What Security Software Do You RecommendWhat security software should I use What anti virus is the best How about a firewall And what about spyware Should I use one of the all in one packages that claim to do everything Is there anything else I needBA, B. A. Bachelor of Arts BA Berufsakademie BA Bosnien und HerzegowinaBosnia and Herzegovina ISO 3166 BA Bremsassistent Kfzmotor vehicle BA Bundesagentur. Here are the latest articles published on Toms Hardware. See the latest news, reviews and roundups and access our tech archives. Get help, support, and tutorials for Windows productsWindows 10, Windows 8. Windows 7, and Windows 10 Mobile. Microsoft Windows Live ID. Showa Denso Technology Ignition coils, AC generators, electronic ignition devices, electrical parts, etc. Founded in 1995, Showa Denso Co., Ltd. ISO 9001. TheINQUIRER publishes daily news, reviews on the latest gadgets and devices, and INQdepth articles for tech buffs and hobbyists. As you might imagine, I get questions like this all the time. As a result, I do have recommendations for security software and techniques to stay safe in various articles all over Ask Leo To make your life a little easier, heres a short version that sums it all up. The short short version. Most home and small business users who dont want to think about it too much should simply Get a router, even if you have only one computer. This will be your primary firewall. Use Windows Defender, already installed in Windows 8, 8. TNBlogsFS/prod.evol.blogs.technet.com/CommunityServer.Blogs.Components.WeblogFiles/00/00/00/46/91/metablogapi/2273.image_234E3B34.png' alt='Windows Server 2003 Std Oem Iso' title='Windows Server 2003 Std Oem Iso' />The home page for SPEC, the Standards Performance Evaluation Corporation, a standards body for performance benchmarks. Tabtight professional, free when you need it, VPN service. Windows 7 or earlier If youre running a version of Windows prior to Windows 8, youll want to download and install Microsoft Security Essentials MSE. Microsoft Security Essentials for earlier versions of Windows. This will be your anti virus, anti spyware, and malware scanner. Turn on Windows Update to keep your computer as up to date as possible. Turn on Windows Firewall when you travel perhaps just leave it on all the time. Thats it. Good basic protection in four steps with only one download. Basic security software Windows Defender. Windows Defender comes pre installed in recent versions of Windows. It does a fine job of detecting malware, does so without adversely impacting system performance, and does so without nagging you for renewals, upgrades, or up sells. It just does its job quietly in the background exactly what you want from your anti malware tool. The ratings game. Every so often, Windows Defender comes under fire for rating lower than other security packages in tests published online. As a result, every so often I get push back  often angry push back  that Windows Defender remains my primary recommendation. There are several reasons I stick to that position. No anti malware tool will stop all malware. Malware can and does slip by even todays highest rated packages. Highest rated changes, depending on the date, the test, and whos doing the testing. There is no single, clear, consistent winner. Regardless of how the data is presented, the differences among detection rates across most current anti malware tools is relatively small compared to other factors. There are also some very practical reasons I continue to prefer Windows Defender. Its free. Its already installed in Windows 8 and later theres nothing you have to do. In practice, it rarely impacts system performance. It integrates with Windows Update to keep itself up to date. It has no additional agenda its not going to pester you with renewals, upgrades to more powerful versions, or up sells to tools you just dont need. Its not perfect, but no security tool is. Thus my recommendation stands. Windows Defender remains a solid, free anti virus and anti spyware package with minimal system impact, and should be appropriate for almost anyone. Alternatives and additions. On the other hand, I fully recognize that Windows Defender might not be the right solution for everyone. No single product is. This is where I run into some difficulty trying to make recommendations. The landscape keeps changing. Tools that were once clearly free, have on more than one occasion, moved to promoting their paid product so heavily that the free version virtually disappears. People download and install programs thinking they are truly free only to discover, instead, a free trial, or a free download if you want to keep it past a certain length of time youre required to hand over money. Some programs have become as much self promotion tools as they are anti malware tools, bombarding you with sales pitches and upgrade offers to the point of getting in the way of your work. Things keep changing. So to the extent that I mention specific tools below, caveat emptor let the buyer beware. I cant honestly predict that the tools will remain recommendation worthy. Malwarebytes Anti Malware has evolved over the years from a tool that defied categorization not really anti virus, not really anti spyware, but still catching things that other tools did not to a full featured anti malware package. Whats important is that it continues to have a very good track record of removing troublesome malware that other packages sometimes miss. Spybot Search and Destroy is one of the longest running and highly regarded anti spyware tools out there. Like Malwarebytes, it has also expanded to be a more fully featured anti malware tool. I used it for many years myself back in its anti spyware days. AVG, Avira, and Avast, or the three AVs, as I like to call them, are three other free solutions that Ive recommended over the years. Caveats with all. I need to reiterate some important points. Im referring to the FREE version of each of these tools, not the Free Trial. In several cases they are two completely different downloads. A free trial is just that a trial, typically of a more fully featured product. Unless you know otherwise, the truly FREE version of these tools would be my recommendation. Regardless of which you download, you are still likely to be faced with upgrade and up sell offers to a more fully featured version, or even an ongoing subscription. Unless or until you know you want this, always decline. Speaking of declining when installing any of these products, always choose custom installation never the default. You may well get toolbars and other unrelated software you simply dont need or want. Consider using Ninite to install these tools all are available there. Minecraft Airport Mod on this page. Offline scanner. If your machine becomes infected with malware of some sort, theres a good chance that you wont be able to actually download anything, because the malware will prevent it. That means you wont be able to download the latest update of your anti malware tools, or perhaps be able to run them at all. When that happens, you need an offline malware scanner. An offline scanner is simply a complete anti virus and anti spyware scanning tool that you download and burn to CD or DVD, or place on a USB memory stick, using another computer. Sample Ms Access Program there. You then boot the infected machine from the media you created and run the scanner. The infected Windows doesnt run at all and the scanner can check, change, or repair more than the a normal scanner could. I recommend Windows Defender Offline for this purpose. Unfortunately, its not something you download and keep ready to use. In order to make sure youre running the most recent update of the tool and its database of malware, its important to download it when you need it. What else Firewall. For home and business use, I recommend the use of any good NAT router as a firewall. They dont have to be expensive, and are one of the simplest approaches to keeping your computer safe from network based threats. If all the computers on the local network side of the router can be trusted, theres no need for an additional software firewall. When traveling, or if you dont trust the kids computer connected to the same network as your own, I recommend turning on the built in Windows Firewall. In recent versions of Windows, its likely already on by default. Theres often no harm in leaving it on, but it can occasionally get in the way of some local machine to machine activities like sharing files and folders. I strongly recommend you back up regularly. In fact, I cant stress this enough. I hear about could be completely avoided simply by having up to date backups. Macrium Reflect and Ease.