virus at one time or another, and NOD is the one that performs the best so far.
Kaspersky really slowed my system down.

This is what NOD has in its structure at the moment:

C:\Users\islanddreams\Documents\nod.JPG

Armando · « **Reply #29 on:** July 18, 2007, 12:13 AM »

NOD32 certainly has a good reputation. But you're talking about NOD32 the AV, not about the new ESET (beta) suite... Right?

laughinglizard · « **Reply #30 on:** July 18, 2007, 03:04 AM »

Quote

NOD32 certainly has a good reputation. But you're talking about NOD32 the AV, not about the new ESET (beta) suite... Right?

Right.
Its the anti-virus.
The version I have (2.7) says it has "Threat Sense Technology".
It says it detects viruses, Trojans, Worms, Adware, Spyware, Phishing, and Active Rootkits.

I'm not sure about the rootkits, I'm never sure about rootkits, and I don't test all the other stuff.
I do however trust Gizmo's recommendations - they've proven reliable over quite a bit of time, and his testing is impeccable as far as I can tell.
http://www.techsupportalert.com/

I have Mailwasher, so any mail that's spam or has attachments (funny how the two usually appear together

) gets deleted off the server.

I don't use IE even for MS updates, I use Windiz instead (non -IE browsers only) - they get their updates from MS but weed out unneeded, er, features.
http://windowsupdate.62nds.com/

I use Firefox and use the User Agent Switcher extension to identify my browser as Firefox running on Linux.

The places I wander are pretty pedestrian, and my idea of something approaching p*rn (now don't laugh, ok?) is seeing a new Seasonic Power Supply come out of the box or some new OCZ high performance memory.

laughinglizard · « **Reply #31 on:** July 18, 2007, 03:14 AM »

Quote

Interestingly, and perhaps not surprising, most of the suites dont do so well, with the exception of Kaspersky and Ghost Anyway gives you more to look at and to think about before parting with the hard earned $$$$s

One I don't remember seeing mentioned is Blink.
Its made by eEye Digital Security.
Personal Edition is free for download, its a "security suite" and it got decent reviews last I heard.
http://www.eeye.com/html/index.html

I gave it shot, but it was a little resource heavy for me, and its so "noisy" its annoying. By noisy I mean its always asking you things.

And, if you get on their mailing list somehow, you have to go through a lot of trouble to get off. None of their emails contain an unsubscribe link.

Just tossing this one out there in case it fits for someone.

Armando · « **Reply #32 on:** July 18, 2007, 04:53 AM »

Quote from: laughinglizard on July 18, 2007, 03:04 AM

(now don't laugh, ok?)

I won't.

Thanks for all the info laughinglizard.

Quote from: laughinglizard on July 18, 2007, 03:04 AM

Blink

Blink didn't pass the leak-tests like a champion, but, who knows, it might be good at other stuff...

Curt · « **Reply #33 on:** July 18, 2007, 07:38 AM »

Quote from: laughinglizard on July 18, 2007, 03:04 AM

... my idea of something approaching p*rn .. is seeing a new Seasonic Power Supply come out of the box or some new OCZ high performance memory.

- so you are blocking that kind of stuff - right?

I too am dreaming about high performance memory - only, I haven't got a clue.

Armando · « **Reply #34 on:** August 23, 2007, 05:45 AM »

PS. for those interested, here's a link to the "not that interesting" conclusion of my anti-virus and firewall experiment (in the context of carol's problems with outpost...

) : http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=9679.msg73102#msg73102

Who knows...

Lusher · « **Reply #35 on:** August 23, 2007, 06:42 AM »

Just curious any of you come from Wilders Security, CastleCops, or similar security related forums like myself?

We tend to be pretty obsessed with this security software business, and some of us are even "experts" on the subject.

Armando · « **Reply #36 on:** August 23, 2007, 09:35 PM »

Hi Lusher! I don't know if you were officially welcomed to the forum... If not : Welcome!

I read a lot of stuff at Wilders Security and CastleCops, but I'm obviously not a software security specialist and... I don't know if anybody here is a member in these forums. Maybe someone will dare to speak up and show his/her pretty face?

Anybody?

Curt · « **Reply #37 on:** August 23, 2007, 11:01 PM »

I have been a member at Wilders since August 2006, but I have not been posting much.

[attachimg=#]

PhilB66 · « **Reply #38 on:** August 24, 2007, 12:09 AM »

Same here, a frequent lurker at AntiOnline, DSLReports, Wilders Security Forums, Subratam and Gladiator Security Forums

Darwin · « **Reply #39 on:** August 24, 2007, 12:37 AM »

Me too - infrequent poster at both Wilders Seurity Forums and Sandboxie forums...

Curt · « **Reply #40 on:** August 24, 2007, 03:07 PM »

Quote from: Curt on July 12, 2007, 09:52 PM

A virtual solution still might be a better solution.
(...)
BufferZone has a FREE version for the Internet browser and the email client.
The BufferZone PRO version is on offer at $30.

Quote from: Curt on July 13, 2007, 09:39 AM

... - the virtual world is quite new to me - but I did try BufferZone, and for the ease of use I would prefer PRO over FREE.

BufferZone PRO is the GiveAwayOfTheDay today, Friday 24'th of August 2007

--

Edit: Remember to register at http://www.trustware.com/_cyber/store/giveaway.php

Edit2:
The GiveAway offer is reflected if you want to upgrade to the supported version: 50% rebate!

BufferZone Pro offer:
[attachimg=#]

Lusher · « **Reply #41 on:** August 24, 2007, 03:44 PM »

Already have it.

Curt · « **Reply #42 on:** August 24, 2007, 03:55 PM »

- and do you like it? Anything special to remember?

[attachimg=#]

Lusher · « **Reply #43 on:** August 24, 2007, 04:07 PM »

Quote from: Curt on August 24, 2007, 03:55 PM

- and do you like it? Anything special to remember?

(see attachment in previous post)

Conflict of interest , so I prefer not to comment.

Darwin · « **Reply #44 on:** August 24, 2007, 07:06 PM »

PCMag has just reviewed to BitDefender Total Security 2008. The review is very comprehensive and concludes:

Quote

BitDefender Total Security 2008 is a clear improvement over last year's model, even if you just consider the features present in both. Antispam accuracy is way up, the firewall is tougher, and BD is more effective against spyware. In addition, you now get a full-featured local backup module as well as a first attempt at a performance tune-up module, all wrapped in a completely updated, friendly user interface. If you have an allergy to Norton and ZoneAlarm, this is a worthwhile alternative.

Having skimmed the review, I wouldn't call it a rave, but it (the suite) comes across as very solid and dependable.

Lusher · « **Reply #45 on:** August 24, 2007, 07:38 PM »

So this is the security software thread??? shouldn't there be seperate threads for different classes of security?

Armando · « **Reply #46 on:** August 24, 2007, 08:04 PM »

Quote from: Lusher on August 24, 2007, 07:38 PM

So this is the security software thread???

Yup. That's it!

Just kidding.

Darwin · « **Reply #47 on:** August 24, 2007, 08:07 PM »

Quote from: Lusher on August 24, 2007, 07:38 PM

So this is the security software thread??? shouldn't there be seperate threads for different classes of security?

No, the OP was looking for opinions and advice about security so we've been posting in here... There isn't really a "security" sub-forum, though it's not a bad idea!

Lusher · « **Reply #48 on:** August 25, 2007, 02:59 PM »

I think Gimzo is overrated when it comes to giving advise about security software, but that's just me.

Lusher · « **Reply #49 on:** August 25, 2007, 08:05 PM »

BTW guys visiting AVASt! forum in the last 24-48 hours should be careful, apprently the forum was hacked and it was trying to infect people via a iframe and security exploit...

http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=183634

Do a full scan just in case.