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If you are accessing the Internet or sharing files with anyone, you are vulnerable to attack from viruses, trojan horses, spyware, and hackers.

The cost of protection should be seen like an insurance policy. Protection will usually cost less than the cost of detecting, removing, and repairing any problems. Furthermore you won’t lose time or have the inconvenience of having your machine in the workshop.

There are a number of products available in the marketplace (some of which are free, but they have their limitations) - see below for our Best Defenders recommendation.

There are a number of technologies that provide different layers of protection for your computer/network. These layers of protection block different kinds of threats and may provide backup if one layer fails.

Hardware Routers/Firewalls
Blocks all incoming internet traffic unless requested by internal software or allowed by firewalling rules.
Blocks attacks before they reach your computer, giving you good perimeter security.

Software Firewall
Alerts you when an unsolicited program or person is trying to send information into or out from your computer.

Antivirus Software
Protects your computer from known worms, viruses and trojan horses.
May not detect brand new viruses, worms and trojan horses.
Does not protect against adware, spyware and browser hijackers.

Antispyware Software
Protects against adware, browser hijackers, spyware, tracking cookies and other internet parasites.

Antispam Software
Scans incoming email for key words and decides whether email is spam or not. Spam is then tagged as spam or deleted, depending on your configuration.

Best Defenders

Our Engineers at Compel have reviewed many products and have short-listed the following:

Software & Hardware Firewalls
Zone Labs ZoneAlarm Pro 4.5 (software)
Kerio Firewall (software)
Linksys RV042 Firewall (hardware)

Antivirus Scanner
Symantec Norton Anti Virus 2005 (purchase a CD copy rather than download)
Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security 2004

Antispyware Scanner
Lavasoft Ad-aware SE (download free from www.download.com)
Spybot Search & Destroy (download free from www.download.com)
Microsoft Antispyware

Spam Protection
Most ISPs offer spam filtering. Check with your ISP.
Exchange mail servers can be protected by Norton Enterprise or Mail Marshall.

For more information see the review by NZ PC World [Fear Factor July 2004].

Other Tips

One of the best defence mechanisms is actually your common sense. If something looks odd or asks you to do something that it hasn’t asked before, stop and think if it would be wise to continue– it may be a virus.

If you receive an email that you were not expecting, especially if it has an attachment—don’t open it—delete it. (Also make sure you have the preview pane in your email turned OFF).

If you are browsing on the internet and you get a message like “you may be infected with a virus/trojan, click here to scan your machine”–don’t do it—it is probably a virus or spyware trying to trick you into infecting your computer.

Ensure you keep your defence programs up-to-date—at least weekly, preferably daily.

Read the whole license agreement on free programs and ‘Toolbar Aids’. Many spyware applications look like harmless programs, but you might be agreeing to more than you think. The license agreement usually explains what else the program does—like allowing everything you do to be tracked.

©2005, Compel Computer Services Ltd. All rights reserved.