Spyware Detection & Prevention

Right on the heels of viruses as major concerns for most PC users is spyware.

Insidious by nature, modern spyware uses a ton of different techniques to spread onto your system and monitor what you’re doing.

Some spyware is fairly innocuous, as it “only” shows ads based on your web surfing habits. Other spyware is much more evil and can actually record every keystroke you type and every activity you perform on your PC and then report it back to a central location.

The worst spyware can even record the usernames and passwords to your most confidential data including your bank accounts and credit cards.

Today’s best antivirus software also include antispyware components, too, so in addition to being on the lookout for you against threats from viruses, trojans, and worms, good antivirus software will keep spyware at bay, too.

More accurately it should be called “Internet security software.”

Do You Need a Firewall If You Have Installed Antivirus Software?

Firewalls and antivirus software can be installed independently although they come often together in the same software package. A number of years ago, most anti virus tools do not include the firewall as a standard option but nowadays the firewall and the anti virus protection goes hand-in-hand. Most of us would not imagine having just a anti virus software without a firewall, however they are users whom are asking why they must still install the firewall even though they already have an antivirus software which regularly scans for any suspicious process running on their system. Their common concern is the increase of system resources being used and also the inconveniences that the firewall can create whenever they are installing new software that assesses the Internet.

The firewall performs a very different function versus the antivirus software suite. You could say that the antivirus is the vacuum cleaner in the house while the firewall is the main door. You as the owner of the system owns the key to the main door and chooses which software or processes can send or receive data from the external world.

Without the firewall, a computer system with only an antivirus software installed, would not be able to block strange traffic coming through its numerous ports. The antivirus would be required to constantly detect and delete viruses. Whereas using a firewall, much of the unwanted traffic would be blocked and there would be lesser need for the antivirus software to wake and destroy the virus or Trojans. This in turn reduces the overhead of system resources as well.

So if you have the firewall software together with the antivirus tool, you should simply install both systems.