Webroot Internet Security Complete

Viruses come in many guises. One of the most common is the Trojan horse. Like its Homeric predecessor, Trojan horses are seemingly-benign invaders - they enter your system disguised as something other than what they are and then destroy or steal your personal information without your being aware of what's happening. Then there are the worms. Worms are malicious programs which replicate themselves and spread to your entire computer network, often resulting in its total breakdown.

One of the best Internet security precautions you can take against viruses is to swear an oath to never open an email attachment unless you're positive it's safe (e.g., from someone you trust). Beyond that, you need antivirus software. Some cost money, such as those supplied by Norton and McAfee. Others are free, like some of the programs offered for free download by Avast and AVG.

Anti-Adware and Anti-Spyware

Adware is software that causes those annoying and distracting pop-ups. Spyware is a little different. It grabs info off your computer and passes it onto its remote master. Both adware and spyware can ride piggyback on the free software you download, then latch onto your system files and corrupt them. These types of "malware" are nearly as bothersome as a virus, though they seldom do direct harm to your system. Your best defense against adware is anti-adware, such as AdAware. But more importantly is protecting your system against spyware, and to accomplish this, try ZoneAlarm Spyware. Needless to say, Norton and McCafee also supply anti-spyware.

Secure Web Browsing

For a more secure web browsing experience, it's a good idea to disable third party cookies that let the advertisers keep track of your system (in IE, click on Tools, then Internet Options, then Privacy).

Another simple yet effective methodology is to enable "warning text boxes" that will alert you if you are entering an unsecured connection (in IE, click on Tools, then Internet Options, then Security, then Custom Level). A couple useful add-ons to keep in mind are Ad- block, which prevents pop-ups, and No-script, which protects you from XSS attacks by allowing scripts to run only from the sites that are trusted by you.

The IE 1.7 browser comes with an extended validation certificate (EVC) that allows you to see SSL certificates of companies you are thinking of doing business with. This serves to enhance e-commerce security as a Web vendor has to undergo a certain amount of vetting to obtain their SSL certificate. This extensive validation of the vendor website at least provides some assurance that you are interacting with an authentic website and not a malware or a phishing website with fraudulent encrypted certificates. Incidentally, Firefox 3 and Google Chrome also come with EV certifications. So for safer browsing and assurance of best Internet security always shop using an EVC browser.

When it comes to the best Internet security software, picking just one product is a tough call, and actually impractical. More importantly, if your computer and personal details are to be properly protected, you will need to find an effective antivirus package, a firewall and an anti spyware program. The good news is that you can actually locate the very best products in each category, some of them absolutely free.