How to Protect PC/Computer, Privacy using Free Antivirus-Firewall Softwares

How to Safeguard your PC, How to protect your Privacy and how to prevent Identity Theft using Free Software Effectively

Note : This article / guide applies to any computer running Microsoft Window's latest version including windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Vista

Internet Popularity and More Frauds
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...ty-threats.jpgInternet is gaining popularity and there is no doubt on it. Even in the developing countries, the penetration rate of PC and internet is getting higher and even more higher. What all this means, it means that now we have even more users vulnerable to online threats to security and privacy of the users.

No surprise as the number of internet connections is increasing, so do the incident of online fraud, identity theft, Virus, Malware, trojan is increasing. I once reading a report somewhere about the loss due to online fraud was around $3.6 billion for Year 2007, it do not include all types of online frauds so it may be double.


Reason for Internet Fraud, Identity Theft etc.
Ofcourse, the most basic reason is money, as in real life there are people who tries to make easy money by using shortcuts and illegal means, same goes in this cyber space. There are people who want to earn easy money or rather steal money of others. There are various reason but most of them are due to unawareness of user or negligence in day to day life.

eg. If a person has allowed his computer to accept remote connections but has not done his homework to protect his PC from unwanted person then his computer can be easily compromised, one can install software like keylogger and can easily get his all information he use online such as credit card info, bank details etc.

So such activities can be prevented by using common sense as well as installing a good firewall.

There are numerous other ways by which your PC can be compromised and you won't even know it. May be someone is spying on your surfing habits just to deliver more suitable ads to you, even if they are not harming you but they are breaching your privacy. So you need to be alert to protect your privacy.


Need to Protect PC for Safer Surfing and secured online experiencehttp://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...r-security.jpg
As I discussed already, you need to protect yourself from unwanted privacy breaches as well as many other threats. Threats may include virus, malware, trojan, spyware, adware etc.

Looking in real world I found that almost 80% people are state of total vulnerability and but luckly not all those 80% uses internet for their sensitive information. But what if those starts using internet as I and you do ? Well, people are already starting to do it and this ratio is far less in many countries. So, there is great of user attention and awareness against such fraud, spoofing, spyware etc.

How to Protect Your PC without spending a single Penny ?
That is the real part, you can really safeguard yourself from online fraud and other suspicious stuff without paying anything. There is a class of nice and top-notch software those are available for free. So here I will discuss those in brief one by one.

Free Antivirus Software
Antivirus software, it is the most fundamental aspect of hardening security of a Computer. Before choosing any antivirus, we must keep few things in mind.

• [b] How effective it is..!
• Easy to use.
• How is support and availability of protection against newly discovered threats...!
• How easy the software is on system...!

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I ended up selecting AVG Free, though there are many other Free antivirus solution available but in tests I found AVG Free most effective as well light on system. Not to mention that they have very online antivirus database update system. Also, In some authentic test among viruses AVG stood 3rd in being effective.

You may AVG Free from :
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/download.../frt/0?prd=aff

Note: They are also selling paid version but we are going to achieve all those with combination of few software so do not worry, you are getting a good and effective Antivirus solution.

Not to forget that do regular system scan as well as keep your antivirus database upto date which is quite easy to do .


Installation of AVG is fairly straight forward
You just need to download and execute file and after few simple steps, you will find your AVG installed and running.
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Free Firewall
Next security solution and among important one is having a good firewall. Windows however comes with basic firewall but there are plenty of free software available which can prove far more worthy. So why you really need firewall ? Well, in short to have a someone standing and monitoring for the activity over network and through your computer and safeguard you from unwanted and malicious activities. Also denying execution of unwanted application. Saving your from intruders etc. This is what a firewall do.

For this I am on choosing Comodo Firewall Pro. Earlier this one was not free but now they have made it free along with many improved features as well as easy to use GUI ie. user interface.

Overview given by Comodo website:
* Complete protection from Hackers, Spyware, Trojans and Identity theft
* Host Intrusion Prevention System stops malware from being installed
* Clean PC Mode registers your current applications then will allow only applications that you approve to be installed on your computer .
* Malware Scan Feature checks your computer for viruses, spyware and trojans before you install Comodo Firewall Pro
* Free Download. No charges or license fees ever.

So Comodo firewall comes with Maleware and Spyware remover too. It give your protection against leaks, trojon etc. However I have tested only firewall which turned out to be impressive.

You can download Comodo firewall pro from :
http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.c..._firewall.html

Installation is pretty easy, it will ask you for choice to install firewall along with Defense+ and Leak protection, if you choose yes then you will have a spyware removal tool too. Otherwise you will only get firewall installed.

Once you install it, you will be asked to have full system scan and after that computer restart. And your firewall is installed. After that you will be asked to give information about your trusted network.

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Summary Section

http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...rewall-pro.jpg
Firewall Task Section

Out of the box, Comodo Firewall will configure itself for optimum level of protection. You will see that it will learn from your browsing habits and usage pattern that which program is safe which one is not. However from time to time it will ask your input regarding certain programs. I liked it that now it is no more annoying as it was used to earlier about asking permission for every known program, now it do automatically for trusted programs. However, Comodo Firewall has a small but easy learning curve, it is equally suitable to novice as well as experienced users.


Free Spyware / Malware Removal Tool

For this I ended up with most famous Free spyware removel tool and that is Spybot Search & Destroy
You may download it free from :
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html

After easy installation, it will ask you to backup registry and then update. You should do this.
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/e...ch-destroy.jpg

So, all you need is to update software first so that it may download latest security patches then Check for Problems. After that Fix Problems and you are done. Although Spybot S&D is not the best spyware removal tool but being free it is very good and every day its getting better. It is still top rated spyware removal tool.


Last but not least
Those above are just software and installing them never means that you are fully safe. Above all it need commonsense while surfing to make them work effectively for you. Also, always keep your windows upto date against latest vulnerabilities.

by Ricky


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Disclaimer:
The author is not associated with any of the above mentioned service or product. Author may or may not be using all or any of the above service or products. The author do not take any responsibility for harm or damage done by any of the above tip / advice. Above material / article is provided for the informational purpose and author do not take any responsibility of its authenticity.

thanks but i think in antivirus category avira free edition is better.

Ya you may use Avira Free too !
Infact, on my windows machine I am using Avira now a days !

bro what do you think should i use an antispyware or there is no need because my computer do not contain any secret data.

Its not about secret data, but its about your privacy and your secrecy. Would you feel good if someone steal your password ?
So, use good firewall and keep eye on all activity of your computer so that no one can compromise security of your system.