Authentium AV and Security Suite

[Valley_R]

Anyone familiar with Authentium? Do they do a good job of protecting against
viruses, threats, spam, etc?

Would you recommend them?

They provide a free security suite through my ISP and I'm not sure if their
service is equal to Norton, McAfee, TrendMicro, etc.

Any info is appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Malke]

Valley_R wrote:
> Anyone familiar with Authentium? Do they do a good job of protecting against
> viruses, threats, spam, etc?
>
> Would you recommend them?
>
> They provide a free security suite through my ISP and I'm not sure if their
> service is equal to Norton, McAfee, TrendMicro, etc.

I've seen that security suite and don't think much of it. In general, I
don't like security suites anyway. They tend to be really bloated and
bog down the computer. I like NOD32, Kaspersky, or Avast (free) for
antivirus protection. If you are running XP or Vista, the built-in
Windows Firewall is adequate for most people.

As for antispyware programs, I don't like them to run resident anyway
although Vista has Windows Defender running. I prefer regular
maintenance with good programs instead combined with the all-important
practice of "Safe Hex".

These links will help:

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

Safe Hex:
http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=27971 - So How Did I Get
Infected Anyway?
http://www.getsafeonline.org/
http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_Removal_and_Prevention:_Introduction
http://www.claymania.com/safe-hex.html
http://www.aumha.org/a/parasite.htm - The Parasite Fight
http://msmvps.com/blogs/harrywaldron/archive/2006/02/05/82584.aspx - MVP
Harry Waldron - The Family PC - How to stay safe on the Internet
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm - Eric Howes on
Rogue Antispyware Programs


Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User

 

[PA Bear]

A1. No.

A2. No, and if you have it installed, it's a b**** to remove.

A3. No, it's not.

See the recommendations/tips on these pages:

http://aumha.org/a/parasite.htm
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm
http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/data/prevention.htm
http://www.mvps.org/sramesh2k/Malware_Defence.htm
http://defendingyourmachine2.blogspot.com/
http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware
--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE, OE, Security, Shell/User)
AumHa VSOP & Admin DTS-L.org


Valley_R wrote:
> Anyone familiar with Authentium? Do they do a good job of protecting
> against viruses, threats, spam, etc?
>
> Would you recommend them?
>
> They provide a free security suite through my ISP and I'm not sure if
> their
> service is equal to Norton, McAfee, TrendMicro, etc.
>
> Any info is appreciated.
>
> Thanks

 

[Dale]

I disagree about the value of the built-in firewalls in XP and Vista. They
monitor and block incoming requests only and do nothing to alert you of
otherwise-undetected malware running on your PC and making outbound requests.
Thus, those firewalls are relatively useless because most viruses and
malware are installed on PCs by direct action of the user, such as visiting a
website and requesting files that they trusted not to be infected.

Once those files are on your pc, until caught by anti-virus or other malware
detection programs, can freely record your passwords and send them to
identity thieves or can use your PC for sending spam or can use your PC as
part of a bot network. A real firewall would prevent any of those behaviors.

For the technically non-astute, I recommend Live OneCare's firewall. It
automatically allows most phone home features of Windows to get through the
firewall so anything else requesting outbound should be examined closely.

Of course that automatic phone home permission is exactly why I do not
recommend OneCare for the technically astute. For those able and willing to
learn a little about firewalls and to configure their own firewall, I
recommend Jetico 2.0.
--
Dale Preston
MCAD C#
MCSE, MCDBA


"Malke" wrote:

> Valley_R wrote:
> > Anyone familiar with Authentium? Do they do a good job of protecting against
> > viruses, threats, spam, etc?
> >
> > Would you recommend them?
> >
> > They provide a free security suite through my ISP and I'm not sure if their
> > service is equal to Norton, McAfee, TrendMicro, etc.
>
> I've seen that security suite and don't think much of it. In general, I
> don't like security suites anyway. They tend to be really bloated and
> bog down the computer. I like NOD32, Kaspersky, or Avast (free) for
> antivirus protection. If you are running XP or Vista, the built-in
> Windows Firewall is adequate for most people.
>
> As for antispyware programs, I don't like them to run resident anyway
> although Vista has Windows Defender running. I prefer regular
> maintenance with good programs instead combined with the all-important
> practice of "Safe Hex".
>
> These links will help:
>
> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware
>
> Safe Hex:
> http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=27971 - So How Did I Get
> Infected Anyway?
> http://www.getsafeonline.org/
> http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_Removal_and_Prevention:_Introduction
> http://www.claymania.com/safe-hex.html
> http://www.aumha.org/a/parasite.htm - The Parasite Fight
> http://msmvps.com/blogs/harrywaldron/archive/2006/02/05/82584.aspx - MVP
> Harry Waldron - The Family PC - How to stay safe on the Internet
> http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm - Eric Howes on
> Rogue Antispyware Programs
>
>
> Malke
> --
> Elephant Boy Computers
> www.elephantboycomputers.com
> "Don't Panic!"
> MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
>

 

[Roger Abell [MVP]]

Hi Dale,

While I agree in principal with your comments relative to the
lack of out-bound control, I have a somewhat different take on
the implications. You indicated "most viruses and malware
are installed on PCs by direct action of the user" whereas to
me your use of "the user" is perhaps partly wrong. In fact it is
due to "the user running with admin" or as limited user but on
an unpatched or zero-day exposed system. In either case it is
because the malware is able to get admin or system context
that allows it to install so that is goes unexposed/unnoticed.
In that case, the malware does not have a problem with an
out-bound firewall restriction either. So again, we are back
to the case where there is a false sense of protection when
in fact there is none.

Roger

"Dale" <dale0973@nospam.nospam> wrote in message
news:034EE322-AE6C-4A60-A3E7-2F563610E8BA@microsoft.com...
>I disagree about the value of the built-in firewalls in XP and Vista. They
> monitor and block incoming requests only and do nothing to alert you of
> otherwise-undetected malware running on your PC and making outbound
> requests.
> Thus, those firewalls are relatively useless because most viruses and
> malware are installed on PCs by direct action of the user, such as
> visiting a
> website and requesting files that they trusted not to be infected.
>
> Once those files are on your pc, until caught by anti-virus or other
> malware
> detection programs, can freely record your passwords and send them to
> identity thieves or can use your PC for sending spam or can use your PC as
> part of a bot network. A real firewall would prevent any of those
> behaviors.
>
> For the technically non-astute, I recommend Live OneCare's firewall. It
> automatically allows most phone home features of Windows to get through
> the
> firewall so anything else requesting outbound should be examined closely.
>
> Of course that automatic phone home permission is exactly why I do not
> recommend OneCare for the technically astute. For those able and willing
> to
> learn a little about firewalls and to configure their own firewall, I
> recommend Jetico 2.0.
> --
> Dale Preston
> MCAD C#
> MCSE, MCDBA
>
>
> "Malke" wrote:
>
>> Valley_R wrote:
>> > Anyone familiar with Authentium? Do they do a good job of protecting
>> > against
>> > viruses, threats, spam, etc?
>> >
>> > Would you recommend them?
>> >
>> > They provide a free security suite through my ISP and I'm not sure if
>> > their
>> > service is equal to Norton, McAfee, TrendMicro, etc.
>>
>> I've seen that security suite and don't think much of it. In general, I
>> don't like security suites anyway. They tend to be really bloated and
>> bog down the computer. I like NOD32, Kaspersky, or Avast (free) for
>> antivirus protection. If you are running XP or Vista, the built-in
>> Windows Firewall is adequate for most people.
>>
>> As for antispyware programs, I don't like them to run resident anyway
>> although Vista has Windows Defender running. I prefer regular
>> maintenance with good programs instead combined with the all-important
>> practice of "Safe Hex".
>>
>> These links will help:
>>
>> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware
>>
>> Safe Hex:
>> http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=27971 - So How Did I Get
>> Infected Anyway?
>> http://www.getsafeonline.org/
>> http://wiki.castlecops.com/Malware_Removal_and_Prevention:_Introduction
>> http://www.claymania.com/safe-hex.html
>> http://www.aumha.org/a/parasite.htm - The Parasite Fight
>> http://msmvps.com/blogs/harrywaldron/archive/2006/02/05/82584.aspx - MVP
>> Harry Waldron - The Family PC - How to stay safe on the Internet
>> http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm - Eric Howes on
>> Rogue Antispyware Programs
>>
>>
>> Malke
>> --
>> Elephant Boy Computers
>> www.elephantboycomputers.com
>> "Don't Panic!"
>> MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User
>>

 

[Kerry Brown]

I live in an area where Telus is one of the main ISPs. They offer a security
suite that includes Authentium AV. I regularly see PCs using the Telus
provided security suite that are infected with viruses and trojans that
other AV software stops. It is also a resource hog that slows most PCs
considerably.

--
Kerry Brown
Microsoft MVP - Shell/User
http://www.vistahelp.ca


"Valley_R" <Valley_R@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:0791612E-48E3-4B73-B1C2-FB063D6E9E43@microsoft.com...
> Anyone familiar with Authentium? Do they do a good job of protecting
> against
> viruses, threats, spam, etc?
>
> Would you recommend them?
>
> They provide a free security suite through my ISP and I'm not sure if
> their
> service is equal to Norton, McAfee, TrendMicro, etc.
>
> Any info is appreciated.
>
> Thanks