Internet Security Suites

In my first post, I pointed out that I don't prefer the all-in-one internet security suites everyone wants to sell you:

"There are internet security suites available that provide anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall and pop-up blockers in a single product. While this may seem like an easy solution, it doesn't seem to be the best solution. I have never used security suites, but there is a lot of bad press on them and I can understand why. Typically a vendor makes a name for themselves on a single product like Symantec (Norton) and McAfee did with their anti-virus products. Once they are a success, the vendor tries to expand their product line using the brand name to create sales. The expansion products are rarely as good as the original product, so I tend to stick with single products from each vendor. I'm not saying you should never purchase a suite, but research them before making a decision. Also, I can always find single freeware applications that do a good enough job without spending my money!"

So I was happy to discover a respected Windows guru agreed with me. Scot Finnie has been around for years and just completed a year and a half long evaluation of firewalls. In his post he states:

"The impetus for this review came after more than a decade of using and reviewing multifaceted, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink security suites such as Norton Internet Security. When I kicked that habit, I looked around for something better and realized that most mainstream computer publications were for the most part reviewing only the big-name, large-footprint products. It was clear to me that there was a better way that involved selecting a small set of best-of-breed security products that work well together. So my first determination was that fat security-suite products need not apply. Many of the other gating criteria spring from that decision."

Well, I've always had that conviction, but still it's nice to have that validated by a heavyweight in the industry. I still don't believe you need to pay for them when plenty of free programs exist to do the job.

In case you're wondering, I tried the Comodo firewall a little over a year ago and it was a disaster. It basically rendered my computer inoperable and since I was not having problems with ZoneAlarm, I immediately switched back. I have not tested the Online Armor firewall and see no reason to at this point. ZA still works for me and it is the devil I know instead of the one I don't!