Avast Products Are Great But What Else Can I Do To Mitigate Surfing Risks?

[system]

@Dieselman post:2

NO antivirsu is perfect. I can find malware that KAV misses and Avast finds. I can also find malware that KAV misses and Norton finds. Then I can find malware that Norton misses and Avast finds. Your point is?

True indeed.

Therefore I offer some time tested techniques that can be used along with AIS to reduce the risk of your computer catching cold

1. Use AIS rather than Avast Free or Avast Antivirus Pro
2. Run Malwarebytes or SAS in a real time mode. (Requires a purchase)
3. Use Firefox 4.0 along with a number of important security addons installed including NoScriptm anti-keylogger, adware blockers etc…
4. Do not have your Browser “File Download” feature set to automatic download. Also, set Firefox to prevent automatic redirect on software downloads. I don’t know if IE can do this. Make sure that you and not your Browser owns (has control over) the download. Never use the “Run” feature in a Browser download. Always save downloaded files and scan them before executing them with AIS and either MBM or SAS.
5. Do the appropriate number of scheduled scans with AIS and MBM or SAS
6. Do not download software from any site other than a recognized and reputable company or from from their site; eg Avast, Malwarebytes, MSFT (Is MSFT reputable on security? ;D ), CNET, FileHippo etc.
7. Ensure that you have adequate Social Networking security enabled.
8. Keep all software up to date using a software’s “auto-update” feature especially Windows, AIS, MBM and SAS. Also use Secunia PSI and File-Hippo’s Update Checker software (I prefer Update Checker to the CNET software update program) to help keep your software current.
9. Where possible stay away from sites with a history of infecting computers with bad stuff including Social Networking sites, IM (see #7 above) etc, unless you take the proper security precautions. For example where possible use only Websites that have HTTPS enabled (security encryption) along with using the Avast Safe Zone and/or the Avast “sandbox” features when surfing the Net.
10. Spend at least 15 minutes a week surfing some of the leading Computer related websites like Computerworld, ZDNet, CSOonline, DailyTech etc. Also, if you use Twitter follow these types of sites, set up a “List” for these types of sites and look at their list of Tweets at least once of day. If you check your “List” once a day for sure you will be current on the latest hot security issues/risks and how to mitigate the the risk of your computer finding itself playing host to some malicious code.
11. Always clear the Network cookies at the end of each browsing sessions that your Browser gathers during the each browsing session. In addition, there are ways with Firefox and Firefox addons to mitigate the accumulation of cookies and “trackers” while your Browser is open without destroying the Browsers functionality.
12. Use CCleaner at least once a day to clean your cache and temporary internet files. I would suggest also using Wise Disk Cleaner and Wise Registry Cleaner at least once a day. Both Wise products can be pre-scheduled to run without manual intervention. For even better security I would recommend running CCleaner, Wise Disk Cleaner and Wise Registry Cleaner after the completion of each Internet session.
13. Always use alpha-numeric passwords of preferably 10 characters or more. Change the periodically. Do not use any passwords that someone might now like street address.

There are also a few more things that someone can do to reduce the risk of their computer getting infected with some bad stuff but I will leave it at that for now.

[system]

1/ Do NOT use administrator account for normal work.
2/ If using avast! Free, use a browser sandboxed by Sandboxie.
3/ Learn about Software Restriction Policies (XP, Vista, W7) and AppLocker (the higher W7 variants) and use them.

[DavidR]

Have a robust back-up and recovery strategy, e.g. back-up what you don’t want to lose (data files, favourites, emails, etc.) at least daily, use drive imaging software to make an exact copy of your partition/disk, do this weekly and keep at least the last 4 copies/generations.

[system]

1. Use sandboxie
2. Use a dns like Clearcloud or Norton

[system]

Things I recommend:

1.) Having Avast Anti-Virus (Of Course)

2.) Get Malware Bytes Anti-Malware. (I use the On Demand Free version) The updated Paid version offers real-time protection for a one time fee of $25. The choice to update to the paid version is yours, but at least have it. If you go with the free version, update before you run a scan and run a full scan.

3.) Set Windows Update to Automatic so you have the latest updates and secure patches for your computer.

4.) Install the Web of Trust Plug in (a.k.a WOT) from www.mywot.com. This excellent plug in gives color coded safety ratings for websites, Green, (Good) Yellow (Caution) and Red (Danger.) based on a composite of millions of users and businesses from around the world who evaluate sites. Registered users can participate in the on-line community forums, comment on their personal experiences with sites. You are even protected with color coded safety ratings, not only in browsing and searching, but all Red sites are blocked by default. If you have G-Mail, Yahoo Mail, or HotMail, color coded links appear next to URL’s in those mail programs to make your account even safer.

Make sure you go to www.mywot.com if you want the plug-in, NOT hxxp://www.WOT.com, plain old hxxp://www.wot.com is a MALWARE SITE!

5.) Back up your data at least once a month to bi-monthly on an external data source. (i.e second hard drive, secure on-line storage, CD or DVD Rom)

6.) Clean your history and Cache files from your browsers and C-drive once a week. Cookies are optional. If you do delete them, you will have to re-enter your user-names and passwords for the sites you visit all over again.

7.) Monthly, after cleaning your history and Cache files, boot into Safe Mode and if you are running Windows XP, delete the Temporary files on your C drove after logging in as an Administrator. Than run Disk Clean Up by right-clicking on the C drive, and select Properties. Uncheck the Drive Compression Box.

8.) Run Check Disk to check and clean errors in Safe Mode: Go To Start, Type Run Type “chkdsk” (no quotes) after doing that, run Disk Defragmenter to defrag your hard drive.

9.) Either reboot your computer once a day (Restart) or give your computer a sleep cycle of 5 or more hours by shutting down when you are done for the night to keep your system “fresh” and to prevent data from building up by leaving it on all the time.

Jack