Sunday, January 30, 2011

Internet Security Reviews

Internet Security Suites Software (Why? and What?)
Basically a suites software is used to protect your computer from all possible security threats that could destroy the data on your PC. Now to avoid this, install less number of security programs or go for these security suites softwares. This will remove all the junk, and creepy, crawly bugs waiting to make their way into your data and the electronic system, long before something gets infected badly. A user might look for several Internet security reviews and would separately purchase protecting softwares like, anti-virus, firewall, antispyware, etc. Well, you don't need to look so far, because suites softwares have already done this job. They are available as compact tools, providing everything from A-Z, that a user would require to stop the threats. Take a look at some of the Internet security reviews of suites softwares and preclude the threats instantly.

Latest Internet Security Reviews
  • Anti-virus: Anti-virus software has the capability of bringing down a virus that poses a threat to your computer. It is essential and effective. One of the best applications within it includes, advanced heuristics. It is able to spot virus type activity even before a virus program has been recognized.
  • Antispyware: As spywares are becoming a serious threat to the computer world, antispyware poses a counterattack to the spyware. Its features are capable of defeating trojans, adware, worms and any other harmful spyware over the Internet.
  • Firewall: Firewall, is in obvious terms a wall that helps in keeping away the threats from entering. Firewall is the first contact to the spyware and it should be very strong in itself to disapprove of malicious programs, even before they are detected by the antispyware and anti-virus scanners. Firewalls are known to be, prevention both ways i.e they avoid threats to enter and block information going out. This way you wouldn't compromise on your identity at least.
  • Support/Help: There should be enough help and support options provided by the software manufacturers to answer all the queries of the users regarding the protection of the computer. The programs can be made available either on the manufacturers website or can be incorporated within the program.
  • Other Security Features: Besides the above three to four pointers, make sure your suite has other security features as well. Parental control softwares can also be made part of this suite.
So now, that you know, from these free internet security reviews, as to what one should exactly look for while purchasing software suites, let us now, move on to know the kinds and names of security products.

Reviews of Internet Security Products
These reviews are of the best rated products that could be found on the internet, consisting of personal firewall, anti-spyware, anti-virus, internet security suites, parental controls, content filters and spam stoppers.

Personal Firewalls Reviews
Firewall is a device that allows or denies network transmissions and blocks unauthorized users and in addition to this protection firewall offers, a proactive security challenge consists of firewalls suites all-in-one. As described before, firewall protects your system from any sort of unwanted intruders. Thus, it is extremely vital to install certain programs that would wipe out all these malicious spywares and give you a clean computer system to use.

Best and Free Firewall Products
Online Armor, Comodo, PC Tools, Outpost, Online Armor, Privatefirewall, Jetico, Lavasoft, ZoneAlarm Pro. Out of which these are some best-free products; Online Armor Free, PC Tools Firewall Plus, Outpost Firewall Free, Comodo, Privatefirewall.

Anti-Spyware Reviews
In case your system has been exposed to some infection due to the unavailability of anti-spyware programs on your PC, don't worry, here are some tools available to help you fight the battle against computer viruses.

Anti-Spyware Products
Best Software - PC Tools Spyware Doctor 2010, Best Software (Budget) - Sunbelt CounterSpy, Best Spyware Protection (security Suite) - Norton Internet Security 2010, Best Free Removal Tool - Lavasoft Ad-Aware.

Wireless Routers Reviews
Wireless routers are routers having built in wireless access points so that a user can have a wireless Internet access anytime. Most of the times, wireless routers aren't so secured like the usual hard wires. Hence here are some programs, made available to you, to strengthen the security for your computer. Also keep in mind some technical names that might be effective to buy a wireless router. These names by themselves would help a user to set a home network wantonly.

Best Router Products - Apple AirPort Extreme, Linksys WRT610N, Linksys WRT400N, Linksys WRT54GL, D-Link DIR-825 Xtreme N Dual Band Gigabit Router, D-Link Xtreme N Duo Media Router (DIR- 855), Cisco Valet Plus, D-Link Xtreme N Storage Router (DIR- 685), Linksys by Cisco Dual Band Wireless- N Gigabit Router WRT320N.

Anti-Virus Reviews
As mentioned before, anti-virus is a program used to detect and remove worms, trojans viruses out of the computer system. Also, there are some names of lab-tested softwares, they are highly recommended because they have been tested under critical circumstances and have proven effective in ruling out the viruses spread in the computer. The names given here, will help you deal with the same.

Anti-Virus Products
G Data Antivirus 2010, Best Free Panda Cloud Antivirus Free Edition, Bets Mainstream Norton Antivirus 2010, Best Mac Intego VirusBarrier X6, Ad-Aware Pro 8.1, Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0, Norton Antivirus 2010, Panda Cloud Antivirus Free Edition 1.0, Spyware Doctor with Antivirus 2010, VIPRE Antivirus 4.0, Avast Free Antivirus 5.0 (more in Avast antivirus), AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 9.0, Double Anti-Spy Professional, Avira AntiVir Personal 10, IObit Security 360, Trend Micro HouseCall 7.1, McAfee Virus Scan Plus 2010 are some examples.

In recent times, the market is flooded with softwares that are top ranking and perform an effective job in the elimination of viruses out of the computer system. This way, the information and confidential data of the users is in the hands of softwares which are safe to use and ultimately the question never rises whether to not invest in and trust such Antivirus softwares.

Trusted Software Products
Avira AntiVir Personal, AVG 8.5 Free, Alwil Avast Antivirus Home Edition, MS Security Essentials, Comodo Internet Security plus Panda Cloud Antivirus, PC Tools Antivirus Free Edition, PC Tools Threatfire, ClamWin Free Antivirus.

Security Suites Reviews
When considering the subject, Internet Security, users have to see to it that, a complete security package is covered up. Two examples are, Best Norton 2010, Best Budget G Data 2010. A maximum security suite is an anti-spyware program which is rogue. It is mainly advanced through trojans. Once you install the security suite programs, these rogues scan your computer, and instantly give the status, whether it's infected or has high risk threats. But provided you purchase these programs, the removal of spyware is not possible. Many vendors provide best security for the Internet by scanning the computer and cleaning up all the possible threats located in the system. Vendors like A-V Comparatives Crows are known to be the best security vendors online. They offer programs which are used for low-risk threat detection, malware detection, low false positives, proactive detection, low performance impact, successful malware removal, fast scanning and dynamic protection.

These are the 2010 Internet Security Suites which are in rank order.

Security Suite Products
Norton 2010, Kaspersky 2010, AVG 9.0, PC Tools 2010, BitDefender 2010, Avast 5.0, McAfee 2010, Panda 2010, Webroot Essentials, Trend Micro 2010, F-Secure 2010, ZoneAlarm Suite, Eset Smart Security 4

Vendor Products
Symantec (Norton), Kaspersky, ESET, F-Secure, BitDefender

Spam Stoppers Reviews
Spam filters automatically protect the users email accounts, their mail box and e-mails too. It helps in filtering the spams out of the account. Spams are harmful to user's data or information over the Internet. They are able to phish for their confidential information, and can steal their identity or credit details. To stop all these malicious actions, anti-spam programs are introduced.

Spam Filter Products
Best Spam-Filtering Software - ClearMyMail, Best Anti-Spam - Cloudmark Desktop, Best Free Spam Blocker - SpamFighter.

3 Free Anti-Spam Products
Here are the 3 best ones available in the market - SpamBayes, Mailwasher, SPAMfighter.

Parental Controls and Content Filters
As we know that, in this difficult age, an open internet is really unsafe for parents and children, these are some names of the tools that parents can install and control kids from browsing the unwanted content. Also, it provides Internet safety whilst surfing the net.

Parental Software Products
NetNanny, CyberPatrol, Best Web Based - OnlineFamily.Norton, Best for Macs - Safe Eyes are some of these.

So hope these internet security reviews and products have helped you enough, to decide which product offering what, is good and safe for you to keep from all the Internet threats and risks.
By Fatima Rangwala
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Email Security Tips

In today's world, everything is dependent on computers and internet. We all rely on computers and internet technology to such a extent that we often have to send our most personal information through emails. But emails are not 100% secure and there are many risks involved. We have heard of stories about credit card numbers being stolen, email accounts being hacked and personal data being altered, computer viruses erasing the entire system etc. The best defense against all these is in being aware. Let us take a look at some email security tips, which if followed can minimize the chances of someone hacking your emails accounts.

Email Security Best Practices

Create a Strong Password
One of the first tip to protect your emails account from hackers is to create a strong password and keeping it confidential. Viruses and worms have the capability of guessing weak passwords . Also to memorize them, we often create passwords based on our names, date of births etc. which makes your email account more vulnerable. The United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team advises people to use mnemonics, that is, instead of a password like 'michaelsmith' you can create your password as MNIMS which stands for 'my name is michael smith'. Mnemonics generated passwords are stronger and less vulnerable to be hacked. You can read more on commonly used passwords and stay away from them.

Identify Phishing Emails
The college of New Jersey explains that phishing is a scam where a hacker sends out emails that look legitimate and like they're from established nationally recognized companies, to try to steal your information and possibly your email passwords. Mails asking to update your bank accounts, passwords are some of the common examples. These mails are not legitimate, but are made to resemble one by employing social engineering techniques. Now the question is how would you identify phishing emails? A phishing email commonly uses the following words, 'verify your account', 'you have won a lottery', 'if you don't respond within 48 hours, your account will be closed' etc. Whenever you find such emails in your inbox, don't reply immediately and instead verify with the bank/company if they have sent that mail.

Secure your Computer
Update your anti-virus and anti-spyware software. You may think that your computer is protected as you have installed an anti-virus software, but hackers think about how to break your security gate all the time. Once they find a loop-hole in your computer's security, they modify the viruses accordingly. The solution is to update your security software so that you are always one step ahead of them. Apart from this, you should always update your email security settings. For more information, read firewall settings.

Be Cautious While Opening Attachments
One of the most common ways of sending emails is by email attachments. Whenever you open an attachment, check for the URL. Be cautious even if the attachment is being sent by someone you know as many viruses can 'spoof' the return addresses. Also turn off the option of automatically downloading attachments.

Follow the Basic Safety Measures
Try using your email account at secure locations and remember to logout whenever accessing it from a shared computer. Change your passwords frequently and be aware of the latest happenings with regard to viruses, email scams, email security policy etc.

These were some email security tips, for more information, you can read :
  • Internet Security
  • Internet Safety
  • Internet Safety Facts
Along with the innumerable benefits, computers and internet have left us vulnerable to internet crimes. But the good thing is that we can prevent ourselves from being a victim, if we follow the above mentioned email safety tips. We all need to be well informed and guard ourselves against hacking, phishing etc. The hackers thrive on ignorance and casual behavior of people. I hope after reading this article on email security tips, you will surely adopt a cautious approach whenever you use your email. The fight against cyber crime can only be successful if we all are better prepared and responsible.
By Rahul Pandita
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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Computer Maintenance Tips

If you are experiencing some computer slow down and constant crashes let me suggest a few tips that will help to speed up your PC and clean from system parasites and any other harmful malware.

First of all - clean up your system drive (in many cases it is drive C) from all the junk and old files that you have. One reason why your computer might be experiencing speed problems is full drive C. As it is system drive, it always needs some extra space for page files and virtual memory. If you have just few megabytes - I am not surprised that your computer is so slow. You can easily perform your disk clean up by using the Windows tool:

For Windows 7 users:
Select "Start", then "All programs", then click "Accessories" then choose "System tools" and "Disk cleanup". Select the logical disk that you want to clean. In the "Disk Cleanup For" dialog box select the files lists that you want to delete permanently and click OK. The clean up will start and it will take some time to finish, depending on the quantity of file that you have.

For Windows XP users:
Click "Start" menu, select "All programs", and click on the "Accessories" and in the drop down box select "System tools". In another drop down box click on the "Disk clean up".

The "select drive" box option will appear and you will have to select which drive you want to clean up. Press OK and a calculation of potential free space will run for a few second, displaying "Disk Cleanup for (C:)" window. Select the files that you want to delete and click OK. The process will start.

Defragment your hard drive. Defragmenting the hard drive is necessary function, especially after a long usage of your system. As you open and edit your files, the bits and pieces of your files are scattered or fragmented through the system. Next time when you open the files, it is more difficult for the hard drive to locate all the bits of your file, and the response time becomes slower. Defragmenting puts the files’ and folders’ pieces back together on a disk to make a single space for each. The reading and writing of the hard drive becomes much quicker when all the files are in one place and additional space is gained.

Defragmenting in Windows 7:

Select "Start", then "All programs", then click "Accessories" then choose "System tools" and "Disk Defragmenter". In the dialog box "Disk Defragmenter" select the drive to be defragmented and click "Analyze". The analysis will show you whether you should make the disk defragment or not. Click on the "Defragment Disk" button and the process will start. You will be able to monitor the whole process.

Defragmenting in Windows XP:
Click "Start" menu, then "All programs", click the "Accessories" and in the drop down box select "System tools". Click on the "Disk Defragmenter" in another drop down box. The new window will appear, where you will have to choose the drive and click "Analyze" button. The pop up dialog box will show the information, if you need to make defragmenting or not. After that you can click the "Defragment" button.

You could also check your hard disk for errors. To do that you can right click on your drive (C: or D: or any other letter), select "Properties" and "Tools". Press "Check now" in the "Error checking" option.

Scan your system for any spyware, adware or viruses. Spyware process may dramatically slow down the whole system. I suggest installing and updating the newest antispyware or antivirus programs - it can be AVG, Avast or any other antivirus, besides those suggested are free of charge. Additionally you might as well install antispyware program and run updates. It searches more thoroughly for root kits and some of those can bypass antivirus scans. The best antispyware for me is Super Antispyware. Here is more information about the antispyware and computer diagnostics.

By Tomaz Greicion
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