Can you have too much security?

How much security software do you have on your computer? A lot of people just have whatever came with their computer (not realizing it quit working after 90 days). Other people pay the license fee, or load software of their choosing. Some people use the "if some is good, more is better" theory. Unfortunately, when it comes to protecting your computer, more can definitely be worse.

If you have an anti-virus, anti-spyware, and a firewall you are probably as safe as the technology can make you. How safe will depend on how good the programs you are running are, but you won't be made safer by running multiple anti-virus. There's a good chance you will be made less safe as the different softwares interfere with each other and cause false positives, or worse, cause malware to be overlooked. On top of that, security software can take a lot of computing power. Set several anti-virus and anti-spyware programs running and they can really slow down your computer.

Multiple firewalls on a single computer won't increase security because both will either be set exactly the same, or they will conflict with each other. Running the firewall that comes with your operating system and one on a router can increase security by adding one more layer of protection for attackers to go through. 

So if you can only have one one anti-virus, which should it be? There are several good ones available. The suites from Symantec, McAfee and Kaspersky are all good. But if you don't like them, or don't want to spend money, I like Avast Free. Just as good (or arguably better) are AVG Free, Avira Antivir or Microsoft Security Essentials. Dottech.org reviewed all four, and found them to be in a virtual dead heat, though specific strengths and weaknesses varied between them.

You can have safely have multiple anti-spyware programs running. For free anti-spyware I like Spybot S&D and Adaware. There are others excellent programs out there, such as Spyware Doctor, and Prevx.

One more point for online security: It's a good idea to switch to Firefox from Internet Explorer. Firefox has had a few issues this last year, but is still far better than IE for security. It also has add-ons like No-Script available that greatly enhance it's security.

Twenty years ago you could put your computer on the internet without security software. I actually didn't start using anti-virus on my PC's until after 2000. But today it only takes moments to be compromised once you connect to the internet. So the proper use of anti-malware is essential.

Thanks to BikerDoug for his excellent suggestions to improve this entry

The first free anti-virus for OS X

On November 2nd PCMag.com reported that Sophos is releasing a free antivirus for the Mac. Other security companies are releasing software for the Mac, but Sophos is the only one to release free AV software.

The recent release of Koobface for Mac is only the latest malware designed for Mac. It was dead on arrival, but that was most likely a coding error, so a virulent version could show up any time. Sophos free software is available now and offers protection against Koobface and the other known Mac malware. There is a forum for discussing the software here and you can download it here

There are still people who argue that anti-virus on a Mac is unnecessary. Well, that may be true for now, but that will soon change as Koobface Mac was a hairs breadth from being the real deal. Mac users can't afford to keep being complacent about malware.

Proof that without privacy, security is moot, and strong passwords still matter

Elinor Mills rights the "Security Complex" blog on cnet.com. She was talking to the founder of People Security, a security consulting firm, when he said that it's easy to hijack email accounts. She challenged him to hack hers. She details the experience on her blog.

It's fascinating. He started knowing only her name and employer. Using mostly readily available and free resources to find out information that might be about her. His big gun was Ancestry.com, which anyone can access either as a free trial or for a relatively cheap fee. 

He had a time limit of an hour, which turned out to not quite be enough time. But Elinor continued what he'd started, and knows that with just a little more time he would have had access to her account. She also notes that, as a someone who writes about security issues for a living she is more security conscious than most, and probably a little harder to crack. But the amount of information that could be gathered in an hour was shocking, and all he was trying to do was figure out her email password.

Read the article. Ms. Mills experience is strong evidence that without privacy you cannot have security, and vice versa. Being able to control who can access information about you is the only way to have privacy