Even if you avoid putting multitudes of security packages onto your computer, you need to be careful choosing what you do install. For now I’m going with Windows Firewall because it’s easy and cheap and seemingly fast. (Yeah I know it doesn’t block outbound connections.)
And anti-virus? Well I’m beginning to think, despite what I said last month, that CA AntiVirus may be helping to cause my Media Center problems. It’s also continuing to bug my kids (non-Admin users; and I plan to join them in that group) with pointless error messages.
Kaspersky gets a good rap from C/Net, so I’ve downloaded a trial version. I don’t have any hard data, but the machines already seem more responsive.
By the way, reading an APCMag anti-virus review (Feb 2007), it noted that Norton takes up over 300Mb of disk space! 300Mb?!? For anti-virus? That’s insane.
Back in the Windows 3.1 days I used to joke that things would someday get to pathetic extremes were “mere mouse driver” would require an entire 1MB…!!!
I also wrote a VB program back in the old MSN days that was called “Kewl Program!” and simply displayed an error message “This application requires a 686 processor with 1024MB RAM”.
Back in the day, trusty 386 and new 486 processors with an almighty 16MB of RAM (which I saved $1,200 for!), I thought I was being pretty darned extreme…
My next Intel iMac, when the all-new design comes out shortly, I’m going to at minimum fit with 3GB RAM… hopefully 4GB depending upon cost… absolutely nuts.
On the other hand, it’s ironic that by day – as an IT Manager in the PC world – I have a hardware firewall, server firewall, proxies, server based virus protection, a 4-engine virus system for e-mails, an indepth file analysis system for e-mails (eg simply renaming a file doesn’t work, it will scan inside and realise it is actually a DOC being called and XLS, or EXEcutable code renamed to a TXT, or even an EXE embedded inside a ZIP which itself is inside another ZIP), virus checkers on each client PC, even each client PC has it’s own firewall… as far as I’m concerned an attack could come within, or your network based security may fail and you need to ensure all your clients likewise are protected. I even have systems in place to control and fully audit all use of removable media, etc. Heck, even intellectual property is specially coded so as to detect if it’s being inappropriately copied or e-mailed.
Yet when it comes to using a computer at home, screw that… my trusty UNIX based Macintosh runs no such gunk… nothing what-so-ever except the actual applications I use. If I use a computer at home I simply want to instantly wake it up, quickly do whatever it is I want to do, and put it back to sleep again… nothing more.
I wouldn’t dare trust a Windows machine on the Internet for 5 seconds in this kind of (or lack there of) configuration! :O
Too true Chris. But then, a lot of security is down to user behaviour. I trust myself, but if I was managing IT for the average worker-bees, I’d be a LOT more cautious.
I’m amazed at your security measures at work – really Fort Knox. 🙂 And about SOHO programs (i.e. for home use). Look at seciruty suites. They really easy to install, configure and udpate. I use Agnitum Outpost Security Suite on my desktop. It has both firewall and anti-virus, plus anti-spam and anti-spyware plugins. The work is really solid and invisible for me.