Tag: ANTIVIRUS

We want to make one thing clear: we're not picking on Windows. But, the truth is, for a number of different reasons, keeping Microsoft's OS safe requires more thought and effort than other systems. Entailing more than hackers and viruses, being secure means protecting your privacy, securing your data, and ensuring that your account passwords are as robust as possible (and not written down on ...

Sophos rolled out some free anti-virus software today, giving Mac users a brand new way to guard against the small percentage of malware actually designed to target their systems. While the company's new Anti-Virus Home Edition for Mac is designed to detect and defuse malware aimed at Mac operating systems, it can also pick up on malware that's written for Windows, and is spread via USB drives ...

Facebook users now have a way to protect themselves from the never-ending spread of malware, such as the "Sexiest Video Ever" scam. Symantec has released a free app that scans your News Feed for harmful links. The app, Norton Safe Web, scans all URLs that have appeared in your feed during the past 24 hours. On completion, the scan lists the links and describes them as "safe," "warning" or ...

What it is: Microsoft Security Essentials is a free anti-malware and anti-virus package, designed to compete with both commercial and free offerings like AVG and Norton. What we like: First, and most obviously, we like the price point; it's hard to argue with free. But no matter how free an app is, if it sucks, there's no reason to install it. Thankfully, there is plenty more to like about ...

McAfee perfectly illustrated today why you're supposed to thoroughly test software updates before pushing them out to the general public. Consumers and IT support personnel around the country found themselves in a nightmare situation this afternoon; at best, their Windows XP-based machines simply couldn't connect to a network, but more often than not were stuck in an endless loop of reboots. ...

Share The Internet is insecure by its very nature. As our recent interview subject Jeff Moss pointed out, the Net wasn't designed with security in mind, so we're still playing catch-up more than a decade later. Still, there are a lot of -- okay, we'll say it -- needlessly stupid things we do (on and off the Internet) that put our most prized data at risk. That includes e-mails, chats, ...

Share Given the barrage of viruses and scams that have hit Facebook recently, it would only seem like a logical solution to download some sort of anti-virus application specifically designed to combat Facebook-oriented malware. The only problem, though, is that the latest anti-virus app to pop up on user profiles is a total fraud. As AllFacebook reports, the application does a great job of ...

Software Software When it comes to purchasing pre-loaded software with your computer, our advice is to avoid it at all costs. Most companies, like Dell and HP, will allow you to decline at least some of the crapware that comes loaded on a PC, but only Sony offers the option of getting an unmolested Windows 7 install. While it's tempting to have Microsoft Office and security software (a ...

Facebook and McAfee have joined forces to provide free virus protection to Facebook users -- kind of. The security software company is currently offering Facebook users a free, promotional, six-month subscription, similar to a deal it had previously struck with our parent company Aol. Unfortunately, after six months, you'll have to cough up for a proper McAfee Internet Security license, which ...

Microsoft's new Security Essentials package departed from its beta status yesterday and is now available for free download, in its full-blown form, to anyone in need of some malware protection. Security Essentials protects against viruses, trojans, spyware, and other such cyber-nastiness. The free download is certified as Windows 7 compatible (as one would expect) and is kept up-to-date via ...

If the 'I'm a Mac' ads are to be believed, one of the biggest selling points of the Apple computer is its supposed invulnerability to viruses, spyware, and other evil programs. Of course, those who follow these sorts of things know such a claim is misleading at best. OS X has seen a number of viruses and other nasties over the past several months, as the OS has gained popularity. And now Apple ...

What is Conficker? Conficker, also known as Downadup or Kido, is the latest super virus to spread around the Internet and has security experts in a panic. When last we checked, about a week ago, Conficker had already spread to 9 million PCs, with little sign of slowing. Now it has infected at least 10 million PCs and experts believe there may be up to 350 million vulnerable computers out there. ...

Rumors are flying that YouTube is infecting unsuspecting computer users with a computer virus. Before we go any further, let us just calm your fears -- it's not true. But that doesn't mean it's safe to let down your guard. It turns out that out-of-date antivirus programs are erroneously labeling clips on YouTube as containing Actns/Swif.T, a particularly nasty piece of malware that urges you to ...

In a computer lab at Sonoma State University, George Ledin is teaching his students how to beat the expensive anti-virus packages from top security software manufacturers like Symantec and McAfee. Students are learning to best these pricey products on closed networks where they can't harm other computers or the Internet. But that hasn't stopped security companies from condemning Ledin's work. ...

AVG Free Anti-Virus What it does: The newly updated AVG Free is an Anti-Virus program that performs all the basic tasks you'd expect, without the slow downs associated with Norton and McAfee, or any of the exorbitant subscription fees. The new AVG version 8 also adds a host of new features, making it a much less bare-bones affair than the previous iteration. What we like about it: AVG ...