The WSN Security Baseline
A minimum of three products are necessary to give your PC
comprehensive protection against hackers. These are (1) a hardware firewall,
(2) a software security suite, and (3) a patch-management solution to stay
current with patches. We don't operate a test lab and don't rate products. Instead,
we summarize the top ratings of trusted reviewers.
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1. Hardware firewall.
Netgear's RangeMax 240 WPNT834 (left) boasts an Editor's Choice
from PC Magazine and high marks from other publications
as well. This pre-"n" router includes the WPA2 encryption standard and includes four
LAN ports in addition to wireless capabilities. Its price online is about $100 U.S. The separate
NetGear WPNT511 notebook adapter card ($85) is not required,
but is likely to improve speed and compatibility. If you're looking for an advanced router that supports the latest draft of the 802.11n wireless standard, PC Magazine has given another Editor's Choice to the Linksys Dual-Band Wireless-N Gigabit Router WRT600N. Note, however, that this hardware comes at a hefty price, with prices online ranging from $242 to $280 U.S. |
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2. Security suite.
Symantec Norton Internet Security 2008 (left, about $50 for three users) is currently the security suite with the most top awards from respected reviewers.
Like other products in this category, this suite includes a firewall, antivirus and antispyware software, as well as other OS and privacy-protection features.
It received an Editor's Choice from PC Magazine, with
PC World giving it the top score of 84 out of the eight products reviewed. For a less technical alternative, both PC Magazine and CNET have given an Editor's Choice designation to Symantec Norton 360 (about $80 U.S.). |
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3. Update management.
For novices, we continue to recommend the free Microsoft Update (which requires Internet Explorer) to update
Microsoft Office and a few other Microsoft products, as well as Windows itself. As before, we advise users to configure Microsoft Update to Notify
me but don't automatically download and install. Then, keep reading Windows Secrets to learn which updates might be risky or undesirable to install.
For businesses with solid IT experience, it's useful to have an independent tool for downloading and installing Windows patches and upgrades. Windows IT Pro recently gave its Editor's Choice to PatchLink Update, which costs $1,495 for a network server plus $18 annually per Windows machine. The same product received a Best Patch Management award from SC Magazine during its 2006 SC Awards Europe. The product gets especially high marks for networks that mix a variety of operating systems. For larger networks, WindowSecurity.com gave its recently updated gold rating to GFI LANguard Network Security Scanner ($575 for 32 machines). An excellent free service to help keep your system up to date is provided by Secunia.com. The online Secunia Software Inspector scans your system and displays a list of software (including the operating system) for which an update or patch that your PC needs is available. No installation or download is required, although you must have Java installed on your system. We recommend using this scan monthly. If you want an automatic reminder, click the reminder service link and provide your e-mail address to have Secunia notify you whenever a new update is released. If you download and install your own updates manually, you may be interested in the Software Patch, a Web site that makes Microsoft and non-Microsoft updates available in one easy-to-navigate site. For a discussion of the pros and cons of this and similar sites, see the Oct. 4, 2007, issue of Windows Secrets. —————— For non-U.S. sources of information on a product reviewed above, enter the model name into a search box at one of the following links: Canada / U.K. / Elsewhere |