Guest Valley_R Posted August 2, 2007 Posted August 2, 2007 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 Quote
Guest Malke Posted August 2, 2007 Posted August 2, 2007 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 http://www.elephantboycomputers.com "Don't Panic!" MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User Quote
Guest PA Bear Posted August 2, 2007 Posted August 2, 2007 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 Quote
Guest Dale Posted August 3, 2007 Posted August 3, 2007 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 > http://www.elephantboycomputers.com > "Don't Panic!" > MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User > Quote
Guest Roger Abell [MVP] Posted August 4, 2007 Posted August 4, 2007 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 >> http://www.elephantboycomputers.com >> "Don't Panic!" >> MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User >> Quote
Guest Kerry Brown Posted August 4, 2007 Posted August 4, 2007 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 Quote
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