The Most Essential Security Software For Windows That Every Tech-Savvy Person Must Have

Ah, computers, smartphones, and most recently, automated cars. These are all the beautiful fruit that our investment in technology and science has borne. But not every fruit from the same tree will always be good. While technology undoubtedly helps make us more productive, and our lives more convenient, we run the risk of laziness and over-dependence on our tech.

But that isn’t the worst of it. Technology, at its very core, is a tool, and like all tools it can be used to build or to destroy. The sad truth is that technology, too, has become a tool through which criminals prey on their fellow men. We are our own worst enemy, after all.

And no, it’s not something that isn’t going to harm people. Technology in the wrong hands is capable of harming entire companies and entire nations. These biggest cybersecurity breaches of all time should put a real perspective on the scale of how bad things can get and how effectively criminals are able to use technology.

But do not despair. These are the most effective and most essential security programs that you can use in order to prevent cybersecurity breaches to your system.

AVG Anti-Virus

This is the most basic of anti-malware software that you need to have on your computer. It’s free, but that shouldn’t deceive you into thinking that it’s substandard. AVG Anti-Virus does automatic daily updates, real-time virus scans, email scanning (both inbound and outbound), cookie cleaner (which removes malicious tracking cookies), and so much more. You can think of this as your castle walls, your main defense against foreign invaders.

Spyware Terminator

Spyware comes in many forms but is generally defined as any software that installs itself on your computer without the user’s knowledge. While it may be generally considered harmless, it’s definitely deemed dangerous.

Let me explain. Spyware may not necessarily have the purpose of causing direct harm to the system it’s installed on, however it’s dangerous in the fact that it can be used to violate the user’s privacy and that it has the potential to be abused.

Spyware Terminator has a “real-time shield” that runs silently in the background of your system and is one of the best countermeasures to spyware. No corporate computer should be without this program.

No Script

The majority of malware comes from the Internet. And how do we access the Internet? What portal do we use? Through our browser, of course. Cyber criminals recognize this and they lay traps all over the Internet across many websites. These traps come in the form of self-executing scripts that run on JavaScript, Java, and Flash.

No Script is a Firefox extension that prevents these self-executing scripts from even opening and thus averting disaster.

Lastpass

Another threat to online security is when we recycle passwords for every site we log onto. While there isn’t a solution to preventing criminals from guessing your password, there’s at least an added layer of security and convenience in Lastpass, which stores all the different passwords you have to your various accounts in an encrypted database. You only need to remember one password — your Lastpass password.