The traditional way of adding additional protection

Many people protect their PC's by using multiple signature scanners based on anti-viruses, anti-spywares, anti-trojans and anti-rootkits.

It is not as secure as many people think and for most folks, the cost is too high and the additional protection afforded too little.

The cost here is not so much financial though that is an issue, but rather the serious impact adding many security layers can have on the performance of your PC.

There is also a cost in complexity. The more security programs you run the more chance they will either interfere with each other or with other programs.

Each additional layer you add increases your protection but by an incremental amount only. A good anti-virus program may offer 70% protection. Adding a good anti-spyware utility may increase this to 85%. The addition of an anti-trojan may take it to 90%.

This is because today's security products overlap in function much more than they used to. A modern anti-virus program will detect a lot of spyware while a modern spyware program will detect some viruses, worms and trojans as well.

Although the protection achieved only goes up incrementally with each layer added, the processing load on your PC will rise more or less in proportion to the number of layers. So adding an anti-spyware layer to your anti-virus layer will double the load on your PC. Adding in an anti-trojan as well may well triple it.

So folks, while layering is a good thing we are faced here with a law of diminishing returns.

But that's not the only problem with the traditional layering approach to protection. If an aggressive malware program is allowed to run on your PC it may disable all your layers of protection rendering them useless.

I've seen it happen many times and it is a frightening sight to see all your security program icons disappear from the system tray.

Thankfully some security programs resist termination by hostile agents but the majority don't. And even those that do resist may well prove vulnerable to new, more advanced termination methods yet to be developed by malware programmers.

My approach these days is simple: if you allow malware programs to run on your PC don't expect your security programs to fully protect you. If you are lucky they will but with security, you shouldn't rely on luck.

So how do you prevent infection?

 

Good Safe Computing Practices

1. Ensure you keep Windows and MS Office (if you use it) completely up-to-date by applying the latest fixes from the Microsoft Update Service. Make sure the automatic update settings are Automatic (or at least not turned off).


2. Make sure your other software products are also fully updated, particularly popular products like Firefox, Opera, Adobe Reader, Sun Java, Flash plug-ins and media players. The easiest way to do this is to use the free Secunia Personal Software Inspector.


3. Switch to alternative programs. They can be better in functionality or lighter in resources than more popular programs, and are targeted less by malware writers. Using Firefox instead of Internet Explorer and Foxit Reader instead of Adobe Reader can greatly improve your security.


4. Be careful where you surf. In particular stay away from sites offering commercial software serial numbers, keygens or other hacked material. Avoid accidentally wandering to hostile sites by installing WOT and AVG LinkScanner. These are free plugins that append site security ratings to search engine listings and sites.


5. Never click on email attachments from untrusted sources however tempting and attractive such attachments may seem. Similarly, never click on links in email from unknown correspondents.


6. Never install programs unless you are fully confident they are clean. In particular, only download files from trusted sources and never install programs that friends give you on removable media unless you have verified that they are clean by submitting them to free web based signature scanning services such as Jotti or Virus Total.


7. Make sure Windows Firewall is turned on. If you are running Vista, you can use the free Vista Firewall Control to enhance the security and usability. Firewalls with outbound protection can also be used, however, the added complexity is not suitable for beginners.


8. Disable AutoRun with the free Panda USB Vaccine.

These measures can protect your PC from infection a great deal. However, sticking to these rules is not easy; it requires a level of discipline most users don't have. Who hasn't been tempted to open a funny PowerPoint email attachment or install a free game?

And it's not only a question of discipline. These days you can easily get infected simply by innocently surfing to a trusted web site that has been hacked or opening a "loaded" MS Office document. You need more protection than the basic security rules can provide.