That Damn PC: Hardware, Software, Virus, Malware, PC Troubleshooting,

Ditch All-in-One Security Products; How to Protect Your Computer Better

by on March 18th, 2006

There are a number of products out there that consumer electronic dealers will promote by playing on "it’s all included" heart strings. The two famous ones are Symantec SystemWorks (often bundled with Norton Personal Firewall) and McAfee Internet Security Suite (often bundled with McAfee Personal Firewall Plus). While these may be "okay" products, they are not the best. In fact, my experience with both is that they take over a system, create instability and, in general, obstruct a user experience. Any decent software will take the approach of being "invisible" to the user - a silent sentry.

And, let’s face it, these products are over-hype and overkill.

95% of broadband users in the United States have a home network based around a router. Built into most routers are NAT (Network Address Translation) firewalls. While NAT performs several key things for a local network, it also defends an internal network from outside attack. The thing to understand here is that to the outside world, your laptop, computer, wife’s computer, and son’s laptop appear as a single computer! If configured properly (and you would have to intentionally mis-configure it), your router acts as a traffic cop, stopping bad traffic before it can affect you and allowing the good stuff through.

So there is no need for personal firewall software outside of the built in Windows XP firewall. Purists will argue with me and say that the Windows firewall sucks, and with that I will agree with them. However, if you are on a home network, 99% of possible malicious traffic will get no farther than you router.

Secondly, the System Suites that are provided by companies like Symantec and McAfee perform functions that are either duplicates (horribly so!) of identical Windows utilities or are performed better by other applications.

For instance, for virus checking, check out the superb AVG Anti-Virus which can be had at a third of the cost of Symantec SystemWorks.

For Spyware protection, you can’t get much better than the free combination of Spybot and AdAware.

Basically, you don’t need to buy into the hype about these big "suites". In general, they destabilize a computer causing more problems than they solve. Perhaps you’ve been a long time user of these products. Maybe now is a good time to try other solutions. Except, you might have problems uninstalling the suite. Especially Symantec. Hint: You need to manually stop a bunch of services.

Powered by Qumana

Share This

Related Stories

Ask a Tech: Do I Really Need Norton Utilities?
Comparison of Free Security Products
Protect your PC from spyware and viruses
Microsoft to Announce Next-Gen Security Software
OnGuard Online, The Newest Dot Gov To Help Computer Users

POSTED IN: Beginner, Defend Yourself