testing a new desktop defence is not just about sitting inside a walled garden reading event logs and waiting for alerts...
All my computers now run Firefox browser except for this laptop, which runs Internet Explorer and has google search as its home page. I am sticking with Microsoft on this project because I am trialing their new antivirus / antispyware solution, which is called Microsoft Security Essentials. Today is day one for me - June 26 2009.
What is testing without taking a few risks.
I've already broken one rule by running two resident antivirus at the same time. I just could not go to the web without the tried and true resident avast antivirus and at the same time I am querying whether the new Microsoft solution (MSE) is an antivirus as we have come to understand the term. I could be wrong, of course, and I stand to get crunched if this trial all turns to custard.
On top of that I am leaving a door open for malware to come through, by running the ASK toolbar as a permanently active sound and video recorder - that is, I do not have to turn my recorder on at all, it runs 24/7 such that anything that I play on the web - video or audio - becomes automatically recorded. Testing should not be all hard work, it also helps if you have a bit of fun - as above, where I am recording a video by Last Town Chorus. The ASK toolbar is custom-build and is not used for search, which task is taken care of by having the google search box as my front page.
I've highlighted with a red rectangle the defence plan as it currently stands in my system tray. I have outlined below the various defence solutions and their purpose.
Personal firewall --- Outpost 2009
Virus detection and identification --- Microsoft Security Essentials
Resident antivirus --- avast antivirus
System Monitor --- Scotty on duty at WinPatrol
Keywords: mkis
