Stay safe online
Best software tools &
strategies
Every time you go online, you
step into the middle of a heated
arms race. On one side,
there’s an invisible force of
virus writers, spyware
perpetrators, spammers, and con
artists. On your side, an
arsenal of software to detect
and kill the viruses, spyware,
and spam created by those
cyber-rogues.
It isn’t enough for those
programs to merely eliminate
familiar viruses and spyware. To
provide superior protection, a
program must be able to defend
against threats it has never
seen before.
In addition,
Swiss-Army-knife-style suites
attempt to protect you from a
range of threats at once. (Some,
including Microsoft’s new Live
OneCare, add more than security
features; see
Protection
services available to
subscribers.)
This report provides a
seven-step guide to online
safety. It includes tests of
software: suites, antispyware,
antispam, and antivirus. For the
last we employed innovative
consumer tests in which viruses
we created were unleashed under
high security on antivirus
programs (see
How
we test antivirus software
available to
subscribers).
7 steps to security
Enable existing protection.
Be sure you’re fully utilizing
the protection available from
your operating system and
Internet provider. Start by
activating a firewall, which is
software or hardware that blocks
unauthorized communications
between your computer and the
Internet. It’s especially
important to do this if you have
high-speed service. Windows XP
and Mac OS X have a built-in
firewall, although both block
only incoming communications.
For greater protection, you can
also use a firewall that blocks
outgoing communications; several
antivirus programs listed in the
Ratings
(available to subscribers)
have one.
Consider other free
protection. Microsoft
Outlook 2003 and Apple Mail
(bundled with new Macs) include
spam blockers, as do most large
ISPs, such as MSN and EarthLink.
Some automatically enable it;
others require you to turn it
on. AOL, EarthLink, MSN, and
Yahoo also offer phishing
filters and virus scanning for
e-mail at no additional charge.
Use them as one layer of a
multilayer defense. Even the
free e-mail services Hotmail and
Gmail provide their own spam
protection.
Use antivirus software. It
actually works and you need it,
regardless of other protections
you have. As our Ratings
(available to subscribers)
indicate, most packages were at
least competent at detecting
viruses overall, while some were
exceptionally effective.
Use two antispyware programs.
If your computer takes more and
more time to start up, generally
runs slowly, or you’re
experiencing unexplained pop-ups,
there’s a good chance you’ve
got a spyware infection. Given the
prevalence of this threat (see State
of the Net), we recommend that
you install and run antispyware
software even if your computer is
running fine.
Not all of the dozen products we
tested detect the same types of
spyware behavior, so it makes
sense to run two programs at
once--a free one and one for which
you paid. See the Ratings
(available to subscribers)
for the best performers among
those we tested.
Add extra spam protection as
needed. If spam remains
excessive even with your ISP’s
blocker enabled, consider antispam
software. It needn’t cost much;
the best performer we tested was a
free stand-alone program.
If simplicity is paramount,
consider a suite. While
one-stop shopping for online
protection has appeal, most of the
10 suites of protection software
we tested weren’t effective
against all threats. But our Quick
Picks do identify a suite from
Zone Labs that was very good or
better against viruses, spyware,
and spam. Another, from Trend
Micro, provided very good
protection against viruses and
spam. For antispyware protection,
you need to use one of the free
programs from the Ratings
(available to subscribers).
Our Ratings of stand-alone
software include some programs
that were also included in suites;
see the Features column of each
Ratings table.
Activate all software for
automatic updating. Not all
programs have auto updates turned
on as a default. Check the
settings to verify that the
feature is enabled, and make sure
your intervention isn’t required
at other times.
Be smart online. Download
only from trusted sources. Be wary
of ad-sponsored or
"free" screen savers,
games, utilities, videos,
toolbars, and music or movie
file-sharing programs. Those
frequently include spyware that
may slow down your PC. Shut off
the computer or disconnect the
modem when you don’t need to use
it for an extended period.
Use e-mail cautiously. Never open
an attachment that you weren’t
expecting, even from someone you
know. Never respond to e-mailed
requests for personal information.
Don’t reply to spam or click on
its "unsubscribe" link;
that tells spammers that your
e-mail address is valid.
When doing business online, look
for secure Web sites. Check your
browser’s window (not within the
Web page itself) for an icon of an
unbroken key or a lock that’s
closed, golden, or glowing.
Double-click on it to display the
site’s certificate. Make sure
that it matches the company you
think you’re connected to, and
that the site address begins with
"https."
