Ok so it's a bit on the long side, but well worth reading.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/11/11/av_workshop/

Just remember "surf safe"

Have a good day.

Its well worth running some of the online stuff the article mentions especially the Symantec Security stuff.

Suppose I need a question,

How secure is your computer??

I use installed McAfee AV and trend online as well as having a hardware firewall in my ADSL router, I also use Adaware and Spybot, so I rate myself as 9 out of 10

How would you rate yourself?

Well done for "safe surfing",as anyone who practices otherwise is asking for trouble.Even MR.Bill Gates receives thousands of spam attacks a day,so what chance the rest of us?

Symantic have been around a long time,with Norton a so called top product.Yet you only have to look on the web to notice that just about every product has been hacked,with codes for this,keygens for that,etc.

As soon as you upgrade a product,or download a patch,you are taking a risk.Indeed if you want to go into paranoid mode,all of us have BHO helpers installed on our PC's.All designed for tracking,and to get info off the hard drive,and document your web life style.Or I'm talking rubbish,and they are nothing of the sort,but helpful add-ons.Noone knows for sure.

Anti virus,adware,spyware,all is the modern mix for web surfing,but to say as safe as 9 out of 10 is like standing on a wall hoping no one will throw a stone in your direction. ;)

All the best,
Nez.

LOL @Nez, I forgot to mention that I'm a professional Sysadmin in a tech firm, so 9/10 seems about right as you can only get 10/10 if you NEVER connect to the net.

I use the net is Paranoid mode, i.e. trust NO ONE and doubt everything!! ;)

Lol.Yep.That just about sums it up.Stay safe,and enjoy the net.

As someone who has suffered from "virus nightmare" in the past,I am ultra cautious now more than ever. :D

All the best,
Nez.

Hi, Curlyben,
Very good site. Thank you for the post.
My own interent connection is the old telephone line dial-up, through a local ISP. It is not quite as important having a firewall if the computer is not connected all the time, as say with cable, etc.

The above info is also what is usually posted, to a degree, by another Expert, ScottGem, who frequents every computer website known to man.

Thanks again for the good informative site.
Best wishes,
fredg

Very good very good. I use earthlink for my ISP and yet have I had a virus for years though. I've had only three but that was 98 :D but it was java bugs, nothing much