As many of you know Windows is not the most secure Operating System in the world, but then again no OS is really secure if the user doesn't know how to protect themselves. Later I will show you how to lower the risk even more on your (the user's) end.
Well onto the real stuff. Today in this Null-Byte, I will be showing / teaching you how to minimize your risk of getting hacked and keeping your Windows Machine secure. First off you are going to need a few things to keep your system secure when you aren't using it. We need a few types of programs, a firewall, an anti-virus, an anti-malware / anti-spyware. I will only cover the free programs here as they work fantastically, paid programs do exist but can be expensive. Please note that having more than one of each in each category can cause more harm than good so please pick one.
Tools of the Trade
Okay you have some choices with all of these if you don't like one or if it doesn't like you.
Anti-Virus Tools
Never ever, ever, ever use Norton, Symantec, or Mcafee as an anti-virus because they (lack of better term) suck. I have used all of these anti-virus protections on different types of computers and here is my list of anti-viruses.
Anti-Malware / Anti-Spyware
Well I have only really seen one anti-malware tool that does the job and does it right and that is MalwareBytes. Yes we all know that there are more out there but this is what I recommend and so do most IT professionals. As for the Anti-Spyware part a great one is Spybot: Search and Destroy.
Firewall
Well the next best thing to having a physical firewall is to have a firewall program. Here I have a few more that I can recommend to anyone needing one.
- Windows Firewall
- Comodo Firewall
- ZoneAlarm
- OnlineArmor Free
Yes this list may be small but I plan on expanding it with help from you the community. Have a suggestion that isn't on this list? Tell me in the comments below and I will try it out and add it to the list.
Just updated your iPhone? You'll find new emoji, enhanced security, podcast transcripts, Apple Cash virtual numbers, and other useful features. There are even new additions hidden within Safari. Find out what's new and changed on your iPhone with the iOS 17.4 update.
4 Comments
I would not recommend Comodo as your dedicated AV. It has some neat features, but is quite a system hog and I had a couple of issues with it, especially with online gaming conflicting with the "Defense+" feature. You should only use it if you have dual core at the least.
Neither would I I tried their AV and it missed a lot of things the others didn't miss. I only use their Firewall as it gives the user complete control over it and they get to chose what level of safety they want
Oh yeah, the firewall is pretty good. Just not the AV. I had to disable certain features to let programs update themselves (steam and LoL) And then go hunting through lots of options to whitelist them. Sooo many options.
That's why I like it, it allows for the user to set their own security much better than say window's firewall utility. Also the UI is much better.
Share Your Thoughts