# [Guide] Make Your Own System Security Suite!!!!



## swatkat (Mar 24, 2005)

A System Security Suite is one which bundles all the required tools for complete System Protection, like AntiVirus, Firewall, AntiSpyware, File cleaners, Registry Cleaners etc. For example Norton Internet Security, System Mechanic etc.
I saw many posts asking which Security Suite is better, which is _lighter_, Which is the best free AV and some thing like that. One of the common replies was that Security suites were highly resource hungry and some of the best AVs are Bloatwares! And all of them are Commercial softwares and they cost a bomb!

How about making or rather _assembling_ your own Security Suite, which consists all the required tools? These tools in the _assembled_ Suite are very efficient and powerful. Moreover your Security Suite is completely FREE!
Read on.............


  *AntiVirus:-*

Well, Viruses need no introduction, do they? To battle them you need an AntiVirus!
AVG 7 Free AntiVirus, AntiVir and Avast are some of the few *full fledged free* AnitViruses.  Full fledged AV means that, it should at least have Real Time scanner, On Demand scanner, Mail scanner, Automatic Updates.
AVG, Avast and AntiVir satisfy all the above conditions and have good Virus detection, Features, and Quick updates and is also very light on resources. You don't have to worry about any Viruses, Worms or Trojans sneaking into your PC!


  *AntiSpyware:-*

Spywares, Adwares and Hijackers (collectively called as Malwares, short for Malicious Softwares) can do major damages to the system. Notorious malwares like CoolWebSearch, VX2 etc are very hard to remove and are not detected/completely removed by the AntiVirues. This calls in for a special dedicated tool, AntiSpyware!
AdAware and SpyBot SnD are very good AntiSpywares which have frequently updated large database of Malwares.

SpyBot SnD has one cool tool built into it called as _TeaTimer_, this TeaTimer monitors the System continuously and protects the System files and Registry from Malwares.
SpyBot SnD also adds a BHO to the Internet Explorer, by using this SpyBot blocks the _bad downloads_(like installation of ActiveX components, BHOs by Spywares without the knowledge of the user) automatically. These two softwares are a must have in every computer.
Windows XP users can also install MS AntiSpyware, which uses Giant's database, and has a pretty good detection rate.


  *Anti Trojan:-*

Not all Trojan Horses are detected by AntiVirues and AntiSpyware. So you should have softwares which specialize in the removal of Trojans. So called _BackDoor Trojans_ open your PC from the inside to attackers, which enables the person/website who sent the Trojan to monitor your PC. Even worse variant is so called _RATware_, short for _*R*emote *A*dministration *T*ool_, which enables a hacker to control your PC!
a2 Free is the best free Anti Trojan (and Anti Malware) software available. Currently a2 Free has a database of some 94,000 Trojans, Dialers, Worms and Spywares. And this will grow since it has frequent updates to database.
Antoher good AntiTrojan available for Free is Ewido Security Suite, this comes as 14 day trial after which special features are disabled and free, basic version can be used. It's better to have both the scanners.


  *Immunize!:-*

Above softwares detect and remove Virues and Malwares present in the PC, but they can not prevent them from sneaking into your system (except Real Time scanner of the AntiVirus to an extent).
SpywareBlaster *prevents the installation* of Malwares into system. SpywareBlaster need not be running in the background, but it's a _run once_ tool.
It's working principle can be described as follows, many Spywares, Hijackers which come through ActiveX components, make certain Registry entries called as CLSIDs. SpywareBlaster has a database of these _bad_ CLSIDs. When we run SpywareBlaster once, it sets the _Kill Bit_ of the _bad_ CLSID as 1, this means, the corresponding ActiveX component are never called by Internet Explorer, thus preventing it's execution. So this prevents the execution of these Spywares even though they are in the PC. This is something like Immunization!



  *Firewall*

There will be many virtual Ports in a computer. These ports are either open or closed. When the PC is connected to Internet, many Worms, Hackers scan for the open ports of PC connected, if they find an open port, they try to sneak in the System without the user's knowledge. _Popular attack of this type is SQL Slammer worm attack, known as HellKern_. You would never know what's happening in the background.
To prevent these port scanning and other malicious attacks, Firewalls should be installed.
Firewalls act as barrier between PC and Net, and filter the data that is being transmitted and received. Also, Firewalls block all the open ports so that port scanning will be unsuccessful.
A popular Free Firewall is ZoneAlarm, this is one critically acclaimed Firewall. ZoneAlarm is very light on System resources and it blocks each and every _baddies_ without failure!
Other good free Firewalls worth a try is Kerio Personal, Sygate Personal and OutPost Personal.



  *Clean that junk!*


After some time of PC usage, junk/temp files start to accumulate. This eats up space, and also functions as favorite hide out for viruses and malwares. So it's necessary to clean up the junk regularly. CleanUp! and CCleaner are very good Free cleaners available. They clean the every bit of junk in the system. Just run them before shutting down your PC or after disconnected from Internet to remove the junk.
Anther good junk cleaner is GLock Temp Cleaner, this along with cleaning junk files, has one extra feature that is it lists all the archives present in the System, and later we can delete the unwanted archives. 



  *Registry Cleaner:-*

If any Softwares are installed in a PC, it makes a Registry entry. Registry entries are also created by softwares to _remember_ the user's preferences like _"Recently opened files"_ etc. These entries should be theoretically removed when the specific software or file is removed. But, many a times this does not happen. This leads to the accumulation of large number of junk in the registry. This degrades the System performance. This is where Registry Cleaners come into picture.
RegCleaner is one of the best free Registry cleaners available. Apart from cleaning, it has plenty of other features like Startup information, File type Editing etc.


  *Miscellaneous Tools:-*

This is a list of free tools which perform some specialized tasks.  SpywareGuard is small real time bad download protection tool, which works in a similar manner of SpywareBlaster. This actively monitors Internet Explorer and blocks any malicious ActiveX Components, BHOs and Tracking Cookies.
MRUBlaster is a small tool from the house Javacoolsoftware which makes SpywareBlaster and SpywareGuard. This nifty utility scans the computer for MRU lists (Most Recently Used lists are the history kept by the applications or Windows itself like recently opened documents, search items, files opened etc). MRUBlaster can scan and remove up to 30000 different MRU entries.
McAfee Stinger  is an On demand virus remover which can detect and remove some 55 (and growing) common and dangerous Viruses , Trojans and their variants.


If you get all the above softwares, and use them regularly, then you are safe, well almost! All these softwares are completely free offering as much protection as their Commercial counterparts provide.
Finally our _own_ Security Suite consists of:-
 AntiVirus ---------- AVG or Avast or AntiVir
 Firewall------------- ZoneAlarm or Kerio or OutPost or Sygate
 AntiSpyware------- SpyBot SnD, AdAware and MS AntiSpyware
 AntiTrojan---------- a2 Free and Ewido
 Immunization------ SpywareBlaster
 Junk Cleaners------ CleanUp! and CCleaner
 Registry Cleaner--- RegCleaner
 Misc. Tools---------- SpywareGuard, MRUBlaster, McAfee Stinger

  *Alternate Browsers:-*


Since Internet Explorer has _many_ vulnerabilities, it's easy for malicious Websites to drop _baddies_ into the System. Main target areas are Plugins for IE, BHOs, ActiveX components, Toolbars for IE. Spywares/Trojans masquerade as above these Add-ons for IE, and can do their job effectively!
So, it's safer to switch to alternate browsers like FireFox and Opera. These browsers, by design do not support the above listed AddOns (Two reasons for that! One is they are MS Technologies and the second one is of course, Security!).
These browsers also offer many user friendly features like Tabbed Browsing, Inbuilt Downloader with Resume support, faster page loading etc.


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## digen (Mar 25, 2005)

Excellent review I must say.Good job mate.
You've managed it quite well there with your personal favourites along with a few alternatives cause it finally boils down to just one simple basic thing *personal choice * !!
I hope you continue adding more software to the list.Just my 2 cents.


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## khattam_ (Mar 25, 2005)

Really great man
But you forgot to mention the best Antispyware Ms-Antispyware with Real-Time protection........... And i don't think u need a anti trojan if you have a good AV (like Avast), Ms-Antispyware and Kerio Personel Firewall. 
Other programs are all what i use...............
Thanks for the article though. This post will help many and actually had i not seen it today, i was thiking of writing one.............


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## saROMan (Mar 25, 2005)

Thx a Lot for ur Tute..bro....very very useful.....

BTW khattam ...the Avatar of your was made by efforts of me and tarey_g ......least you can do is say a word of thx b4 start using it ..


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## {MaX} (Mar 25, 2005)

Great post!

BTW, khattam, did you know that MSAntispyware has already been bypassed by hackers.

Go to *www.bullguard.com and browse their archives to find out more.


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## khattam_ (Mar 25, 2005)

saROMan said:
			
		

> Thx a Lot for ur Tute..bro....very very useful.....
> 
> BTW khattam ...the Avatar of your was made by efforts of me and tarey_g ......least you can do is say a word of thx b4 start using it ..


Oh very sorry about that man. It was so good that  i couldn't even remember about thanking. Thanks man for such a great TUT and the avatar of course......................



			
				{MaX} said:
			
		

> BTW, khattam, did you know that MSAntispyware has already been bypassed by hackers.


I know. But, it is still in its beta version. And BTW, I think they have fixed it in the latest reloaded beta............ Update your program..............


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## lamrinnirmal (Mar 26, 2005)

@swatkat- dude can you suggest me a *free* firewall with which i can configure a home LAN connection without any hassels....i mean carrying out ICS, file and printer sharing without any problems.....ZONEalarm (free ver) does'nt allow this and kerio is always causing some vague abrupt problem.....


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## swatkat (Mar 26, 2005)

Try Sygate Personal Firewall or OutPost Free firewall, they are Free. As far as i know only 5 free firewalls are there, Zonealarm, Kerio, Sygate, OutPost, TinyFirewall...
*smb.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm
*www.agnitum.com/download/outpost1.html


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## enoonmai (Mar 26, 2005)

Absolutely great work, buddy! Two thumbs all the way up. Now if we could only get people to read it, wisen up and protect their systems.


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## dr.death (Mar 27, 2005)

excellent imust say


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## rajkumar_personal (Mar 27, 2005)

Amazing buddy !
I will try and complete all the requirements given here by tonight to have my PC running Securely.

BTW, It is a must see as well as implement for every1 who wants a secure PC

Millions of votes 2 you mate !
Keep up the Good Work.

But still, Is ZoneAlarm better than other Firewalls (I mean the likes of Norton Firewall) available in the market ?


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## swatkat (Mar 27, 2005)

Yes..ZoneAlarm is way better than any firewalls. You can go for it withou any doubt!


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## khattam_ (Mar 28, 2005)

Winpatrol 9.0 should also be included in the Security Suite. Its free.


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## khattam_ (Apr 20, 2005)

swatkat said:
			
		

> Try Sygate Personal Firewall or OutPost Free firewall, they are Free. As far as i know only 5 free firewalls are there, Zonealarm, Kerio, Sygate, OutPost, TinyFirewall...
> *smb.sygate.com/products/spf_standard.htm
> *www.agnitum.com/download/outpost1.html


Jetico personel Firewall is also a good freeware................


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## krishnathelord (Apr 21, 2005)

good job


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## GameAddict (Apr 21, 2005)

*Include these too!*

Hi,

Nice "all-in-one-place" info.! Also you may include tools like McAfee Stinger, Panda QuickRemover , Avast! Cleaner, CW Shredder and  <add your own>.

Life saving tools for Viruses/Trojans in the Wild!

Bye!

GA


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## hard_rock (Apr 21, 2005)

Hey Swatkat I already have this "SECURITY SUITE"
Missing ones are
a2free,
ccleanup,regcleaner(I use sysmechanic 4 this)
Thanx 4 tht trojan horse remover.
Nice info m8.


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## naveenpoddar (May 2, 2005)

simply great tutorial man.

  I think this tutorial  shud be list at the top of the QnA Forum as all Q's regarding internet security can be resolved by this single thread.


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## indrajit (May 8, 2005)

I think, to check for Trojans, Stinger is a tool worth mentioning.


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