Any good free security programs out there?

[nilecroc]

What are some good free security programs?

[dallen68]

What system?
Are you looking for anti-virus, firewall, mal-ware protection ...

[nilecroc]

What system?
Are you looking for anti-virus, firewall, mal-ware protection ...

Windows 7 64byt. antivirus/malware

[MrBogosity]

I'm in favor of a belt-suspenders model when it comes to Windows: Avast, Ad-Aware, Spybot S&D. That seems to take care of most of them.

Of course, the best defense is not to engage in risky behavior, like opening attachments or clicking links in emails.

[dallen68]

Windows 7 64byt. antivirus/malware

AVG, MS Security Essentials, and Avast are all considered... Well, about as good as you're going to get for free. Each has their (dis)advantages though, so which would be right for you depends on your preferences/circumstances/intentions.

If your just using the computer for webbing, and e-mail, and self-contained games and the like, SE is fine. It updates regularily, so there's very little hassle.

If your a hard-core online gamer, you might want to go AVG. It has a more aggressive anti-virus policy, but you have to manually update the list on the free version.

If you're trying to run a business, (ie you have information on the computer that might = money) ... actually go SE on that as well. Also, watch for the "spyware" standing behind you. 

[MrBogosity]

If your a hard-core online gamer, you might want to go AVG. It has a more aggressive anti-virus policy, but you have to manually update the list on the free version.

I got fed up with all of AVG's false positives. I need lots of video codecs on my computer to do my job, and AVG LOVES to call those trojans. It's also been known to block Bitcoin miners and other forms of cryptography.

[dallen68]

I got fed up with all of AVG's false positives. I need lots of video codecs on my computer to do my job, and AVG LOVES to call those trojans. It's also been known to block Bitcoin miners and other forms of cryptography.

Well, yeah. There is that.

[MrBogosity]

Of course, if you don't need any Windows programs that won't run under WINE, just get Linux and don't worry about it!

[nilecroc]

Of course, if you don't need any Windows programs that won't run under WINE, just get Linux and don't worry about it!

Don't video games require windows fir the most part? 

[MrBogosity]

Don't video games require windows fir the most part? 

Lots of them work under WINE or with PlayOnLinux. But yeah, if you want a guarantee, you need to stick with some flavor of Windows.