Firewalls and virus protection: Are they necessary?

I have been looking around this forum for awhile and haven't seen much talk about the why of virus protection and firewall. I see most people talk about what they use and how good it is. I have been a desktop user for about 5 years and will purchase a laptop this week. I never used a firewall and only turned on my virus protection when I used to use p2p's. Now I rarely use it. Any opinions would be appreciated.
Thanks, Joe

 

I only use a firewall because I use several different networks. If i just used my personal network, I wouldn't use a firewall because I have a firewall in my router.

My virus protection is always on because I download my emails to Outlook, and very rarely check them with an online client. Its just a precautionary measure in case something with a virus does get on my pc.

 

I have only antivirus software [avast! 4.6 Home], as well as a modified .HOSTS file. Never had any viruses - I have two machines set up this way.

I also have Ad-Aware SE Personal and SpywareBlaster 3.4 installed.

 

Well, I think having anti-virus protection is vital and absolutely necessary. I don't like firewalls though, they are a bit useless and are a pain in the neck. If you are using P2P Programs, I highly recommend you scan downloaded files before opening them. You could be suprised as to how many virues' there are on your computer. If you donlt want to buy any software; you shoud use:

Ad-Aware SE Personal Editon as Chaz Man Suggested

And

AVG Free Edition

Both these programs make a great, free combination to remove
virues and spyware. If you have virsues on your PC, you'll notice some odd things going on. When I had 200 viruses on my PC, task manager stopped working and Firefox suddenly shut down afer 10 mins of browsing,so be careful....

 

I've always used both... just recently switched to Zonelarm Internet Security Suite and have had no problems yet.

 

I think they work in harmony together, and are especially important on notebooks.

Notebooks typically travel to various access points of wireless internet. Everytime this happens, and you're not behind a firewall, you're at risk because they are usually not very secure. Universities and perhaps libraries/gov't buildings might be the exception. However, I wouldn't trust anything with open admittance.

The virus scanners catch what the firewalls can't weed out. This is really helpful for e-mails or IM transfers. Sometimes you can't avoid those darn trojans, but a frequently updated virus scan program should catch and clean them w/o harming your rig.

FYI I run a free version (provided by my university) of McAfee Antivirus, and the free Zone Alarm.

Though Zone Alarm sometimes is a pain to configure, it has been great!! I haven't had any problems with it and it hasn't annoyingly popped up something I wasn't expecting. Usually the information is helpful, and I feel I have a good degree of control. Plus, it does a great job of blocking intrusion attempts. MUCH better than Windows Firewall.

 

While using windows i use a firewall and a AV, but in linux i use just a firewall (basic one)....




LINUX = good
WINDOWS = bad

******Oops, sorry, just finished a shell script!!

 

I don't take risks and use a anti-virus and in the router is a firewall.

 

Surfing the internet without firewall and antivirus is like having interc***se without protection. Sometimes you're lucky, other times you might catch STDs that will do you harm. Do you really want to take the risk? Only need one bad virus to wipe out your hard drive. I have one unlucky friend who has had viruses wipe out his computer 3 times in the past few years. Some people just don't learn, no matter what.

If you go to www.download.com you can download a bunch of free programs, such as ZoneAlarm, SpyBot, and others. Do it now, or regret it later. Do a search for "spyware" in the search box, and a bunch of apps will show up, some are free, some for a fee. At the very least, download the free version of ZoneAlarm to have a decent firewall to block out unwanted evil-doers. Did I mention it's FREE...so there's no excuse.
))

 

AVG anti virus
Sygate personal firewall
AD Aware se

haven't had any problem so far..

 

That's what they want you to think. I've been surfing responsibly since the early 90's and have never once had a problem from anything more malicious than spam. Internet security marketing is overboard, IMO.

I run my PC 'naked'. I've never used a software firewall (only my router) and refuse to use antivirus software. I do have anti-spam and spyware apps (Ad Aware & Microsoft Antispyware) but that's it.

 

the first time you get the anti-virus popup that is killing a secret executable that has gotten onto your system is the time you realize it was worth installing.

unless you're confining your surfing to Disney.com and maybe CNN, I would suggest at least an AV solution, and a software firewall is a simple and easy additional protection.

You don't have to go to porn or warez sites to get viruses or trojans, they come in many forms and on many sites, even some that seem reputable. Some very legitimate sites have been hacked and trojan code left on them for responsible surfers to encounter in their safe travels online.

 

I think the best AV software (and hardware ) is the user. I personally hate antivirus tools (here I talk about popular TSR programs). I find them more viruslike programs because they slow the machine, do nothing special, and in the end cannot protect me. I actually don't trust them.

Similar to iCamp, I prefer no AV, but I think Windows firewall is good. It certainly doesn't slow anything down, and it is useful. On a notebook for sure.

And geez, listen to me - I am a informatics engineer, and specialized in computing security. (this is no joke)

Cheers,

 

So, you are partial to Disney.com, then?

Coffee, you won't be able to share with ikovac, Salma and others from the contents of the Coffeedrive.

 

I was just going to say that window's firewall was half decent and my router has a firewall built in.

I also use Avast Pro.

That's it.

Anyone heard about some virus that's supposed to delete all of our programs in february?

I read it in a news headline.

 

I have anti-virus, firewall, two anti-spyware.
I have set my Outlook to download headers only; subsequently I download only the messages I want, and delete the remaining from the server without ever looking at them.
I also use what I call "the infallible defense": I turn the computer off, when I don't use it
Yet, I got attacked by a trojan recently. The anti-virus saw it and I think I am spick and span again. Still I am now jumpy every time that the harddisk grinds

 

I use both. If I don't (just AV or just Firewall), Windows XP SP2 dies for about 20 minutes in my network (much better than SP1, which basically boots the first time and then it's gone).
I use Kaspersky AV and Kaspersky Anti-hacker. These two are slowly draining out my system's life but at least they can keep me safe from those wild, East European, worm-brooding networks

 

On the contrary my friend. I understand the concerns and dangers. I also do computing for a living (more than 10 years in bussiness) and did so many virus killings on so many systems (but not mine fortunately) that I just feel I don't need antivirus programs anymore.
I have MS Antispyware agents running when the things might get tricky. It gives me the info if something changes on my system. That is enough for me. The moment I get the info and know that it might be malicious, then there is no more "mister nice guy". I will track it and disable it before it even starts to live. . I'm not just some newbie (no offence here) that clicks around. I guess I'm just an old experienced computer user. Once I won a bet by retrieving 10 crackz and keygens (from warez sites), only with IE6, Notepad and Windows firewall. All activex, redirections, popups, javascript... really had no impact. It is so easy to get a virus...if you are not careful!

Don't get me wrong, AV apps might be and sometimes are the only help you can get. Some would say better safe than sorry. I say you better know your enemy well, and then it is very easy to defeat it. I just hope that I will never have to use any AV tool. BTW I use IE7 beta 2 and it seems to handle those tricky sites quite well. We'll see, we'll see...

Cheers,

 

Ivan, you are right. I used to just go about manually getting rid of viruses whenever I was infected a while back before using antivirus, because I didn't want to pay for the programs.

Now I use Avast Pro, because it just gives me a piece of mind, and it uses barely any system resources, don't even know it's on. It also scans the harddrive for viruses whenever the screen saver pops up. Great

Cheers,
Mike

 

I have software firewall and a very well setup hardware one as well. Along side a virus scanner/spyware scanners and such. Never had a security problem either.

 

2 hardware firewalls and AVG.

 

Thanks for all the replies folks. Since all I've really done is use my computer, I don't know anything about the inside stuff. I have a laptop coming and wanted to be able to tweak it as well as learn all there is to learn about it. My knowledge is limited, but my friends think I am a geek for what little I know Little to they know that I consider myself illiterate in the computer field.
This forum has a good deal of knowledge and experience on it. I hope to learn what I can and, hopefully, guide my friends in the right directions. Again, thanks

 

I've got 3 antispyware programs, an antivirus program, and three firewalls (hardware, software, and router) as well as SpywareBlaster - I feel pretty safe.

(and yes, I actually scan with them, I dont just have them installed )