Security has become an important factor today when it comes to the Internet. Back then when viruses and exploits and such were still new, it wasn’t as bad as it is today with online security. Mostly everyone with a computer in this technology era has been hit with a security risk, whether you know it or not, or if you haven’t, it will happen someday. The one question has always risen a lot, which is: How do i protect myself? While there is no 100% way you will be to protect yourself, there is software and tips to prevent getting infected and also methods to remove such security risks should you face one. It is very important to get some type of security software on your computer, and I say this a lot because there is still a lot of users online today that don’t have security software installed on their PC.Now what is security software? Security software can range from different functions, whether it’s an Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, Anti-Rookit, Keylogger Remover, etc, etc. Existing and popular names of security software are products such as Norton (Symantec), AVG (Grisoft), CA (Computer Associates), McAfee, and many more. With so many security products going around, and saying they do better than each other, which one do you pick? There have already been tests to compare each other between speed, reliability, scanning capabilities, and features which is important overall.

Now to go over some of the Security Software Providers, some you might be familiar with or never heard of:

• Aladdin (eSafe)
• ALWIL (Avast! Antivirus)
• Authentium (Command Antivirus)
• Avira (AntiVir)
• Bit9 (FileAdvisor)
• Cat Computer Services (Quick Heal)
• ClamAV (ClamAV)
• CA Inc. (Vet)
• Doctor Web, Ltd. (DrWeb)
• Eset Software (ESET NOD32)
• ExpLabs (Link Scanner)
• Fortinet (Fortinet)
• FRISK Software (F-Prot)
• F-Secure (F-Secure)
• AVG Technologies (AVG)
• Hacksoft (The Hacker)
• Ikarus Software (Ikarus)
• Kaspersky Lab (AVP)
• McAfee (VirusScan)
• Microsoft (Malware Protection)
• Norman (Norman Antivirus)
• Panda Security (Panda Platinum)
• Rising Antivirus (Rising)
• Secure Computing (Webwasher)
• Softwin (BitDefender)
• Sophos (SAV)
• Sunbelt Software (Antivirus)
• Symantec (Norton Antivirus)
• VirusBlokAda (VBA32)
• VirusBuster (VirusBuster)

Now this list is only the few that is out there, there could be some new ones we have haven’t tested yet. Hopefully some of you guys (and gals) have tried different antiviruses on your PC, but I will talk about some of the reliable and best antivirus I have used. I will go over each security software and talk something about them below:

Norton Internet Security 2009

NIS 09

I have used this only for a while, I first tested it with a 30 day trial then got a 90 day trial with a new laptop I got, now Norton Internet Security 2009 (NIS09) has been really reliable and fast on scanning and detection than its previous versions. Some of the features I like about NIS09 is its integration with Norton Confidential which allows you have one click logins on Firefox and Internet Explorer and at the same time, your passwords are secured. The speed and detection rate on NIS09 is much faster than other antiviruses I have used. NIS09 comes with features such as a firewall that is very flexible and allows to set custom rules on programs, the update is very easy, literally one click update, toolbar that handles both one click logins and prevent you from stumbling upon exploited sites (like siteadvisior and roboform but 3x better). One of the most important features I see on NIS09 is the Wireless Protection it comes to prevent others seeing you on your network or prevent other in your network to try to enter your PC’s data. Overall NIS09 is very useful and faster and this still remains my #1 choice for an antivirus.

AVG Internet Security plus Firewall

AVG Internet Security

AVG is very feature rich and useful but there is some goods and bads about AVG, it still remains as a useful and top Antivirus but there’s a reason for it being #2 on my list. AVG Internet Security has the basics that a good antivirus products should have, AVG has an Anti-Virus (of course), Anti-Spyware, Anti-Rookit, Firewall, and the previous Linkscanner is integrated into the AVG Editions. AVG also has routine scans you can set (every 4 hours is the default) to update and scan your computer. While the program and scan is very heavy on the system, it can do a slow, auto, and fast scan depending on how fast the user wants it to scan. The neat thing about AVG Internet Security plus firewall is it installs a toolbar (optional) to protect you from stumbling on exploited sites that can give you nasty spyware and trojans. The toolbar has a “Active Surf-Shield” and a “Search-Shield” to scan you searches you do on google, msn, and yahoo. Very useful unless your searching for things you not suppose to search for .

Linkscanner Pro

Explabs

While this is already integrated with AVG Editions, it is very useful in protect in single situations alone, if you a security researcher like me, you want to make sure that every time you stumble on exploited sites, the security risk is blocked. In this case, exploits always hit you and start to make your computer into a zombie, but Linkscanner Pro allows you to scan links manually before you goto them and also scans link automatically when you search up terms on google, msn, and yahoo. Linkscanner is a stand alone security product for anti-exploit solutions. A good example to use this is if you run a web directory (like I do), you want to make sure that users aren’t submitting nasty infected sites into your web directory. If you’re a big web surfer like many people are, it is recommendable to use a security solution with anti-exploit features to prevent anything infecting your computer from websites.

Comodo Internet Security (Free)

Internet Security

If you’re not into buying security products (which I recommend you do because paid security products are better and have more features to protect you and your data), you can always combine a firewall and a free anti-virus. Anti-virus for the inside area, and a firewall for outgoing connections (as well as incoming connections) to prevent a virus (should you get one) to connect the Internet and download more security risks onto your PC, but luckily for those who don’t like paying, Comodo has introduced a new security solution that combines both their Free version of their firewall and their antivirus into one, making it very easy to protect yourself with such good freeware products. It includes their firewall (which I think is great and better with Zonealarm because of its compatibility with Vista), and their antivirus which also is great for free security.

AVG Free Edition

AVG Free Edition

The free edition of AVG is also useful but not very feature rich if you have very sensitive data on your computer. You should only use AVG Free Edition if you use locally on your PC and for surfing websites. AVG Free is very useful if you don’t have a paid security solution otherwise, it has the necessary functions to make your computer survive from attacks, its features has a Anti-Virus, Anti-Exploit (Linkscanner Integrated), And the AVG Security toolbar, which is about it that it has for free basic protection. What I would recommend in doing so with this is to install a free firewall and combine it with a free Anti-Virus only if you know how to use firewalls. AVG is good in basic protection but not really giving you what other free providers give you and what really need.

Overall these are so far the ones I have found really useful and best in free and paid solutions. If you have another antivirus that you think is great, let me know, and I will add it to the list and test it out myself. Security is very important today, I try to advise my friends and co-workers to let them know security online is become very tight with more security risks going into action and spreading quick. It is important that you also (if you don’t have any security on your PCs) to get something at least to protect yourself from online attacks and security risks. If you think Windows Firewall and Windows Defender will keep you safe, you better think again because those only do so much for security. Your better off using a free edition of AVG, Comodo or any trusted antivirus provider. Let me know your experiences you had with antiviruses listed here. Stay safe my friends!

Norton Internet Security 2009

Chances are that you have gotten a virus before on your computer and most of the times, you either reformat cause you’re too lazy or don’t have enough knowledge to remove the virus from your computer. I have too been through that madness when suddenly your antivirus (if you even have one installed) pops up and says “virus detected“, you know don’t know what to do and have to depend on your antivirus. Now your antivirus may have detected the virus, but can it remove it every trace of it and blast that piece of sh……… code away?

Norton Internet Security 2009 (30-Day Trial) is the antivirus I currently use (after using Norton Internet Security 2008) and have used previous versions that I really trust and depend on when I go surfing on the Internet. One of the best features that have improved on this version of Norton Internet Security is the speed. I have no idea how to tell everyone that speed is very important on scanning and detection capabilities (especially when your handle clients work such as their logos, websites, or programs) and a security risk is detected. Every time I used to start up my computer, I always used to experience long wait times with Norton Internet Security 2007 and somewhat with the 2008 version. When I used Norton Internet Security 2009, I could tell the difference very well in start up & scanning.

NIS09 Main

Another feature that it still has and I find very useful is the Norton Confidential that it comes installed with. What it does is it adds a toolbar on your browser(s) such as Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer, the only sad thing is that it isn’t compatible with Google Chrome but if it does, Chrome will be kick***. So anyways, Norton Confidential has all your logins stored in a protected area and requires a login everything you want to use it, or course you create that login the first time you run it. When you login in your email or website administration section, you will have the ability to save the password so next time all you do is, login, find the login, click it, and then Norton will automatically redirect you in a next tab and login automatically for you. Very useful if you are always on the hunt for keyloggers on your computer (which is what its basically made for, to prevent any keyloggers from writing your keystrokes.)

The last thing I want to comment on Norton Internet Security 2009 is how much the GUI (Graphical User Interface) has improved in the past few years, It is recommendable for every company that makes such a great product to at least have a wonderful interface that looks good. In this case, the GUI is see-through, I’m using Windows Vista Premium at the moment so It might look different if you use Vista Basic or Lower versions of what I’m using. In Windows XP, it might look a little Windows-XP..ish. The functionality on a XP system is actually a lot greater since XP doesn’t eat most of the system resources.

Overall I would give Norton Internet Security 2009 a really thumbs up because of the speed and features that have gotten better over the past few versions. The price has lowered from $69.99 to $59.99 for a 3-PC user license, with the use of some coupons you can save a lot more on that price on Norton, I’d recomend searching Google. Keep it up Symantec!