Recently, through observation of others, I’ve become increasingly aware of how lucky I’ve been internet security wise. I’ve never had a major virus, I’ve never been shut off by my ISP, I’ve never been traced, hacked, attacked, etc. I will now knock on the nearest wooden object. Watching my employer deal with virus after virus and watching Lauren’s parents computer be completely controled by spyware apps, I’ve become increasing suspiscious of just about everything. Also, off-hand comments made at work lead me to believe that internet logs are being compiled and checked.

That’s why I’ve decided to compile a total package of applications to keep me safe, sound and completely annonymous. These are just a few programs I’ve been trying out on Lauren’s computer to see if they’re worth purchasing and/or using (since some of them are free). First up is McAfee Internet Security. Although I’m behind a hardware firewall already, it never hurts to have a little redundancy. Not so much for incoming traffic but for monitoring outgoing traffic easily. McAfee was feature on the Screen Savers this week and I have to say that I agree with the review. It’s a very very robust firewall with all of the features you could want.

Also, to be completely annoymous at work and at home, there’s always Anonymizer. This thing has gotten better reviews than just about anything I’ve ever seen. I haven’t had a chance to try it out but it’s seems like an interesting idea. It has both an install version and a plugin version that you can activate whenever you need it. So, essentially, you can install it at home and also run it, google-bar style, at work if need be.

There’s also a whole host of things that I already run which I will continue to do so. WinPatrol, AdAware, SpyBot, Windows Washer and Proxomitron. Those should be enough to take care of just about anything you run into.

I’ll link those later.

Anyway, I don’t really know why I’m making this update, I just kind of felt like it. I’m going to go watch some Tech TV and eat some dinner. Probably in that order. Later.

Matt out.