Antivirus, Firewall, Both, Neither?

[jhartley111]

Currently, I have a wireless adapter on my cab that is disabled by instant sheller when I am booting to Mala. When I undo the changes made by instant sheller it boots to XP the wireless adapter is enabled so I can exchange files with my other computer or get something from the internet if need be. This setup has worked great up until now.

My goal is to start having the adapter enabled at all times so that I can play Street Fighter 4 online when it finally comes out... which brings me to my problem.

Right now, I have no antivirus or firewalls or anything set up so that I'm minimizing the drag on the computer. That's fine right now because it's very very rarely connected to the internet. That will change soon and I'm wondering what's the best way to protect the computer while placing the smallest burden on it, or if I need protection at all.

There won't be any internet browsing going on, only SF4. What kind of protection is needed in a situation like that? AV, firewall, both?

thanks

[ChadTower]

What you need protection from isn't the internet as much as it is local intrusion through the wireless adapter.  At the very least turn off peer to peer connections - but best practice would be a hardware isolated firewall (if your adapter is not on board) or second tier is a local software firewall in the OS.

Doing this will also protect it from anything on the net finding it as well.

[Namco]

No Anti-Virus, Windows built-in firewall. Just make sure Microsoft updates are turned on and you keep it updated. Windows' natural defenses when fully pached will protect you from everything excluding some miracle 0-day worm that some hacking group might pull out of their ass, but that never happens.

Also don't surf any unsafe sites, browse using Firefox only, use gmail or another webhost with a bulletproof spam filter and you should be good. I haven't run any anti-virus or firewall in a couple years. Being behind a wireless router is an automatic harware firewall. The outside hackers only see your dumb router behind your IP address and there's no way to get to your computer without physicall being on your home network.

[bkenobi]

The firewall is going to eat a bit of resources (just like AV will).  You might want to turn them on only when you go to the web.  You should be good when you aren't connecting to anything, so it's really just needed when you are visiting web sites and such.  If you are concerned about unknown system activity, you can use filemon (a M$ power tool written by SysInternals) to watch file accesses.  That can show you when malware is writing to your HDD.

[Xiaou2]

 Windows update as a Security Measure?! 

 I fix PCs for a living.. .and that is the funniest thing Ive ever heard   

[Namco]

 Windows update as a Security Measure?! 

 I fix PCs for a living.. .and that is the funniest thing Ive ever heard   

Keeping on top of Windows security patches is the ONLY effective security measure. Any worms that spread through the Internet attacking Windows machines are attacking UNPATCHED boxes. Those worms and viruses are usually written by hacker groups as a result of reverse engineering a Windows security patch.

Now Trojan horses are a different matter. Anyone who downloads and runs a 152kb sized file named "setup.exe" off a sweet warez site thinking he's installing Photoshop CS3 deserves to get infected. 

[DJ_Izumi]

Firewalls really don't protect consumer level computers from threats.  The REAL threats are malware and viruses, unknowingly downloaded and initiated by the user, which then operate secretly.  Most firewalls would see this as ligitimate outgoing and incoming traffic and ignore it.

So long as your computer is up to date with any hot fixes and stuff and you arn't installing questionable things or 'Free Super Web Tools' or anything else that's likely malware, your computer will be fine.  There arn't people sitting, waiting and 'out to get' your computer the moment you look away.  They're waiting for you to install something stupid yourself, then your computer will come to them and do whatever they say.

[severdhed]

as long as you or anyone else is not browsing the net on here and installing crap, you should not have any problems...your router is a firewall.  keep the windows update patches installed and don't be stupid.  the biggest threat to computers is not viruses..it is stupid users that don't know what the hell they are doing.

i am an IT consultant, i fix PCs for a living.  90% of what i see come into the shop is someone complete loaded with spyware because they are stupid.they got a pop up saying they are at risk and they should click OK to perform a scan.  at that point they click OK and install some crapware that reports false infections and then wants them to pay $29.99 to remove them.    they think they are safe because they use the internet security suite provided by their ISP, or AOL, or even Norton or McAfee.  some of the worst computers i have ever worked on had norton internet security installed and it claimed that everything was OK.

use some common sense and you will be fine.  i dont run any antivirus on my cabinet, but i do keep a good free anti spyware program on, that i can run on demand if i feel the need...such as Malwarebyte's Antimalware.  it is free, works very well, and does not run in the background...it only runs when you tell it to. (unless you buy the full version, which is unnecessary)

[Xiaou2]

You can patch Windows all you want... and there will Still be holes a hacker can and
Does exploit.

 And its not just windows... its any flaw in any program you have installed.  All it takes
is one poke in the right place... and the virus is in the backdoor.

 Norton is bloated useless garbage.   The top AV is currently  Kaspersky.
AVG free is also pretty useless.   Its the first thing a virus attacks (being so popular and
not too advanced).

 Pandas Cloud concepts looks interesting however... but Ive yet to try it.

 The best defense - is probably running something like Sandboxie... in addition to a nice
AV like Kaspersky.


 Being that he intends not to surf... he probably is safe no matter what... as most
of this stuff is embedded in webpages.

 Im merely saying that thinking Windows Update is good protection is a joke.
In fact, it can cause more harm to update than not.   Several customers of ours
have lost their sound on laptops and desktops because MS didnt want to support
HiDef sound in xp.. and changed the drivers on SP3 additions.   Completely Pooched
their sound... and they have No plans to fix this issue!    They also install countless
crappy bloated products... which are also filled with even more security holes.  heh

 Gota Love MS.   Keeps us Busy  heh

[Franco B]

All it takes is one poke in the right place... and the virus is in the backdoor.

Thats a custom title if I have ever seen one!

[danny_galaga]

If the only thing he wants to do online is play SF4, does he really need anything? He's said he won't be browsing the net...

[jhartley111]

Thanks for all the input. I think I'm gonna try this out with neither AV or a firewall.

[saint]

Thanks for all the input. I think I'm gonna try this out with neither AV or a firewall.

If you're going to have a Microsoft Windows machine with Internet access without AV or firewall, make sure you have a good backup

[Jack Burton]

I'm running Windows XP Service Pack 3 with all security updates, automatic updates turned off, firewall turned off, a linksys router, no anti virus, no anti adware/spyware, using firefox and opera as browsers.  I also don't run very many programs at all.

Once a month I install anti-virus and anti spyware programs and let them run.  Afterwars I uninstall them.

I have had one virus in two years with this approach.  The one time was due to my own dumbness for installing a program I got from a link on youtube.

Smart internet browsing is the best security you can get.

I will note however, that I do not value anything on my computer. 

[Level42]

I'm amazed. For once I totally agree with Xiaou2   

[Namco]

Absolutely right. Even a patched copy of Windows is so full of holes a hacker can take control of your computer's services within a few minutes of connecting to the Internet unless you're running the latest version of a good 3rd party anti-virus and firewall.

I've even seen once in a movie where hackers were able to hack into a computer system (a windows based system no doubt), and rerouted a bunch of gas lines to a power station and blow it up.

But usually viruses aren't that bad. Usually they're just keyloggers that run in the background collecting all of your passwords and bank records to sell to fund terrorist operations abroad.

And go ahead and turn off those pesky windows updates. Sometimes they make it easier to get viruses into your computer. Service packs are a JOKE too. The only thing they secure are securing that your computer is going to get slower by installing more and more bloated program updates.

And stuff like Internet Explorer 7 and 8 updates don't help you from getting spyware either. Best thing to for that is to run a good anti-spyware program like Spy Sweeper or Spyware doctor.

So in summary:

• Windows update are a joke, disable them
• Hackers see you when you get online and can poke into your computer
• Bill Gates will give you money if you forward his emails
• Make sure you are running Kaspersky anti-virus, ZoneAlarm Pro personal firewall, McAfee Security Suite, Spy Subtract anti-spyware, Ad-aware anti-adware, Spybot S&D helper and tea timer, Google Popup blocker, and Symantec script blocker
• Greedo shot first
• If your computer is not protected with as much third party protection as possible your identity will be stolen by hackers and sold to Al-Queda who will promptly blow up your house using your own hijacked computer to hack into the star wars defense satellites to target and fire upon your house from outer space

 

[danny_galaga]

I've even seen once in a movie where hackers were able to hack into a computer system (a windows based system no doubt), and rerouted a bunch of gas lines to a power station and blow it up.

 

yippy ki ay brother!

[DJ_Izumi]

Any skilled dedicated hacker can easily get into your windows system and there's nothing you can really do to stop it.  However you have one good benifit: You are an absolute nobody.  What are they gonna do?  Break in and steal your ROMs?  They can download them elsewhere.  Basicly there is no reward for the really good hackers to get into some nobody endusers system and mess with it.  ...Unless maybe you go to Defcon and start peeing on people.  That would be a bad idea.

You simply arn't a target because you arn't worth it.  It's like saying that any skilled and dedicated burgler can get into your house, even if you have real big locks and a security system.  However you don't a safe full of diamonds and a lost copy of the Declaration Of Independance so they won't bother.

[saint]

Any skilled dedicated hacker can easily get into your windows system and there's nothing you can really do to stop it.  However you have one good benifit: You are an absolute nobody.  What are they gonna do?  Break in and steal your ROMs?  They can download them elsewhere.  Basicly there is no reward for the really good hackers to get into some nobody endusers system and mess with it.  ...Unless maybe you go to Defcon and start peeing on people.  That would be a bad idea.

You simply arn't a target because you arn't worth it.  It's like saying that any skilled and dedicated burgler can get into your house, even if you have real big locks and a security system.  However you don't a safe full of diamonds and a lost copy of the Declaration Of Independance so they won't bother.

That doesn't consider botnets. No one wants you individually. They want you as part of 25000 other compromised machines.

[DJ_Izumi]

That doesn't consider botnets. No one wants you individually. They want you as part of 25000 other compromised machines.

Botnets however are not put onto your computer.  They are installed, usually unknowingly, by the user themselves.  A lot of malware that is connected to botnets evolves faster than the software to detect and remove that software even.  In this case, the best security is the user knowing not to download something that is a piece of crap carrying a payload.