August 13, 2006

Internet security suites, should you get one?  Well, this is just my opinion, but I'm not crazy about them.  Today, they seem to be all the rage and all the manufacturers keep trying to convince everyone they are the way to go.

You can check out the computer magazine reviews of these products, but even this gets frustrating because, since there is no established test procedure and everybody uses different tests, criteria, and ways to setup the programs for the tests, they can't seem to come up with a universal conclusion on test results.

If you look at tests, the suites don't usually perform as well as individual stand alone programs.  While it is much more convenient to just install one program to do everything, in my opinion, convenience should not be the criteria for maximum protection.

One of the biggest issues I have with the security suites is that for some reason, they don't necessarily work properly with all computers.  For instance, I've had a lot of problems with Norton Internet Security not working on some computers and slowing some computers down considerably.  Most times, even discussing the problems with Symantec does not yield acceptable results.

One thing I am finding out is that computer performance seems to be affected less if you use individual programs.  I'm also finding out that most of the time, the free programs are working just as well as the paid programs.

If you want the convenience of only installing one program, and you don't mind the computer slowing down some, then get a suite.  Otherwise, download the free programs, such as AVG Antivirus for virus protection, Zone Alarm Free for your firewall, and Windows Defender, Spybot, or AdAware for spyware.

Just use some common sense, make sure to have some program for these things, and then decide how much you want to spend, and how convenient you want it to be.  As always, I don't think security is something to be paranoid about, but it also isn't something to be complacent about.  You need protection, but my philosophy is you don't always have to spend a lot of money.

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