Free Security Applications

Believe it or not some of the best security for PC’s is actually free. But what makes them the best and why on earth are they free?

First let’s talk about some free Anti-Virus Software that seems to be more updated then costly predecessors. The anti-virus software I am referring to AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition. Now, the reason for this awesome software being available free of charge is that it only acts as an anti-virus, and nothing more. This means that there is no Anti-Rootkit, Anti-Spam, Firewall or free support, although AVG does have something they call Safe Search included within the free edition. For the anti-virus itself, I will say that my favorite thing about it is that it does not by any means slow your system down a bit like other Anti-Viruses that are available for a yearly fee. (Ahem, Norton’s). When running a scan on my overly populated system, I saw no change in speed and only know that AVG was scanning my system because a very small dialog box pop ups informing me that a scan has started which is a very fast scan at that given all the files I have. As for this Safe Search stuff that AVG includes in their free anti-virus, it’s not too shabby. Let’s say you run a search on Google, AVG will display small icons next to your search results identifying the web site pertaining to its results as a good or bad web site. Finally, for AVG, you can do the same stuff as with other anti-virus software such as schedule scans, control any viruses that are quarantined, view scan logs, and have AVG check your Outlook for problems. Get it here…

Now for this free Firewall I was talking about. About 3 months ago I made the switch from Zone Alarm Firewall which I absolutely loved and thought it was very easy to use. The problem with it was that it slowed my system down horribly, especially on start up. One day I gave up and began my search for something, anything and didn’t care if it was free. Then I came across COMODO Firewall Pro which is free to download and use. As with AVG, there are versions available for purchase although I don’t see a need especially since this software has almost everything an everyday user needs to protect themselves from intruders and not only that, it’s very easy to use, just like Zone Alarm. Basically, the COMODO Firewall free edition does it all with the exception of protecting you against WIFI connections, remote installations or removals, and there is no support for free clients. That’s all I really have to say about the COMODO Firewall free edition, it really does the job and speaks for itself. Get it here…

- Pete