Holla all, I thought I would start this thread to find out how others secure their system and hopefully help out others in reinforcing the armour of their rig with recommendations and advice on best policy for being secure and private and to hopefully open a dialogue that will see everyone a little bit more safe and secure.
I myself personally run a wide array of measures.
System:
DEP (Data Execution Prevent) - https://support.microsoft.com/kb/875352
I use Private internet access when I want my connection to be secure, and HTTPS Everywhere.
I do not use any antivirus type of programs, I don't really go to shady websites so never really get any problems. In the event I get any issues I just reformat the system which doesn't take long. TBH i never get any issues and if I ever do, it is about time for a refresh then anyway.
I forgot to add that I'm running PIA as well, WELL worth forking out for a VPN,
But for me the most important facet for PC security above all else is not AV, Malware scanners etc etc, it is COMMON SENSE, all the firewalling anti mal/spyware programs and AV programs will not save you if you reply to the nigerian princes email with all your CC details, or the hot russian looking for a husband/wife.
For the firefox users there is a add-on called ZenMate Security & Privacy VPN. its a free VPN add-on although your real IP is detected when using flash player so thats a concern for some. Can someone recommend a free VPN that can stop my real IP address from being detected through flash?
I can't say 100% I know for all certainty that they actually improve the security much the same as those of Faith can 100% prove the existence of their deity or the Mac acolytes of the non-existence of Malware on their machines/OS.
But in the years and years of using PC's the occurence of any Virus or Malware on my machines is like hens teeth. Most probably due to my common sense as stated above. And even if said programs in OP only offer a modicum of protection and not the BFG, those who wish to hack and infect a machine look at mine compared to someone who's system is so open to exploit that script kiddies could do it with their eyes shut they would rather attack the exploitable machine.
Regardless of the effectiveness of AV/Malware programs I see them more of a preventative measure, much like a "beware of the dog" sign.
There's no reason to have any additional security measures under Windows: common sense is the only one that matters. If you don't have one, no matter how many tools you use, your PC will be compromised.
Antiviruses are especially useless: their actual detection rates are abhorrent and the only thing you can expect them to do reliably is spy on you.
I'll reserve this post to remind me about it later today. I'll end up ranting about anti-virus programs and what you should do instead of using using a babysitting program.
I couldn't afford to reformat the system every time i get some problem. I have around 80 programs installed on my machine plus 20 games or so. Then I have some registry edits which are pain to get working right. Not to mention I constantly have projects to work on during my university time. If i were to reformat my windows It would take me forever to get everything back to the original state.
I'm running the same install of Win 7 for 3 years now. I don't have any major problems but no matter what i do, the performance of my SSD is degrading. I may have to move to RAID-0 or something like that.
Then I have AVG free edition. But i don't like it too much. It keeps flagging my crack tools and key generators as viruses.
For spyware I have Spybot Search&Destroy v2.4 - It keeps finding the same exploits after each system scan. The immunisation doesn't work properly. I may have to move back to v1.6
And on top of that I have PIA VPN. That Cyberarms IDDS looks interesting. But I have no clue how to use it.
I think the the only realistic way to use Windows securely is to disconnect from the internet. Windows is full of holes and backdoors that people are desperately trying to close but will never fully succeed in doing so.