What Security Software do you recommend?

The Short-Short Version

Here's my current recommendation for most home and small business users who don't want to think about it too much:

• Get a router which will be your firewall, even if you have only one computer.

• Install Microsoft Security Essentials as your anti-virus, anti-spyware and malware scanner.

• Turn on Windows Automatic Update.

• Turn on the Windows Firewall when you travel.

That's it. Good, basic protection in four steps with only one download.

Microsoft Security Essentials

In the past, I've strongly disrecommended all-in-one solutions. By "all-in-one" I mean a single program or "security suite" that claims to do it all: firewall, anti-spyware, anti-virus and often much more all in package. What I see in reports and questions coming in to Ask Leo! is simply this: these types of suites typically have or cause more problems than other alternatives.

That strong disrecommendation continues - I've not changed my mind.

With one exception: Microsoft Security Essentials.

In a sense, it's not an all-in-one solution like the others. True, it has anti-virus and anti-spyware but where it differs is that it's not trying to shovel in all sorts of other features that a) you don't need and b) often only serve to destabilize your computer. Microsoft Security Essentials isn't trying to compete against other products long feature list - and as a result it wins.

Other Good Alternatives

Microsoft Security Essentials might not be the right solution for everyone. No single product is.

In addition, even with a good, solid foundation you may also find yourself needing additional tools at times. The unfortunate but very practical reality is that no single tool or combination of tools can find all malware all the time. As a result, you may sometimes need alternatives to bring in to help out.

Malwarebytes

I throw Malwarebytes Anti-malware into a classification by itself. It's not really an anti-virus tool, per se (in fact in their forums you'll see the support staff regularly recommending anti-virus tools to install alongside Malwarebytes), and I can't really call it an anti-spyware tool either.

But is currently has one of the best track records of removing troublesome malware quickly and effectively.

Hence anti-malware.

Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware comes in two versions: free and pay. The free version is a fully functional stand-alone manual scanner. The paid version adds realtime scanning, and scheduled scanning and scheduled updates.

Anti-Virus

AVG Free and Avira Free are two free solutions that I've come to recommend. I ran AVG for some time on my primary machine, and Avira is currently protecting my wife's laptop.

I have two concerns with both:

1. When you visit their site and download the program, they both try really, really hard to up-sell you to the paid versions. Be persistent, be careful, and make sure you get the free version - it's the free version that I'm recommending here.

2. AVG Free includes a feature called "LinkScanner" that attempts to check links on the pages of the sites you visit for phishing and other malware. I've experienced and also had several reports of this feature seriously impacting browser performance. I recommend turning it off immediately. In fact, I recommend turning off any browser-intrusive or email-intrusive features on any anti-malware program at the first sign of problems.

Anti-Spyware

Spybot Search and Destroy is one of the longest running and highly regarded anti-spyware tools out there. I wouldn't hesitate to install and use it.

Also one of the "old guard" is Lavasoft's Ad-Aware. It's had some issues in years past but as I understand it it's a solid contender once again. My only concern with Ad-Aware is that being a commercial product (though with a free version) it does seem to be starting down the road of perhaps trying to do too much.

Firewall

For home & business use I recommend the use of any good NAT router as a firewall. They don't have to be expensive at all, 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, then no additional software firewall is called for.

When traveling, I recommend simply turning on the built-in Windows Firewall. (There's often no harm in leaving it on at home, but it can occasionally get in the way of some local machine-to-machine activities.)

I understand that some people feel strongly that an additional software firewall is still called for in certain circumstances, but in my opinion those circumstances are infrequent. I do not have a specific product to recommend, as all of the current software firewalls seem to cause issues, often serious, from time to time.

What Else?

I strongly recommend you backup, regularly. In fact, I can't stress this enough. 99% of the disasters I hear about could be completely avoided simply by having up to date backups. Macrium Reflect is the backup software I use and recommend.

Keep your computer up to date. That means turning on Windows Update or making sure to visit the Windows Update web site religiously. The vast majority of computer infections we hear about are due to the operating system simply not being kept up to date with the latest available patches.

And finally, Internet Safety: How do I keep my computer safe on the internet? has even more tips for keeping your computer safe.

(This is an update to an article originally published September 30, 2008.)