What is the Best Free Antivirus Software?

We often get asked the question: "What is the best free antivirus software?"

The best free antivirus software is actually a combination of several different free software programs. If you combine the right programs, you will have a good level of protection for your computer. The free software will protect you from virus, malware, spyware, hackers, phishing, scams, fraud web sites, and a lot more. All of the freebies on our list will give you real time protection against threats both known and unknown.

In order to give your computer a high level of protection, you need the following: (1) antivirus (2) antispyware (3) firewall (4) secure web browser (5) anti-hack tool (6) fraud, scam, and phishing filter (7) a good sandbox to isolate your browser and other programs while they are running.

Here are the freebies:

1. Antivirus: Choose one - Avira or Avast.

2. Antispyware: Choose one - Malwarebytes or Spyware Doctor.

3. Firewall: Zone Alarm.

4. Secure web browser: Explorer 8 and/or Firefox.

5.Anti-hack tool: SnoopFree Privacy Shield

6. Fraud and phishing filter: We recommend that you use both WOT (Web of Trust) and Site Advisor.

7. Sand Box: This is for for added safety, virus protection, etc. We recommend Sandboxie.

We do want to add this one thought:

Although the free software is very good, the maximum level of real time protection comes with the paid, professional versions. That is the way the software companies design the stuff. The good news? Most of the paid versions are really not that expensive.

You can use a combination of both free and paid versions for the highest levels of protection. You only need to upgrade one of the programs to get an excellent level of protection. For example, if you use the freebies here, then upgrade your Avast, Malwarebytes or Spyware Doctor to the full version, you will have a really high level of protection for your computer.

If you install and operate your Windows computer with the free software that we have shown you, your computer will well protected from online threats. For more ways to protect your privacy and your computer, visit the Spyware Blockers website.

computer security help, Useful information security tips to protect your PC

I have spent weeks to build this Computer security help and tutorial page and its sub pages. Computer security is a very important subject. It is also a part of general computer maintenance. Please read these pages carefully. I cannot express more how important these information are.

I will show you how to implement a good home computer security system in this Computer security help and tutorial. You will get a blueprint of a solid home computer security system at the end. If you want to go one step further then get a CISSP Certification to better understands computer security

Do you know you are exposed to the whole world as soon as you connect to the Internet? Then your PC become a paradise for hackers, people who spread Spyware and viruses, waiting for an opportunity.

Most people misunderstand that computer security is only about viruses, spyware or intrusion detection. But there are many other things falls under the computer security umbrella.

With my experience, the most common mistake most of the PC users are doing is installing lot of free utilities. If you are one of those, see how many of them are useful and you are actively using? Do you know most of the Spyware have been spreading through these free utilities? It does not mean that all of them are spyware. But try to avoid using them.

First step of computer security ? configure Windows to update automatically.

Microsoft updates all MS operating systems regularly to fix bugs as well as to apply security patches. You can configure Windows to download them automatically when you are online.

To do this, click START and move your mouse pointer to the top of the START MENU and click on WINDOWS UPDATE.

Lets see what are the major home computer security threats for today?s PC users and what can we do about that.

This is the number one threat in the modern world. Any home computer security system should first address this. There are a lot to talk about viruses and how to protect your PC from possible attacks.

If you want to read a very comprehensive guide on how to prevent from Computer viruses then visit Antivirus Help page.

Otherwise visit Computer Virus Protection Software page to read a short antivirus guide and take action. Then come back and continue reading this computer security help guide.

Computer Hackers are PC users who access other computers and take information such as credit card numbers, bank details etc. Not only that, they may crash your hard disk and destroy all your data. The worse thing is that you will never know whether somebody is hacking your computer unless you use good computer security software.

Is it secure to use my Credit card on the Internet?

We are in the 21st century and the Internet has become a part of everybody's life. Sooner or later we will have to uses our Credit or Debit cards for Internet transactions. Main credit card companies and Banks are working on more secured methods to use transactions over the Internet. You cannot avoid using Internet for financial transactions. The solution is to follow a good home computer security strategy.

So what is the solution for hackers?

The solution is to use a personal firewall. I have more information on firewalls in a separate page. Please visit Computer Firewall page, read and take action. Then come back and continue reading this computer security help and tutorial.

Spyware and Adware, also called "Malware", are files made by publishers that allow them to spy on you. I have built a separate page, which has everything you should know about Spyware. Please visit Fix Spyware page, read and take action. Then come back and continue reading this computer security help guide.

If you have a small network at home or a small to medium network at your office or business then you must know how to protect the network from security attacks. One method is to setup a virtual private network and use a VPN service from AT&T or another internet provider to ensure that no one outside of your network can access your system. Visit Computer network security software page for useful information.

This is an area that has less attention. But the results can be disastrous. How to secure your privacy while online or offline? I have built a separate page for this. Visit Internet privacy protection page to learn more.

This depends on each user. Visit Computer Security Products page to find the best solution for you.

Do not depend only on your security software. Use common sense.

Do not download ANYTHING from untrustworthy web sites.

Do not open unknown emails and attachments.

Do not install free computer utilities unless experienced people recommend them.

Avoid sharing your hard drive or folders. To check whether you are sharing, go to Windows Explorer > write-click the drive or the folder and click "sharing".

Take regular backups of important files and emails to an external media such as a USB stick.

Be careful when using CDs, diskettes and other external media. Use your virus scanner to scan them before using.

Computer security products and free antivirus software review

There are many computer security products available in the market. But how do you know which products are good and suitable to your circumstances? Welcome to the free antivirus software review

With my 12 years experience in IT, I have personally supported many PCs with different computer security products installed. Different products have different advantages and disadvantages.

The most important factor is that how up-to-date they are with the latest threats and how quickly a solution can be provided. Reputed suppliers have their own large research teams working 24/7 to identify and develop solutions for latest threats.

Check for the following

Features ? The software should have enough features to provide adequate security

Market reputation ? There is nothing like testimonials from actual customers who are using the product. Discussion forums, product reviews, blogs and are few places to find out user experience. Don?t worry I have already done this for you.

User friendliness.

Technical support

Price - It should not be overpriced.

PC resource usage ? Security software should not use lot of computer resources such as Memory, CPU and Hard disk space.

I would like to recommend below products considering all those factors and my personal experience.

Please note that these links will take you directly to the manufacturer?s web site. No resellers or intermediate parties involved.

Because everyone cannot afford to buy high end products, I have divided products into three sections including FREE computer security products. So do not worry if you have a tight budget.

These are the major products that I recommend. They may be a bit expensive, but the reliability is very high.

Norton Products

Norton is the leader in the market. I highly recommend their antivirus software products. One of the below two are more than enough to protect your Computer

Norton All-in-one

Norton Internet Security (If you cannot afford to by the all in one package)

Trend Micro

Trend Micro is one of the oldest antivirus products in the world. Previously they called PCcillin. Check the features of Trend Micro Internet Security software. The price is also reasonable.

Zone Alarm is a very high quality Antispyware product from Zone Labs Inc. Click the banner to learn more about this product.

If your budget is bit tight and cannot spend much then below products are for you.

Panda Internet security software.

Panda has gained a considerably large market share and is reputed for the best priced security products. There Internet security package includes Antivirus, personal firewall and AntiSpyware. Click the banner to find more information about this fast growing product

The other low-end antivirus software we recommend is ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite

There are free low end computer security products if you cannot spend money at all. Visit free computer security software and free antivirus software review page for more details.

Basic computer security

Basic Computer Secutity

You must run quality security software program on your computers to safeguard your work and private data from viruses, spyware, and other security threats. In terms of security, there is no substitute for quality. See below our recommended quality solutions. If any of the following is difficult for you, get an IT Expert to do it for you. You have to do the following or risk all your work/data being compromised /think of it as locking your front door/:

Get good anti virus software e.g. one of the below.

Suggested antivirus software:

AVG

Avira

Norton Anti virus

McAffee Anti Virus

Panda Security

Sophos Anti Virus

Be sure to regularly update your ‘virus definitions’ e.g. once per 1 week. Keep the Firewall runing. Install an anti-spyware application. There are many available, some good, some bad. Email Attachments: BEWARE OF ATTACHMENTS. Usually do not open email attachments you aren't expecting. Viruses have some very nasty messages to trick you into opening the attachement e.g. "Your email account has been cancelled, see attachment for details". Even worse, the virus looks like it comes from an email address you recognise e.g. from admin@yourDomain.com / where ‘your domain’ may be the website that you always use /. Virus attachments can have the following ‘file extension’: .exe, .pif. If you receive a .zip attachment and open it - make sure it doesn’t contain a file with one of those extensions. Usually do not open attachments you haven’t requested, even if they appear to be from people you know.

Why do I receive, notices that emails from me could not be delivered?

How did another person send an email that seemed like it was from me?

Why do such emails seem to be from someone who is not in my organisation?

This is usually the result of a virus on someone elses computer sending the emails, but which makes it seem like the emails are from you, or to put it in a different way: A virus that spoofs the ‘from address’. The important (and annoying) thing to notice is that the virus might be not in your computer, it is on someone elses. So even when you have quality anti-virus software that keeps your computer clean, there is someone else available who’s computer is infected and sending these emails out.

Be sure you have good anti-virus software and tell everyone you know to do the same.

Microsoft Security Essentials 2

Microsoft has released a beta version of its free antivirus product Security Essentials 2, which keeps Windows users from different threats. Version 2 comes with a new antivirus engine, ensuring a high rate of threat detection and is also faster, said the company’s official blog.  Upgraded anti-virus is integrated with the firewall in Windows. Users have the option to include or exclude this feature. Security Essentials 2 is integrated with the Internet Explorer, to protect against attacks through web sites. In addition, the new version offers the opportunity to protect against network attacks, but only when working under Vista and Windows 7. To download the beta version of Security Essentials 2 you must have a Windows Live account and switch registration in Microsoft Connect. There is two available in 32 – and 64-bit versions. The first version of Security Essentials came out last September.

Microsoft Security Essentials 2, 8.0 out of 10 based on 3 ratings