What is the best antivirus/firewall software?

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.

Your computer has thousands of internet ports, of which you only use a handful. Most hackers get onto your computer by finding an open, unguarded internet port to sneak through. Firewalls close all the internet ports on your computer except for the ones you use (for email, web surfing, gaming, instant messaging, etc.)

Using a firewall is like locking your car doors. It won't stop a determined car thief (they can always break the window), but most thieves will simply move on looking for an unlocked car. Similarly, a hacker faced with a firewall will often give up and move on looking for easier prey.