[sari]

Quote

As for SpywareGuard, I'm not very familiar with how it works. It is still a relatively new program under development, and further assessment needs to be carried out before I can make a conclusive comment on its credibility.

Relatively new? It was around when I first got interested in malware, which was over 4 years ago - I wouldn't call that relatively new. It's not under development, except in regards to running on Vista. However, their website encourages the use of SpywareBlaster over SpywareGuard, as its definitions are updated frequently and it has been tested extensively on Vista.

[The Skeptic]

Hi Ltangelic.

I am not sure I understood the part of your post dealing with firewalls. Microsoft's gives the user only inbound traffic protection, compared to ZA (for example) that gives you inbound + outbound protection. As far as inbound protection, which to me is the most important, it equals or close to equal to ZA. To make the subject simple I do not go into detailed comparisons between the firewalls. I just want to clarify one point:

My question is, and I'll put it bluntly: why should I care about outbound traffic? I assume that every user of a computer with XP-SP2, which makes up the majority of the users, has a firewall installed. Either Microsoft's or another. If he doesn't, he will get infected whether I protect my outbound traffic or not.

Am I not right? Could you clarify this point, please? Honestly, I could never understood this double sided protection not in firewalls nor in antiviruses.

Regarding Spywareguard, Sari is correct. The program is available for a long time. I used it for a while and stopped for the same reasons that I stopped using TeaTimer.


Kind Regards

The Skeptic

[Ltangelic]

sari, on Nov 6 2008, 08:37 PM, said:

Quote

As for SpywareGuard, I'm not very familiar with how it works. It is still a relatively new program under development, and further assessment needs to be carried out before I can make a conclusive comment on its credibility.

Relatively new? It was around when I first got interested in malware, which was over 4 years ago - I wouldn't call that relatively new. It's not under development, except in regards to running on Vista. However, their website encourages the use of SpywareBlaster over SpywareGuard, as its definitions are updated frequently and it has been tested extensively on Vista.

My mistake sari, I meant it was a new program for me because I've only heard about it this year.

I actually did download it a while ago and the latest updates was in 2004, it raised my eyebrows a bit on whether it is up to date and still under development. The time when I checked the information of SpywareGuard (before their website got revamped), it only said it is still developing and may have compatibility issues and didn't mention anything about Vista (if I remember correctly). I was kinda confused by that and thought the program has been developing since 2004 and is still developing now.

Sorry for the confusion.

[sari]

TheSkeptic,

As far as outbound traffic, this can be important if a user gets infected with a back door or other program that is sending information out to another location (stealing your passwords, for example). In that case, the firewall could alert you that a new process was trying to access the internet, which could be your first clue that you'd been infected by anything.

[Ltangelic]

Hey The Skeptic,

The Skeptic, on Nov 6 2008, 09:07 PM, said:

My question is, and I'll put it bluntly: why should I care about outbound traffic? I assume that every user of a computer with XP-SP2, which makes up the majority of the users, has a firewall installed. Either Microsoft's or another. If he doesn't, he will get infected whether I protect my outbound traffic or not.

Am I not right? Could you clarify this point, please? Honestly, I could never understood this double sided protection not in firewalls nor in antiviruses.

Regarding Spywareguard, Sari is correct. The program is available for a long time. I used it for a while and stopped for the same reasons that I stopped using TeaTimer.

Inbound and outbound protection is equally important in my opinion. Windows Firewall isn't perfect in blocking every single malware that tries to sneak into your system. Like sari said, there are certain malware that can easily slip past Windows Firewall and hide itself in an unnoticed part of your computer. Some of these malware can then download other malicious files from the Internet without the user's knowledge, or worse still (like sari mentioned), send out private information to its authors. Without a two way firewall, you will never know if your passwords and personal details are secretly collected on the other end of the line.

[Rorschach112]

Lt, SpywareGuard uses heuristics so it doesn't need to be updated

[Ltangelic]

Thanks for the information Mark, I have some doubts about the reliability of heuristic scanning. Correct me if I am wrong.

[sari]

Actually, they explain why their definitions aren't updated - you can find it on the Javacool site in the information about the program.

[Ltangelic]

Thanks sari, I have read and understood it.

[The Skeptic]

Thanks to both of you. I have to do some thinking.

[EdeC]

Good evening folks: I'm new to posting, having been forced into malware research only yesterday due to an infection by Virtumonde on my XP. It seems that following the steps outlined on this site ("you must read this before posting a Hijackthis log") to remove this very recent pest may have worked (I haven't given the system the hours needed to confirm the pest is truly gone).

My question is which virus protection would be recommended (step two of the above referenced guide) given that I currently am a Comcast cable user with their McAfee package? Obviously, it did not prevent Virtumonde from infecting my system. I've had a good experience for the 2 years of owning this XP machine at home, only having this Virtumonde issue after I joined Google Gmail two weeks ago (could it be related?) Should I dump McAfee and go with the Avast! antivirus free download? Should I pay for upgrades? (I'm an autoparts marketing guy and am comfortable with technology, but it's not what I want to do after work, except to keep the system properly maintained). Do I need a firewall other than what might exist with Windows and a selected AntiVirus piece?

Thanks in advance, and my apologies to the moderator if I've asked these questions in the wrong discussion forum.

Kind Regards,
Ed.

[ravantwin]

Hello, I have Stopzilla. I've had it for a while, expensive, but lifetime subscription (once you pay for four years I think.) How good is this rated? It seems boggy, takes a lot of Mem Usage. Can I run avast as well? I'm never sure if it's that effective and my computer (online usage) has become VERY slow. Thank you, Sincerely, Sharon

[lilac_sim]

hi everyone i have come on here because of the access denied message and just to learn more too! But i'm really disapointed in avg 8.0 as it is what i had with a firewall and with a spyguard etc and i decided to change it on reading your things here and well was i surprised and i was so annoyed as i thought my computer was being protected ! (obviously not ) As i just found 130 trojans!!!!!! and malwares and well i did a scan with avg yesterday and it found zilch and i updated it too. I was not amused and will i'm afraid now be sticking to this new one antivir for a while and this was maybe whats causing my problems too all these malwares and trojans although i'm lucky none has got into system files . Although i'm still getting the message at the moment but i'm so grateful for all the help i've had so far and thank you to all of you

[brianwondering]

is avast better than symantec antivirus corporate edition that I get free from my school? I use it on my vista laptop. thanks.

[sari]

The corporate edition is fairly good - since you're getting it free, you might as well stay with it. Just make sure you keep your definitions updated.