Best Internet Security: Reviewed & Rated
Best Internet Security...
With the growing security threats in the internet today, it is important that you have the best internet security to protect you computer and your data.
That's why we've created this special page to explore and compare the internet security solutions available in the market.
The best internet security practices should be set up in a multi-leveled protection system. A well defended computer should be like an onion, forcing data thieves to peel away layer after layer of security until they get to the important data at the center.
The first layer of security is at the network level, preventing data thieves from getting at your data at all. These days, a home network usually takes the form of the household wireless router. First, make sure to buy a router that has a built-in firewall. Second, encrypt your internet connection, so that only people with the correct password can get onto your network.
The second layer of security is on the individual computers in the form of protective security software, such as antivirus, anti-spyware, spam filters, etc. Make sure you have both active and passive security software. Active systems (the ones most of us are familiar with) scan your computer looking for threats and them remove them. Passive systems block threats from getting onto your computer in the first place. Some antivirus and anti-spyware software have both active and passive security, but many only have active security. Make sure any security software you buy has both active and passive protection.
The third layer of security is at the file level. Only a handful on files on your computer are highly sensitive, like financial documents. A data thief will be going after those files, not your family vacation photos. Therefore, add another layer of protection to your most important files. Encrypt them so that only someone who knows the right password can read them.
The final layer of security is essentially to protect your data from yourself. Sure, your computer may have the best internet security in the world, but what if YOU accidentally delete the wrong file? What if you computer crashes, or your hard drive breaks? The best defense against these types of unpredictable catastrophes is a simple backup. Back up all your important files onto another computer, or onto removable media, such as an external hard drive, flash drive, DVD, or CD.
Security threats to your computer are evolving constantly. It is estimated that worldwide, sixty-four new viruses are created and released on the internet every day. Even the best internet security software has to struggle to keep on top of these new threats. And the worst internet security software is only slightly better than having no protection at all. This post will list some of the dangers of poor security software.
Unreliable Software
The internet security market is a flooded and highly competitive one. Many antivirus and anti-spyware programs perform poorly, either unable to locate certain threats, or unable to remove some of the threats that are found.
Other security software tries to make it self look more impressive through the use of "false positives." A false positive is when a security programs identifies a harmless file as a threat in an attempt to pad its number of threat detected.
Finally, it a worse case scenario, there have been cases of no-name brand anti-spyware software actually containing spyware itself.
Free Software
The price tag of free security software is very appealing, and the best internet security free software can outperform quite a few of its paid competitors. In general, on average, however, free software is not quite as good as paid software.
Because the company creating it is not getting paid, they have less of a development budget to use to create the regular updates for the software that informs it of the latest security threats. The updates will still come, but it may not be until days after a new spyware or virus has hit the internet.
Finally, many free security software programs lack crucial features like automatic updates and scheduled scans.
In its simplest, most basic definition, internet security means ensuring that only authorized people can gain access to your computer for legitimate purposes. Anyone who is not authorized gaining access or your computer for illegitimate reasons is considered a security threat. As most of these threats arrive at your computer from the internet, the term "internet security" is used instead of "computer seurity.
For many, many years, antivirus and internet security were essentially the same thing. In the last decade, however, many other security threats besides viruses have emerged. Consequently, whereas most security companies used to produce antivirus programs, today they produce entire internet security software suites designed to counter many different types of security threats.
Today, internet security threats include:
Viruses: Viruses are programs specifically designed to damage your computer. They are capable of reproducing themselves and spreading to other computers.
Spyware: Whereas viruses are designed to directly damage your computer, spyware is designed to sneak through the internet onto your computer and remain unnoticed as long as possible. While on your PC, spyware tries to collect sensitive personal information about you and send it over the internet to someone else. Spyware is commonly used for bank fraud and identity theft.
Spam: Spam, loosely defined , is any security threat that arrives at your computer through email. While most are just annoying advertisements, others carry viruses or spyware, and others try to trick you into giving up sensitive personal information, such as usernames and password, account numbers, and social security numbers.
Hackers: While viruses, spyware, and spam is largely automated software, hackers are actual people trying to access your computer through the internet. They may be out to steal sensitive data, damage your computer, or just go joyriding through your files.
Modern internet security programs protect against all of these security threats in multiple different ways. If all you have protecting your computer is a simple antivirus program, you may want to consider upgrading to a full internet security suite.
For many, many years, internet security simply meant having an antivirus program installed on your computer. In the last decade, however, lots of new internet security threats have emerged, including spyware, spam, and hackers. To protect your computer against all these threats today, you need an entire suite of protective software tools. This post will tell you want you need to defend your computer against today's internet security threats.
Viruses
Viruses are still as much of a threat as ever. To defend against them, you need a good antivirus program that is updated frequently. Antivirus updates tell your antivirus program about new viruses, how to find them, and how to remove them. Without updates, your antivirus program won't know what to look for, making it much less effective.
Spyware
Spyware sneaks onto your computer, collects sensitive personal information about you, and sends it over the internet to someone else. Spyware is different from viruses, and unfortunately most antivirus programs don't even look for spyware. The protect your computer from spyware, you need a dedicated anti-spyware program.
Spam
In addition to being bombarded with annoying advertisements, spam can be dangerous. Spam emails can carry viruses and spyware as attachments. Others, known as "phishing," try to trick you into voluntarily giving up personal information like passwords, account numbers, and social security numbers. Spam can be defeated with a combination of email scanners, which search for malicious attachments, and spam filters, which prevent the spam from reaching you in the first place
Hackers
Hackers deliberately try to break into your computer. Sometimes hackers are just joyriding through your files, but they could also be trying to steal important information. Although there is no defense that is 100% effective against a determined, expert hacker, most hackers can be deterred by a firewall.