Antivirus and spyware security for file sharing programs

If you use any kind of file sharing programs, be sure to have your computer properly protected for viruses, trojan horses, spyware and such. Simply having an antivirus program is not enough, what you need is three things:

1. Antivirus program
2. Firewall
3. Spyware scanner/remover

Now let's look at each of these a little closer.

Antivirus programs

There are many good antivirus programs around, but do make sure that the one you buy will also scan all your incoming and outgoing emails. Most commercial antivirus solutions do this, but make sure before you buy anything.

You can get a good antivirus program for less than $30. Try BitDefender for example.

Alternatively you could get a bundled antivirus and firewall (see below) solution for less than $40.

Here are some bundled antivirus and firewall solutions:

Trend Micro PC-cillin Internet Security

ZoneAlarm Security Suite - this is the all-in-one security solution from ZoneLabs, maker of the famous ZoneAlarm personal firewall

Firewall

The purpose of a firewall is to stop any unauthorized programs from accessing the internet. When downloading files with file sharing programs, you might also be getting spyware and other nasty programs. What you don't want to happen, for example, is to have a keylogging spyware application record your credit card number and send it to a hacker via internet. Antivirus programs often do not find these spyware applications and having a firewall is necessary as your second line of defense - especially important if you are using file sharing programs.

There are two kinds of firewalls available: hardware and software. If you have a DSL or Cable connection with a router, the router might already have a built in firewall. But even if you do have a hardware firewall, you can install a free software firewall, just to be on the safe side.

For a free software firewall, try Zone Alarm personal firewall. The free version is enough for most people, but if you need more options, there is a Pro version and also a bundled firewall & anti-virus solution called ZoneAlarm Security Suite

Spyware scanner / remover

When you have proper antivirus and firewall programs installed, there is still one more thing to do. You have to make sure no spyware is getting past your antivirus program (which happens a lot). There are many free spyware removal programs, but none of them seems to find all of them. Try these for example:

Ad-Aware - http://www.lavasoft.com

Spybot - http://www.spybot.info

SpywareBlaster - http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

You can also go to http://www.pestscan.com/ and try the free Pest Scan. If you don't find anything harmfull, that's it. If you do find some nasty programs, you will either have to buy the Pest Patrol program or find a free program that can remove that particular piece of spyware.

Please note that Pest Scan will also find loads of tracking cookies, which are really not that harmful at all - it will still list all of those to make you feel your computer is full of all kinds of spyware.

For the whole hoax Kazaa lite story see:
Kazaa lite old version

And to see a list of legal download services:
legal music downloads


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