Windows Firewall job is to make sure your computer only accepts connections form trustworthy places and to block all the connection to place and from places that do not do any good to any machine. It just so happens that Windows Firewall never asks the user if he wants to give permission to a particular program to access the internet, it gives full access to all programs even from those that will just send information about you to God knows where. Windows Firewall is not a reliable one, it never was and probably will never be. Any alternatives? Zone Alarm Firewall was the best free firewall you could install in your machine but now it has so many holes and problems that you'd better pick a competitor. For example, if you use Zone Alarm with Windows XP, Google Desktop doesn't work, but if you shut the firewall Google Desktop will work properly! If you want to play computer games even offline you have to shut it down too, even to see a movie, because the firewall uses so much CPU that you see the movie and the game at less than 10 FPS. A good alternative is Comodo Firewall. It's called Comodo Internet Security and comes with the firewall plus an antivirus. The programs install itself easily and quickly and you don't even need to configure anything, it does it all by itself. The firewall asks you permission to allow or deny access to every program that tries to access the internet. The antivirus is very slow but proves to be very useful. However there are better antivirus than this one specially about speed. If your hard disk is big and full it can take some days to search it all.

The next security light is the spyware. Windows already has a very good anti spyware tool called Windows Defender that says all the time "The computer is running normally. No malicious software was detected". The problem is the computer is not running normally and only thanks to more powerful tools like Spy Sweeper we can trully know if our computers are running normally. Most of the times Spy Sweeper can act even before any bad software starts the execution but even if your computer gets infected this program will heal it instantly. Just don't trust Windows security tools for God's sake.

Finally you need a very good antivirus. Windows does not bring one by default thank God and the only solution is getting one from the Internet. I used to have AVG free edition but I just removed it and you should do the same. Comodo antivirus is much more effective dispite of all slowness. If you want a faster antivirus I recommend you to get Avast Home.

Note: Do never try Norton 360º Security Tool. It has a 15 day free trial so many people can try it. The only problem is your computer stays so slow and so buggy and crashes so many times that you'd better unistall it quickly not to lose anything. Imagine you are writting a big document and the Autosave feature is not active and suddenly Norton inspects the computer and then BANG! You just lost 3 hours of work.

To make a long sentence short: Antivirus is either Comodo or Avast Free, Anti Spyware is Spy Sweeper or maybe Lavasoft Adware and finally for a firewall get Comodo Firewall that comes integreated with the antivirus too.

The first thing to do is to start using an encrypted virtual disk to store all your info inside instead of a normal disk. I recommend True Crypt since it's free and open source. Create a new container with the size of your choice and the use a very good password and some key files. Since you cannot keep a huge password in your mind I recommend you to save it to an encrypted PEN Drive as well as all the key files. Save their path in the cache so everytime you want to open the container, True Crypt knows automatically it must get the pass and the files from the PEN. Don't worry because as long as you keep the PEN with you nobody can access the container even if they steal the computer. The container works exactly like a normal hard disk. If you want to go further you can encrypt the entire disk but it's a bit risky.

Let's imagine someone breaks into your computer. They can see a file but when they try to open it they can't because they need a password and the key files so you are almost 100% protected.

Depending on the size of the container you can keep inside the hard disk or you can copy it to another PEN Drive making it impossible for anyone that hacks into the computer to get the file from you because the PEN is not fast enough for such upload. Another advantage is that is someone steals the computer they won't get a single file from you! I can't recommend anything but True Crypt!

Text files, images and documents and emails and not the only information you want to hide from hackers. How about Internet history and downloads you make? All this info is stored in temporary files and in the browser history and everyone can easily see it. The solution is using a portable browser loaded fom the container. Get Firefox Portable . These portable apps leave very little foot steps in the computer after being used. It's also very cool to have all your favorite apps inside an encrypted and portable place such as a PEN. Here you can find a huge list of portable software. Hackers that break your computer security can never know which programs you are using this way.

To backup your container just make a copy to another PEN. If you create a container with for example 100 GB and you want to back it up to PEN Drives use Winrar to break the container into smaller files. you don't need to use compression to do this. You can add another password if you want inside Winrar.

Keep in mind that if someone steals your computer even if it's locked with a Windows password they can get access to your True Crypt password! I couldn't believe until I saw one movie in Youtube about a technique to do that. Basically they can steal your computer and remove the RAM that contains the pass inside and they cool it until they can go to a place to get the data from the RAM. To prevent such nasty situation always turn off the computer to erase the RAM and the passwords that Windows stores in it.

How to make your easy to remember passwords less hackable (probably not a word)

A little news update if you haven't noticed.

1. Technology is growing faster and faster every year, so that means people are getting smarter and smarter. (Hackers are people too.).
2. As technology gets better, so do the programmers who create this technology and so the hackers.
3. Did you know that there are programs created just for the type passwords I mentioned above? Here are a few known hacks
   • Birthday Attack- named from a theory that out of a group of 23 people, there is a 50% chance 2 or more will share a birthday
   • Dictionary Attack - you guessed it, it uses words from the dictionary. It even has the option to append numbers. * I had a password of silver1979 after a coin I found.
4. Beware of those sites that ask TMI (Too Much Information). One site I created a account on asked those same questions that the bank asked (this draws a big red flag in my opinion). You know the questions I'm talking about. Whats your mothers maiden name? What was your first car? What high school did you attend? Keep in mind these are unrelated questions, but if this site and your bank site ask you the same questions; someone else knows those answers they can get your bank password as well!

Most sites require you to create a password with 6-8 letters. If they require stronger options, they will add a required capital letter, number, andor symbol.

Here are a few tips to keep your passwords safe and easy to remember.

I will keep these very simple, but feel free to combine any or all of them.

• Use your favorite whatever (team, name, holiday etc.) but add a number.

Ex. My favorite holiday is Independence Day (I won't share the reason) so a password for me could be 4thofJuly1994 or 7-Forth. Notice it's easy to remember and complex enough to beat an attack.

• Still use your childs name John and his year of birth. Don't do it the typical way, but like this; 19john89 or joHNjuly89. That way even in small talk you can say my password is my sons birthday. Even if someone was listening, they would still have a very hard time guessing your password.
• Capitalize any letter but the first in case sensitive passwords. I was guilty of this as well. If I had to create a password with a capital, I would just make the first letter capital of the same simple word.
• Don't use words “correctly”. As you may can tell from this article, my spelling sucks. If you spell a word wrong in your password who knows? and WHO CARES? The password is yours, not to be turned in for a grade!!! ex. PeeNuts.
• Use phrases or quotes you like; ex. Takes12know1, HapE2CU, NGodweTrust, cUl@er=see you later (I just thought of that!).
• Don't use the minimum amount of characters. Some sites have minimum password minimum lengths of 6-8 characters. In that case make your password 9 lettersdigits or more.
• Make your bank passwords different from your email passwords

Here's a short list of examples. Ask your children about funny ways to spell certain words. (I know most of you have seen the V-wireless commercial) “my BFFF Jill” Remember you want it complex, but you want to remember it also.

• cyNthia21- Combines a name with a significant day of the month
• Knock4Times- part of a phrase that was on a friends door
• 4thHourof24- time of day I was born
• SnoopPee- one of my favorite dogs. Note if you spell it incorrectly, only you will know!!
• Ih0p3Ulearned2day
• pa$$w0rds?
• A few common letternumber switches
  • One instead of L
  • Zero instead of O
  • 2 instead of "to" or "too"
  • 3 instead of E
  • 8 instead of ate
  • 4 instead of for
  • @ instead of "at" combination ex. B@ = Bat, C@ = cat, F@ = fat

A Trojan horse can enter your computer without your knowing. The person who gave you the Trojan horse can have unrestricted access to any data stored on your computer. A Trojan might be a program that runs on your computer without your knowledge. It might even be connected to a legitimate program you do know about, with additional features that you do not know the program has.

How do Trojans operate, you might wonder? What types of Trojans exist, and what can you do to project yourself? This article will attempt to answer some of those questions.

The best known Trojans are Remote access Trojans, with some kinds being the Back Orfice, and Netbus Trojans. With such Trojans, someone has complete access to another's computer, with access to all files, private conversations, and accounting data.

One example of such a Trojan was the Bugbear virus, which in September 2002 gave those who used it remote access to sensitive information.

Such a Trojan acts as a server and uses a port that is not available to Internet attackers. If a computer user is connected to a network behind a firewall, that person is protected from attacks outside the network. A hacker inside the network, however, could still use such a Trojan.

Another type of a Trojan is a Data-sending Trojan. This is a kind of Trojan that hackers use to obtain credit card information, as well as chat logs, and address lists. Such a Trojan could look for information in specific places, or it could install a key logger that would send all recorded keystrokes to a hacker.

Often a hacker who uses a Data-sending Trojan uses a free e-mail service to receive his information. The information can also be sent to a hacker's website. Such a hacker might well use a free website provider. In such a case, the data would be sent through a web form. Such methods would not be noticed, and a hacker could even be anyone on the same network as the victim. Such a hacker would not have to be in a network, however, as he could externally use such a system to gather information from a victim.

The only purpose of a destructive Trojan is to destroy and delete files. The Trojan could be activated by the attacker. It could work like a bomb, designed to be activated at a specific time.

A destructive Trojan can be a danger to any computer network. It works a lot like a virus. Because it is specifically designed to attack, however, it might go unnoticed by anti-virus software.

Another type of Trojan is a Denial of Service Trojan. It is designed to start a denial of service, if there are enough victims. For example, if you have 200 infected users, and each victim is attacked at the same time, heavy traffic will be generated, more than the victim's bandwidth can carry most likely. Access to the Internet will be shut down or denied.

A proxy Trojan turns the victim's computer into a proxy server. It would then be available to the whole world. Such a Trojan is often used to make purchases with stolen credit cards, or other illegal purposes. This makes the attacker anonymous, because he is using your computer for any illegal activity.

This could cause legal problems, if you are a personal victim of such a Trojan, or for your company, if your company is. If such illegal activity is tracked, it will be tracked back to you or your company's computer.

Another type of Trojan is a security software disabler. It is designed to kill programs such as firewalls, and anti-virus software.

The Bugbear virus was just such a type of a Trojan.

How are computers infected with a Trojan, and can anything be done to prevent them from being infected?

Two common ways a computer is infected are through an e-mail attachment, or through a software download from a website.

Many people will claim they never download software from an unknown website or open an attachment. Hackers often use techniques, however, to cause someone to open an attachment or downloading infected software, without suspecting a thing.

One such Trojan was the Septer.troj, which victims received in an e-mail in October 2001. Victims were tricked into believing the e-mail contained a submission form for disaster relief for the Red Cross. Victims filled out a form with their credit card information, which was then encrypted and sent to the hacker who created it.

Many people have a computer that was infected when they opened an attachment. The hackers often know the names and even e-mail addresses of your friends. They will use such information to send you an "e-mail," or "joke," which you think is from your friend. When you open the e-mail, your computer is infected with a Trojan.

Many people have received Trojans when they downloaded a file from a website. This can happen with a link you receive in an e-mail.

The ZeroPopUp Trojan was one Trojan sent in that manner. Victims were tricked into believing they were downloading software to block pop-up ads. Once installed, the Trojan sent an e-mail to everyone in the victim's address book, implying that the e-mail was from the victim, promoting the software.

Hacking programs, mail bombers, flooders, and other tools can even be found for free on archives of free web space providers.

There are steps you can take to protect yourself from Trojans. If you have any reason to be suspicious about whether an e-mail is actually from your friend or not, don't open an attachment until you are certain. Contact your friend and find out before you open the attachment.

It might also be safer to never open at attachment, if you don't know the source of the e-mail.

If you receive an e-mail that seems to be from a trusted website with a link to something you really want to download, and you are at all suspicious, contact customer service or someone from the website first. Make certain the link to a website is legitimate.

Suppose you want to download software from the Internet, and you do not know anything about the source. One option would be to not download the software to be safe. Another would be to notice before you download if a pop up box appear with a digital certificate from a certification authority appear to authenticate the identity of the software publisher (VeriSign is the world's largest). A message might appear which says something to the effect that the publisher authenticity has been verified by VeriSign Commercial Software Publishers, CA.

These are some steps you can take if you use a personal computer at home. There are no absolute answers to prevent infection. Even if you use a computer in a network at work, most virus scanners detect only a portion of known Trojans and do not detect unknown Trojans.

Even though there are not absolute answers for preventing infection in the workplaces, steps can be taken to make computers safer. Not only does virus scanning need to be done for e-mail, but it should be done for the Internet, for HTTP and FTP, because otherwise you might be protected for e-mail only. Otherwise a user could download a Trojan from a website without knowing it.

Multiple virus engines should be used. Multiple sources will detect more Trojans than a single engine.

Executables entering the network should be checked.

While there are no absolute answers to prevent your computer from being infected with a Trojan, there are steps you can take to be safer.

Anti-Virus Software

An offering from Grisoft, the AVG Anti-virus is possibly the best antivirus solution available for free. The difference between the free version and the Pro version that comes at a cost are additional options such as spyware remover, firewall etc, But since we will look at other free and better options for the same below. There is no difference between the free version and the paid version of the antivirus though. Automatic updates of virus signatures are available for free. I would rate this better than most antivirus solutions available for a price. It runs on a lot lesser memory, improving your PC's overall speed and performance.

Web Browser

If you have an antivirus, you can be satisfied with it only when you do not have a Internet connection on your PC. If you do, then the first point of entry of malware into your PC is the web browser. Firefox is by far the best around, not only from the point of view of security but usability as well. Avoiding Internet Explorer itself reduces your chance of getting infected by at least 20%, the ubiquitous IE is more targeted. For additional security, addons are available in the official site. Do read through the reviews before you choose an addon.

Adware/Spyware/Scumware Remover

I recommend the Windows Defender offering from Microsoft which is available as a free beta. The defender may not be as effective as other solutions available for money. But It is pretty reliable and combined with scans with AVG Antivirus, It is very effective. The one problem seems to be that it consumes a lot of PC resource while scanning. If you are using a new PC, upwards of 128 MB of RAM then it should not be a problem, but anything lower and it could significantly affect your system performance.

Browser Protection Utility

In spite of using the best browser, It is not always possible to escape browser hijacks, which is more of an irritant than a security threat. But not all scumware stop with that, some can even monitor keyboard strokes. So if you deal with sensitive information then I would recommend the browser protection utility. From Windows 2000 or later, for safe browsing a free program called Sandboxie is available that creates a special contained "sandbox" environment on your PC. While browsing within the virtual sandbox provided by Sandboxie you are totally corralled off from other parts of your PC. So any files you download are isolated to the sandbox. Similarly, any programs that are executed only do so within the sandbox and have no access to your normal files, the Windows operating system or any other part of your PC effectively cutting off any damage because of these scumwares.

Anonymous Surfing Services

There are lots of reasons people have for wanting to surf anonymously, ranging from simple paranoia to stop being monitored by their meddling government. Whatever the reasons, services that offer anonymity are doing real well. The best service is probably JAP, it is totally free. It is the ultimate anonymous surfing service. So next time you want to protect your identity online, check out JAP. JAP acts as a local proxy between your PC and the Internet.

Over the course of the next few days I will be presenting a series of articles dealing with the many and varied aspects, concerns, issues, strategies, policies, threats and countermeasures that constitute password security.

Many systems today, still rely on password only authentication. Thus, defending yourself and your organization against the ravages of breaches of password security becomes of heightened importance. Having a single point of failure/attack (the logon name/password combo) does leave one more exposed to the efforts of cybercrime.

Honesty - Being True to Yourself

If you are not going to assess your current password security status honestly then do not even bother. You will probably just waste a whole pile of blood sweat and tears on useless ineffective time consuming misdirected and most definitely misguided pies in the sky.

The type of honesty that I refer to is the kind of honesty that is so necessary to a realistic and accurate assessment of your current password security status. Assess yourself honestly. You do not have to let anyone else know the details of your dirty laundry.

So please, do yourself a favor and do this right. For, only after appraising your current password security status will you be able to identify areas of weakness that need prompt attention.

Hard Password Copies (Paper)

Maintaining a hard copy (paper) of your passwords and locking it in your desk is not as secure a practice as you might think. You cannot guarantee that nobody will attempt to break into your desk. The locks on most desks are merely a trivial inconvenience to those with a little know how.

An envelope opener and a matter of five to ten seconds tops is usually all that it takes to open the majority of desk drawers. Failing to lockup your desk compounds the crime. It may save damage to your desks lock but will do nothing to save your password hard copy.

Do not leave a hard copy of your passwords in close association and physical proximity to your computer e.g. on your desk or beside PC or monitor. It is a very bad idea. Leaving a hard copy of your logon and password details in open public view is worse. Then again, the practice of writing your logon name and password on a post-it-note and attaching the post-it-note to the PC or monitor is probably the worst of all.

Human laziness, carelessness and a casual attitude toward security, particularly where user accounts are concerned is one of the most pervasive issues facing security on an ongoing basis. It is no secret that over the years, post-it-notes along with other password hard copies have provided a profitable source of information to would be password attackers.

Recommended countermeasures concerning practices relating to hard copies of passwords and other authentication credentials should not be necessary since the best advice of all is that you should never maintain a hard copy of authentication details period.

Electronic, Magnetic and Optical Password Copies

While not as risky as maintaining hard copies of your authentication details considerable care needs to be taken when storing electronic, magnetic or optical copies of this information. You should always encrypt authentication data when storing it in an electronic, magnetic or optical format.

As with paper hard copies, any physical copy of any data is liable to additional risk of theft. Many thieves find it easier to steal physical objects compared to electronic objects. They may consider your PC to big to put in their pocket but CDs, USB flash drives, floppies disks and external hard drives are another matter all together.

Recommendations to help protect the electronic, magnetic and optical physical copies of your data will always begin with physical security measures such as using data vaults, lock and key and off-site storage etc. You should also only store this information in an encrypted format to increase your data protection strategies. Password locking files is also important.

Security-In-Depth

Using a security-in-depth strategy entails the implementation of more than one mechanism in your defenses. You can build defenses based around password authentication to open a channel after which you use additional passwords to gain additional access privileges.

Here is an example to illustrate the security-in-depth approach using password authentication systems. You log onto the network using one password, which in association with your logon user name will, once authenticated, allow you access to basic network assets, services and resources.

If some time later you need access to a resource requiring a higher privilege level, such as a database, you may need to supply another user name with a different password. In this way, we now have a two-tiered hierarchy of access privileges to specific resources. Still password-based but immeasurably more secure than just a one password accesses all system provides.

Now suppose you wish to gain access to sensitive information held within that database. In which case, you will need to supply another different user name and password. A third layer of password protection access has now taken place.

Your level of security has increased yet again and the best bit is that it is not going to cost you anything. Most operating systems, including Windows, Linux and Apple MAC along with specialty application software (MS Word, Open Office, security suites etc), will support this strategy natively out of the box.

A classic example of this would be your email account. Your operating system will supply the first password protected authentication level at logon. Your email service provider will require another password protected authentication when you wish to check your email.

WARNING: A word of caution however, most email password authentication processes occur unencrypted which is a very bad idea. Anybody with a “packet sniffer” utility can capture the traffic and view it in plain text at their leisure.

To overcome this you can configure more secure communications channels of use multifactor authentication systems, which I do recommend. They will be the topic of my next article.

Conclusions

NEVER disclose account information such as logon names and passwords. At all times and under all circumstances you must ensure that this type of information (authorization credentials) remains known only to your security, administration and support personal and then only on a need to know basis.

NEVER keep hard copies of passwords and other authentication details. It is a practice wrought with danger.

ALWAYS store data in an encrypted format

ALWAYS afford authentication credentials maximal protection and spare no effort in these endeavors, as they will deliver heightened levels of security across the board to your entire system/network

ALWAYS implement multiple layers of password-protected authentication. A security-in-depth approach is applicable to practically every system with a little careful planning.

Until next time when I will discuss multifactor authentication systems, enjoy!

6. Download The Operative System's Actualizations

It is substantial, to get your protection to the maximum against eventual virus attacks, to download this actualizations; because what most worm Trojans seek are commonly found “security holes” in most Microsoft products. For these, the company constantly offers “critical” actualizations which we can download, and for those who are a bit lazy to look for them in the internet, Windows has an option for them to download automatically.

7. Be Careful With The Files You Receive In Your e-Mail

When we receive a new mail, it is highly recommended to virus scan it, even if you know the remittent. Most users do not even know that their computers are infected, and may be sending you a corrupted file by accident.

8. Another Entrance Gateway, Chat

In most chat rooms it's really common to send any kind of files, via a DDC system. If you get one you never requested, or from an unknown source, NEVER accept it, even if it seems really interesting.

9. Other Tips

Pay special attention to archives which may grow in size without any apparent reason. Or if you get strange Windows notes. Try not to download stuff from web pages you may consider unsafe.

10. And Of Course, Update Your Antivirus

Nowadays there are quite good either free or paid antivirus. In both cases they update automatically, so we all have the parches for the dangerous Mydoom y mentioned in the first part of the article.

If you haven't read the first part, brush up on tips one to five.

And publish 10 obvious but really important tips that everyone with a computer must follow. So if you haven't been infected yet, you should read the next:

1. Be Careful With VBS Archives

   Do not open files with the extension VBS (Visual Basic Script, a language which permits to execute routines in the PC) unless you are completely sure that that mail comes from a trustable person, who doesn't want to harm your computer.

2. Do Not Hide Program Extensions

   All Windows operative systems hide commonly known program extensions in windows explorer. This characteristic can be used by virus designers and hakers to hide a program as if it were one with a different extension.

3. Change Windows Explorer Security Form “Minimum” to “Medium”

   To change this you must go to “Tools”, “Internet Options”, and “Security”. After that you may choose the one you like. I recommend using the option to personalize and set it to mid or high, depending on the risk to which you consider you may stand up to.

4. Install a Good Firewall

   This is really important. You may download a free one from the internet, or just configure the one from your operative system (better if you have windows XP).

5. Make Security Copies

   A way is to upload most important archives to internet. There are web pages such as Rapidshare, Megaupload, or File Factory to which you may upload important stuff. In this way you may clear your hard disk without loosing info. Of course there are other ways, such as making backup copies in CDs, DVDs, ZIP drives or pen drives.

I don't use any protection software; in my personal opinion, it's not anywhere near worth the downsides of prompts every 2 minutes and my computer running more slowly than usual. A few simple steps can be followed to keep you virus, worm, Trojan horse, and spy/adware safe.

• Don't open E-mails from people you don't know, especially those with an attachment.
• Don't ever open a file that ends with .exe .dll .bat or .zip unless you specifically downloaded an installation or update. That type of file would almost never use an email to send you the file anyway, it would be an online download.
• Don't visit any sites you know can harm your computer. A simple standard is ‘don't do it if you don't trust it.'

Various insertion methods used to trick you into opening the malicious files are:

• An MSN message saying "Hey, check out my new photos!" and then providing a zip download or link.
•  A crack website telling you to search for cracks or serials, then generating a contaminated EXE file under the name you search, no matter what the search. A search for "checkoutthisfakename for anarticleonviruses" came up with one match, a download for a file named: checkoutthisfakename_for_anarticleonviruses.exe.
• Music or video downloads on Limewire, Kazaa, Morpheus etc. that claim to be something you'd like to listen to or watch that are actually an EXE file that you open, and then have to basically wipe your OS clean in order to remove.

Protecting your PC is easy, it's much better to keep your PC clean than to have to clean it.

Don't open it if you didn't purposefully download it!

Norton Anti-Virus. This antivirus is good in the fact that it does the job and u won't have anything go undetected as such. There is a few downsides to this program, 1 its cost yearly, and 2 it slows down the computer dramatically. There is a free trial that goes for about a month but it doesn't allow u to do much. This program also comes in the form of toolbar in your internet browser. Norton is the basic program, which new computers usually comes with a trial version or top dollar computers will have full version for say a year, on most windows computers.

AVG anti-virus, spyware, root kit. This program has a free edition anti-virus and root kit which last forever. AVG anti-virus updates regularly, usually each day with new protection against new viruses. There is also a virus dictionary included in the program which has all information on the virus. The program also keeps the infected files in a vault for future reference. You can clean out this vault. AVG also gives you as soon as it finds a problem, to be able to heal, move to vault and cancel options for fast and effective solutions. AVG also has a root kit to download, which goes deep into the computers and gets anything undetected by anti-virus, or in other words files that seemed safe to the anti-virus which in fact isn't. Also looks through the hidden files. Spyware is not free but when you have this program it blocks off spyware before they hit your computer. Even if the file has been there, it will detect it. There is a buy version of the anti-virus which has lots more features. I do believe AVG
Does a great job, and is ideal for people who want easy to use and understanding anti virus, free version that does a great job, and updates regularly. AVG is very popular amongst computer shops, and repair it places.

SpyBot, Spybot is a good user friendly spyware software available for free. This program lets u know of anything that's about to change and give u the option the block it, or ignore it. This program has a downside and it can think your firewall is a spyware, and can turn it off, but if such a thing happens just uninstall it and install it again. Also make sure your firewall is turned on. If not, turn it on and accept the change when it pops up. One really annoying thing, even though it does a great job, I remember once I had a key logger nothing could find but this did, it just in the way and does slow down the computer a little. The pop up things don't disappear for a while, even though you clicked it so you will have to be patient with this one..

Windows Live One Care. A necessity when using MSN and HOTMAIL. this searches/scans incoming files from emails or msn messenger. This is to ensure optimal safety from people when they send u things. Although you can't use anything else, what u can do when using MSN messenger is disable the virus check when receiving files from other contact members and scan with another virus protection e.g. AVG. this takes no time at all. Usually it takes a very long time. First it logs onto their website and checks which is a slow process. When hotmail uses it, it's mainly for checking the files you updated but if u get sent one, it gives you a notice to say it may have a virus, giving you the option to scan.

Google, Yahoo, and other toolbars. Toolbars are most essential when coming to pop ups. this happens when surfing the net and a pop up comes, its blocks the pop up, meaning no viruses from pop ups. Also it protects u from other viruses from the sites as you browse them. You can also turn bits off and on to how it suits you. There is also a downside to toolbars. One thing is they take up so much room at some points half your view area is taken up. So why use them if u can't see what you looking up. Personally I would just leave the normal antivirus do the job. Yes they are good to the point that they are programmed differently from other anti viruses and may see the viruses other virus protections might not see. It may be in their programming to have different definitions to what a virus is. They can pick up things some other things can't.

Well I do hope this info did help you out. I have shown you how 3 different viruses are different and their good and bad points. Shown some toolbar virus protectors. Spyware is a big factor that needs to be seen into. Spyware includes key logging, which is when implanted into your computer; people can see everything you type, meaning your usernames and passwords on the site you visit, credit card details. All viruses are different so try to find one that fits for you and always, always get to know the virus protection you use, very well.