Who do you trust? Firewalls and security software.

People make mad dashes to 'secure' their PC with the latest firewalls and other tools but do you ever ask, who will watch the watchers?

Zonealarm, one of the more popular firewalls is made by Checkpoint. Checkpoint boast an office in Tel Aviv.

Tor, a program hailed by many as a way to achieve a high level of anonimity on the net was made by the US Government and is currently maintained by someone who use to work for the NSA.

The founder and VP of Sunbelt software is openly a Scientologist.

This is all info you can find out in a few minutes of Goolging, you should check it out sometimes, it's pretty interesting.

Who do you trust?

[edit on 9-5-2009 by autsse]

No one.

Who can you really trust? download some open source app, read the source code, understand it, then, you need to understand the OS which is below that app, then, you need to understand the hardware, can't do all these things?

Out of luck.

As most of we all are, you can write your own OS, TCP stack, firewall app and whatever, even build your own modem, but, you will not bypass the ISP and above, and nothing above that, so, what can you do? from this point, nothing. nothing but to go offline, which may not be an option in this age.

Another road may lead to where you would like to be, but i tend to believe this one doesn't.

How sad isn't it?

Kai

I don't trust any anti-virus. Not only do they hog CPU and ram, but they are dumbed down to the point where they attempt to appeal to someone who has only spent 15 minutes in front of technology their entire life, integrating money making schemes at the same time only the ignorant would fall for.

The solution: No anti-virus or anti spyware programs, not even free ones. Don't go to malicious websites. (People need to stop looking at porn, this is just 1 good reason) And a big one: Mozzila Firefox with adblock plus and no-script (for advanced users).

I haven't had anti-virus and years, and so I rarely get infected. If I do, find out what malicious program snook it's way into system start up, disable it in safe mode and delete it. Simple.

But keep it simpler by protecting your browser, and knowing what websites you are going to. Hidden scripts is what is killing people these days.

Ya I get all that. I'm just talking about how readily people run into the arms of these rogue software companies for their 'security' and 'privacy'.

ps. Even though few of us can audit code you're still better off with open source stuff, like linux.

[edit on 9-5-2009 by autsse]

Originally posted by autsse
People make mad dashes to 'secure' their PC with the latest firewalls and other tools but do you ever ask, who will watch the watchers?

Zonealarm, one of the more popular firewalls is made by Checkpoint. Checkpoint boast an office in Tel Aviv.

Tor, a program hailed by many as a way to achieve a high level of anonimity on the net was made by the US Government and is currently maintained by someone who use to work for the NSA.

The founder and VP of Sunbelt software is openly a Scientologist.

This is all info you can find out in a few minutes of Goolging, you should check it out sometimes, it's pretty interesting.

Who do you trust?

[edit on 9-5-2009 by autsse]

I have Zone alarm...So should I delete it? What do you recommend?
I did download Snoop Free Privacy... They ask for donations...Many times something tries to access my hard drive and it alerts me and asks me if I want to allow it.

I use open source for just about anything I can. If you really want to be safe, learn to read the source code.

The safest, most light-weight FREE antivirus available is Avast!.

I have never had:

A problem
System hogging
And most importantly, A virus

While using it.

Don't use any mainstream, payed for AV software. They don't work.

If I pay $1,000 or more for a PC then I absolutely intend to buy security software to protect my purchase. I don't trust anyone but I don't really have a choice, I want my computer and information to be safe. If you don't trust firewalls then buying a MAC and not using protective software is far less risky.

[edit on 9-5-2009 by rapinbatsisaltherage]

reply to post by fooffstarr


Please tell me you are joking?

the way that i see it....

as soon as you install an av software it start detecting virus
and and it seem that it allways have the fix...so people think"its a good thing i got that av software"

the more they send them virus the more they feel protected...

av are like al capone...if you pay your protection....lmaol

im sure that 90% of the virus are fals flag cyber-terrorist(made by the av companie)

im 35 years old i had my first computer at 7 i work in the field...and i cant count on one hand the time that i realy got infected

I've always used 'Pro' security software and have careful browsing habits that mean I've picked up one trojan in five years and the odd unwanted cookie. Most of my apps come from the kind of guy that wears an eye-patch, "Aaarrr!"

It is possible to get away without AV/anti-spyware, but if you enjoy surfing the Internet, sooner or later you'll get stung. Look at what's at stake? Bank details, Ebay passwords and so forth. I'm an avid reader on infosec. If a popular app contained a script that jeopardised the user's identity or acted as a keylogger, it would be exposed very quickly.

Running Firefox with NoScript and Adblock Plus is more powerful in protecting PCs than the AV. It's a dumb myth that 'only porn' will inject malware. Most malware comes from infected web pages that litter the internet. Cross-script hijackers can see the link you click infecting your PC without you knowing. I've rescued many PCs and laptops from malware and with one exception, none had been browsing the porn.

Originally posted by WonkoTheSane
reply to post by fooffstarr

 

Please tell me you are joking?

No, I'm not.

Not every random on the internet can read the source code.

The average computer user wants something easy to understand and install that does the job with minimal interference.

Avast hides away and only alerts for updates and viruses. It only takes up 20,000 KB memory usage in idle. Compare that to the 90,000 that Firefox takes up just to run and it isn't a system hog at all.

On every PC I've had with Avast, I've never had a virus get through.

So no, I'm not joking. To me it is the highest quality free AV on the market.