needing anyone with a computer knowledge

I have just been made aware of a software pkg you can install with firewalls, protection from hackers. My computer already has Norton AntiVirus Auto Protect installed in it. If I installed a firewall software am I duplicating what Norton does or does the other software compliment the Norton program? Duhhhhh, Lisa

Lisa,
From what I remember..the firewall is a good protector in addition to a virus protector. The firewall stops entry of entities, whereas a virus protector captures the entity. It is rather complicated but they are not the same thing and can comliment each other. Anti virus programs work after the fact, while firewalls try to be more proactive and not reactive. Routers, which attack contect would be another option for security that scans the content. These things are always changing and have to be updated to be effective. Two elements which increase your hacker risk are having a high-speed connection, which is always online and, letting your computer stay on in the sleep mode, which opens up new ports for hackers.
The bottom line is there are no guarantees with these antihacking/virus programs. You still have to be careful about your internet surfing/downloading/email accounts. Hope this helps...
Trish

WOW, thanks for the great info. I see several things I am doing wrong. Lisa

I ues AVP Gold from Kaspersky Lab for antivirus and Zone Alarm as a firewall.Seem to work well together.

I've been using NOBO. A friend has actually been able to stop two people from getting into her system using it. It also gives you some information about the hacker. They are a good tool but you still have to be diligent about being online.

Hope this helps,
Sharon

The DG server is equiped with a firewall. We fend off attacks at least 5 times a day.

Firewalls prevent intruders in your system. Virus-checkers try to prevent virii from being activitated on your system. This is the principal difference.

Also - one is very worthwhile to have, and the other is a complete waste of time.

(No virus checkers here - just nice and tight firewalls)

Dave

Dave, don't leave me hanging....which one is a waste of time? Judging from your remarks it would be the virus one? But I never asume anything anymore...Lisa

Lisa,

Dave always forgets that most of you out there run Window. In my opinion, Windows users are smart to use a virus program.
He doesn't use Windows, and therefor has no use for the package. He runs firewalls to keep hackers out of DG, and out of our personal systems.

Trish

Howdy folks...the software Lisa is referring to is a free scan done by Symantec. You can go to following URL and run the "freebie" and it will tell you how susceptible you are to hackers and viruses. Also gives very good descriptions about how/why your computer can be "looked in on". For those of you who already have anti-virus software/firewall etc this is a good place to see if it is really working...it will run the check then tell you where your strengths and weaknesses are (and what to do about them, if you choose...like buy their software!) I was amazed at what I found out, especially seeing it was spelled out in layman's language. The site is www.earthlink.net/freescan

Horseshoe, I started to run that check, then the program mentioned that some ISP may not like you doing this, that I need to check with mine first. Is that so? Lisa

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Listen up people - Trish is right! If you are either a MAC or a Windows user, a virus protection system is VITAL! My husband is a computer "guru" and works for the world's number one "semi-conductor" manufacturer. He highly recommends that everyone use a good virus protection software (personally, my ISP recommends Inoculate Personal Edition) - it's free @ www.antivirus.ca.com
I have in the past used Norton and McAfee, but find that Inoculate is a better system for my needs.

Also, as Karma recommends, Black Ice is a very good system. You can also download for free an excellent firewall @: www.ZoneLabs.com

You NEED BOTH systems to protect your pc in today's web-surfing world.

Great info there Mom! Thanks. Lisa, I remember getting that notice and just went right on by it and did the check anyway...no problem with me.

My ISP has every firewall program available. So everything
is virus scanned before the users get it.

Once in a great while one will mess him up, and we might loose e-mail for a couples days, But in the last 2 years
non of his clients lost their cpu data..

Sun AM we lost mail for about 4 hrs, Some bandwith spammers tried to get him with 11,000 5 to 6 megabit porn messages.

Something to be said for the small local guy..

Byron