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HOME TOPICS ABOUT ME Because Windows wasn't designed to be secure, corporate, university and individual Windows users need to do something on their own to plug a gigantic hole in the security of all Windows computers. |
technofile Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983 Can you go too far to protect your Windows PC?Sept. 25, 2002 By Al Fasoldt Copyright © 2002, Al Fasoldt Copyright © 2002, The Post-Standard Can you go too far in protecting your Windows PC from viruses and other dangers? This excellent question comes from reader Jim Hollands. "Over the past year," he writes, "I have become so concerned about viruses that I am wondering if I am over protecting my computer, thus hindering its performance. I use Norton AntiVirus, with automatic updates, AVG antivirus software, also with auto-updates. I use the ZoneAlarm Pro firewall, a program called Ad-Delete to get rid of spyware and one called Ad-Aware, which you have recommended, to do the same thing. "I have Windows XP. and to the best of my knowledge my computer is clean. I also am not in the habit of opening unknown e-mails, and I have the preview option turned off (I have to double-click to open them). My question is -- am I over-protected? And if so, which programs would you suggest deleting?" Hollands uses the Road Runner cable Internet service. It is always on and therefore exposes users to more danger than a dialup system. He probably is going a little far, but he's doing the right thing. He's missing only two protective measures, which I'll describe shortly. First, let's look at what he's arming himself with. He's put a wall around his Windows PC with ZoneAlarm Pro, a highly regarded software program that hides his PC from Internet interlopers. ZoneAlarm Pro also blocks inside jobs, too; it tries to keep sneaky programs that got through the firewall from sending signals back out to their home bases. He's using good antivirus software. But he doesn't need two of them. They'll interfere with each other if they are each checking files in the background. I prefer AVG over Norton, partly because AVG is free -- updates are free, also ñ and because AVG comes from a company that cares about what it is doing. I haven't used Ad-Delete, but I depend on Ad-Aware to clean out spyware. They don't run in the background (you run them now and then to find and erase programs that spy on you), so there's no conflict. Having two is OK. One measure I'd add is a hardware firewall. There are many consumer router-firewall devices to choose from. My favorite (and the one I have used for many months) is made by Linksys. Go to a good computer store and ask for a Linksys router-firewall. They'll know what you are talking about. But what's also missing is a script blocker. Because Windows wasn't designed to be secure, corporate, university and individual Windows users need to do something on their own to plug a gigantic hole in the security of all Windows computers. They need to install a script firewall, so to speak. How dangerous are scripts? They're the standard way that most worms (a form of computer virus) infect Windows PCs. I prefer Script Sentry, a free script blocker. I refuse to run any of my Windows PCs without it. Hollands will gain more than safety by using a script blocker. He'll be able to use the preview pane in Outlook (or Outlook Express) again, because the real danger of the preview pane is that it allows Windows to run ANY script in a message whether you have opened it or not. (Simply viewing a message is enough to tell Windows to run any script hidden in the text, and that's how Windows computers get infected.) A script blocker restores safe functionality to the preview pane. For more information on any of the items mentioned here, use the search engine on my Web site. Go to technofileonline/. (Yes, that's a new address for my site. There's no "www" in the address.) |