Lists of freeware security suites

From CastleCopsWiki

1. CyberDefenderFREE - http://www.cyberdefender.com/ ad-supported (non-intrusive banners in interface)
2. Spyware Terminator 2.0 Antispyware and Web Security Guard - http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2007/7/emw542634.htm
3. McAfee® VirusScan Plus – Special edition from AOL - http://safety.aol.com/isc/BasicSecurity/ 1 year only?
4. PCLive Security - http://www.pclive.com/products/pclive_security.php

These claims to be "suites" that provide various all-in-one protection, including antivirus, antispyware, anti-phishing , anti-spam, firewall, file cleaners etc (what is offered varies depending on package). The main advantage of using such suites as opposed to trying to combine various security programs is that conflicts are less likely to occur since they are supposed to work together. The disadvantage is that you often get a package where the quality of components is uneven, e.g some might have strong antivirus, but medicore firewall etc.

There are very few freeware security suites offered and most aren't very good. For example the antivirus in Spyware Terminator 2.0 Antispyware and Web Security Guard and PCLive Security come from the open source ClamAV which still isn't very good yet.

McAfee® VirusScan Plus – Special edition from AOL is probably the most promising if you are looking for all-in-one suites, but you can probably do better creating your own suite by choosing the best of the breed from each class of products.

Comodo is amassing a interesting range of free security products (firewall with HIPS, antivirus, antitrojan, bufferoverflow guard), in the future they are planning to combine them into a suite. But currently each component is still standalone. They include Comodo Firewall Pro v3(includes a behavior blocker), Comodo Anti-Viruspyware, Comodo BOclean, Comodo Memory Firewall etc

This article is part of the Lists of Freeware Security Software: Malware Control series.

Freeware Anti-Viruses | Freeware Anti-Spyware | Freeware Anti-Trojans | Freeware Anti-Keyloggers | Freeware Anti-Rootkits | Freeware Firewalls | Freeware Behavior blockers | Freeware Sandboxes | Freeware Virtualization | Freeware Security analysis tools | Freeware Hardening tools | Freeware Blocklists | Freeware security services (excluding virus scanners) | Freeware Anti-Phishing | Freeware URL scanners | freeware security suites | List of unclassified tools Related : Lists of online scanners

While reasonable attempts have been made to avoid the listing of any malicious or ineffective software, an entry listed here should not be taken as a mark of approval from CastleCops. The selection of freeware (see definition) here is more inclusive, to provide more experienced users scope for experimentation and not just the usual half dozen or so freeware security software that are often mentioned. While there are many gems in the list, some are in beta and unstable or require fair amounts of skill to use. Less experienced users should probably refer to Roll your own Free Security Suite for a shorter list of popular and safer freeware.

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