[Special2God]

Few question after assessing the security info in this forum:

1. What is the "stop-drop-roll" procedure for a unasked for, on a clean site, popup?
Do I Task Manager kill the whole internet window,
press close on the popup, or
:3-smash: my PC?
Or some other alternative?

2. How many classes of computer software and hardware protection are there?
There are anti viruses (can only have one per pc).
There are firewalls (can only have one per pc).
There are background guard type things, like spybot S&D (can only have one per pc).
Am I missing anything?

3. How can I ever be sure that by opening my web browser and going on
amazon.com or TSF or wikipedia that I'm not open for anything that a smart
person can insert into that site?

4. Should I go live in a hut in Africa without internet so no one can spam me,
or scam me?

Thanks for your time TSF!
:smile:

 

[Glaswegian]

Hi

If I answer question 4 first and say 'Yes' would you consider this topic solved? :grin:

I don't receive pop ups. I use Firefox with AdBlock Plus and the MVPS Hosts file. That combination manages to stop any pop ups.

One AV and one firewall - but any number of stand alone scanners are allowed. I use Spybot and Malwarebytes on a regular basis, plus the odd visit to an online scanner. I also have Spywareguard and Spywareblaster.

You can never really be sure - but I use AVG and it includes a website scanner that marks safe sites with a green tick and refuses to let me near any known bad sites.

Common-sense is as important as anything else.

 

[Special2God]

Thanks Glaswegian!
I also wanted to say that I really appreciate the Security stuff you post in the Computer security news forum

So multiple stand alone scanners are fine, cool to know.

Would you recommend
"AdBlock Plus and the MVPS Hosts file"
as one of The Best popup and ad blocking utilities? What is MVPS Hosts file?

What (in your opinion) is the best free OR Paid firewall, when performance is an issue?

TY for your answers. :smile:

 

[Zealex]

What (in your opinion) is the best free OR Paid firewall, when performance is an issue?

I use comodo. Just don't install their av, I don't think it's any good.

 

[Baejung92]

The MVP HOSTS file is available at:
http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

My understanding is that it replaces your computer's HOSTS file with a new one that automatically redirects known harmful sites to your own IP address. So these sites can't establish a connection with your PC.

I've been using it for several months, and it's awesome for pop-up blocking. While sometimes the domains that they block cause inconveniences like certain Java apps or the odd "safe" site not loading, these things usually work again when you update the MVP HOSTS file (they seem to have a newer one up every month). If you still can't connect... maybe something IS wrong with the site

 

[Special2God]

Ok,
Thanks Zealex, Baejung92, and Glaswegian for the info.
Good stuff to know and think about!
:wave:

 

[Glaswegian]

For firewalls, I would choose either ZoneAlarm or Comodo - I use both (one on each OS).