Different Approaches to Protection
Every person who owns or uses a personal computer should take steps to avoid the heartbreak of being hacked. There are basically three tools that should be a first step toward defending your computer. These three pieces look at your system and remove or prevent bad acts from occurring. Required programs are firewalls, anti-virus protection and spyware removal tools.
Three different approaches can be taken to acquire the necessary tools. The first is to simply buy an all-in-one package which includes all three products from a single vendor. Among the advantages are the package may cost less than the individual components, you can load the entire suite of programs in one pass, the software works well together, and you only have one vendor to deal with should you have a problem.
Disadvantages of this strategy include a single-minded way of looking at the potential threats (sometimes hackers can skeak around this methodology), and should you find that you don’t like one piece of the product, you will then have to find a replacement that works with your existing parts.
The second approach is to buy what you consider to be the best product for each threat. The advantages of this approach include the ability to include some software that is free, and that you can have the best defense available at the time.
Disadvantages are: it is usually more expensive, it takes multiple installs, and some of the software may not run with other types of software (incompatibility).
The third line of attack is to load up on free software. The largest advantage is cost. Disadvantages are many in that tech support is often unavailable, many of the products will not work together (each thinks the other is a virus), and for-profit companies tend to update the freebie last leaving customers exposed in the mean time.
Great products are available, even in the free category, but the customer should be aware of the pitfalls before jumping head first into the installs. I’ve found that the adage: “You get what you pay for” can apply to protection software. The major players all sell packages and individual pieces so the customer has more choice.
Three different approaches can be taken to acquire the necessary tools. The first is to simply buy an all-in-one package which includes all three products from a single vendor. Among the advantages are the package may cost less than the individual components, you can load the entire suite of programs in one pass, the software works well together, and you only have one vendor to deal with should you have a problem.
Disadvantages of this strategy include a single-minded way of looking at the potential threats (sometimes hackers can skeak around this methodology), and should you find that you don’t like one piece of the product, you will then have to find a replacement that works with your existing parts.
The second approach is to buy what you consider to be the best product for each threat. The advantages of this approach include the ability to include some software that is free, and that you can have the best defense available at the time.
Disadvantages are: it is usually more expensive, it takes multiple installs, and some of the software may not run with other types of software (incompatibility).
The third line of attack is to load up on free software. The largest advantage is cost. Disadvantages are many in that tech support is often unavailable, many of the products will not work together (each thinks the other is a virus), and for-profit companies tend to update the freebie last leaving customers exposed in the mean time.
Great products are available, even in the free category, but the customer should be aware of the pitfalls before jumping head first into the installs. I’ve found that the adage: “You get what you pay for” can apply to protection software. The major players all sell packages and individual pieces so the customer has more choice.
posted by skgroner | 9:35 AM
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