I have received several questions regarding what  is the best solution for Safe Home Surfing. I thought this is a good time to put this matter to rest. The simple answer is that we need a software that has an antivirus solution and a firewall.

So what is the difference between Antivirus and Firewall you may ask?

The short  answer… Antivirus - To put it quite simply the antivirus is to take care and protect you against viruses and the Firewall is to make sure no Trojans or Spyware has passed through your antivirus and is sending confidential information out from your computer.

The longer answer that is depending on how computer literate you are is for example, if you receive an email that is a phishing attempt, would you recognize it? If not, you should use either some kind of anti phishing solution or have an antivirus that includes this protection. (Phishing is an attempt to send you to a fake website, looking like the real thing to trick you to reveal your login information. The criminal will then use this information to login to your real account and steal your money. These emails normally disguise themselves to be from banks, friends in your address book or online memberships.

Below I have described the different protection areas you may need . Then it’s up to you to see and decide with your knowledge what will be most suitable for your needs.

Antivirus – Protects you against malicious viruses that can damage the functionality of your computer.

Firewall - Will stop secretly installed software (virus, adware, spyware) that will contact servers outside your computer and send information about your computer and what you have stored there.

Antispam – to filter/block annoying emails coming to your inbox or sometimes warn you about the emails.

Anti phishing – warns about emails and websites that are trying to spoof information to make you reveal your passwords and also prevents personal information from leaking via e-mail, web or instant messaging.

Security – allows you to connect to any network anywhere and automatically modifies your firewall protection settings to suit your location. Also has a Wi-Fi monitor that helps prevent unauthorized persons to access your wi-fi network.

Privacy control – Privacy settings to make sure you don’t give out too much information when surfing.

Parental control - To restrict users from reaching certain websites for example block access to inappropriate websites and e-mail. Schedule and limits kids’ access to Internet and to applications.

New Parental Control Features in Bitdefender 2010

• Newly added reporting system allowing parents to view what websites their children visit.

• Moreover, parents can set specific time intervals in which their children are allowed to access the Internet or use certain applications.

I currently use the following security applications and I will share my tips which have worked with you:

BitDefender 2010 Internet Security -  I used to us it only for Antivirus and Firewall and had the antispam, privacy control and parental control turned off. The reason I did not use all functions is because I wanted my system to be affected as little as possible. Fortunately with the new release of Bitdefender 2010 you can have this items activated without affecting your computer speed at all!

Apart from that I also use Roboform to store my passwords. You can install a free version that allows you to store upto 10 logins. One reason is that if someone would be able to install a keylogger on my computer they would not see the passwords I enter anyways. Other reasons is that I can carry all my passwords between computers, but that’s not security related.

I also use adware a no-cost version to scan my computer for adware about once a month.

I would recommend Bitdefender Internet Security version.  Reason being  Bitdefender Internet Security will lock out  viruses, hackers & spam, while providing parental control and firewall protection. Unless you have need for the added hard disk maintenance functionality of  Bitdefender Total Security.  Total security has more of  hard disk functionality than security functionality really.

With Bitdefender Total Security you have the following additional features which are hard disk functionality:

.    Backup functionality
.    Remove registry entries
.    Delete files so that they are irrecoverable

Basically the Total security version of Bitdefender offers you a combination of computer protection and at the same time computer maintenance.

Until Next Time Keep yourself and Kids Surfing Safe

Malcolm – Your Bitdefender Guide