The best free security tools for Windows

Many times people ask me what are the essential tools to install in a new computer to improve the security. I usually install everything I can think of, but sometimes I might forget something, so this list of best free security tools might prove very valuable. Sergio Hernando started it and I’ll try to improve it a bit with some comments about each program.

These applications are free (some are open source, others are simply gratis) and will improve greatly the security of your computer. Anyways, they are not infallible so you must take basic measures to protect your computer besides using these tools.

I usually prefer using open-source tools, but sometimes there is no useful open-source equivalent in some category, so a closed-source option must be used. Anyway, I have always found a freeware option which fulfilled my needs, so you don’t need to pay anything to keep your computer secure.

Secure Navigation

• Firefox. The alternative browser built by the Mozilla Foundation. It has been getting a lot of attention lately and its usage is in the rise, with some studies saying it has a 10% market share. Download it at Firefox site.
• Opera. The third browser in the war. It’s one of the fastest browsers, with a really good security trail. Although it’s not open-source it has been free for some versions. Download it at Opera site.
• K-Meleon. Based on the Gecko engine, the same used by Firefox so it’s compatibility is really high, it’s built specially for Windows and is lighter than Firefox. Download it at K-Meleon site.

Secure E-mail

• Thunderbird. The companion to Firefox. It’s also built by the Mozilla Foundation based on the Gecko engine. It is open source and available for different platforms. What I like from it is the integration of S/MIME for secure e-mail, so I can check the identity of people who send me mails. Download it at Thunderbird site.
• GnuPG. The free alternative to PGP. Many people use this instead of S/MIME and certificates, so it’s a good tool to have. You can download it at GnuPG site. If you want integration with Thunderbird, there’s a plugin, Enigmail, which allows Thunderbird to access GnuPG features. You can download it at Enigmail site.

Antivirus

• Avast! Home Edition. Although I have never tried it, some colleagues say this is one of the best free antivirus, so I will trust them. It has real-time protection and firewall capabilities. You can donwload it at Avast! Home site.
• AVG Free Edition. This is the one I always install and it has worked really well for me. It includes a resident memory scanner and an e-mail scanner. It has versions for Windows and Linux. You can download it at Grisoft site.
• Clamwin. This is a Windows GUI for the ClamAV scanner engine, an open-source antivirus. It works greatly but it doesn’t have a resident module, only an scheduler for automatic scanning. You can download it at Clamwin site.

Malware detection

• Ad-Aware Personal. This is one of the most used malware detection tools, although it’s effectiveness has been questioned lately. You can download it at Lavasoft site.
• Spybot Search & Destroy. Although I don’t recommend to use two antivirus at the same time, doing it with two malware detection is a good choice. I always use these two detectors, Ad-Aware and Spybot. You can download the later at SpyBot site.
• Windows Defender. The detection tool provided by Microsoft. Although it is still in beta, many people have used it successfully and even in some tests has been rated as the best one. You can download it at Microsoft site.

Firewall

• Windows XP SP2. The last Windows XP Service Pack includes a firewall, although its functionality is pretty basic because it doesn’t control outbound connections. Anyway,  you can activate it if you don’t have anything else at hand.
• Zone Alarm. This is the one I most usually use because of its simplicity and powerness. It can block incoming and outcoming connections, giving access only to authorized programs. You can download it at Zone Alarm site.
• Kerio Personal Firewall. I have found that this gives more options and control to the user than Zone Alarm, so it might be better suited for advanced users. You can download it at Kerio site.

Various

• Updates. One of the best ways to keep our computer secure is update it when new security updates get out. Microsoft usually publishes them the second Tuesday of each month, so it’s a day to pay attention to it. If you want to get your computer up to date you can go to Windows Update. Another way to check your computer is Microsoft Security Baseline Analyzer which, apart from the updates needed, will scan for some common vulnerabilities like weak passwords.
• Password Safe. It’s not a good idea to use the same password everywhere, but with the quantity of passwords we have to remember it can be difficult to track them all. With Password Safe, you only need to remember a master password which will give you access to the rest, which can be really long and secure, as you don’t need to remember them. You can download it at Password Safe site. There is also an older version which works in Pocket PC.
• EruNT. This tool allows to make backup copies and restores of the Windows registry. This can come handy in case it corrupts. You can download it at EruNT site.
• Eraser. When you delete a file it doesn’t really disappear from the disk, it’s only is marked as deleted, but it can be recovered with some tools. To make sure the file is really unrecoverable you can use Eraser, which overwrites the file several times with random data. You can download it at Eraser site.

These are some of the basic tools which will help you to protect your computer and stay secure online. If you have any suggestion or any other tool you think I should add, don’t doubt to comment in this post.

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