2007 has been a busy year when it comes to computer security, with all kinds of threats aiming to be deployed on people's computers. Trojan horses, malware, viruses, spam and hack attacks, they have all joined their forces to break into our systems. Because of that, security companies from all over the world struggled to build new solutions or to update the existing ones, just to prove the consumers that, somewhere beyond these attacks, there's someone who can protect them.

Many people think that installing an antivirus application is enough to protect the computer, but it has been proved several times that a simple Trojan horse can easily invade your system and access your sensitive information. All they need is a software vulnerability, which could be used for connecting to the computer and executing a malicious file. From this point, it's all up to the attacker.

I guess we have all understood that an antivirus solution is not enough to defend a vulnerable system. So, what do we need to be sure that an unauthorized person is not able to compromise our system? Well, there are several applications that must be installed on a computer in order to be sure that there's no way to access the data: an antivirus application, an anti-spyware product, a firewall, a anti-spam filter and a secure browser. Easy as that!

As 2007 was one of those years full of threats, I've decided to present you some of the best applications in each category, many of them being rated by security experts as top products in their side of the industry. So, enjoy reading and check out the pictures attached under every application to see it in action.

Part One - Long Live the Antivirus Solutions!

Sophos Antivirus is one of the good guys on the security market. It has been rated as one of the most powerful and most efficient antivirus application ever created as it was able to detect and block an impressive percentage of unknown menace. It even managed to beat other top and famous companies such as Symantec, McAfee, Kaspersky or ESET. Discovering no less than 80 percent of the new infections included in the test, it's obvious that Sophos Antivirus would be one of those solutions able to defend your extremely important information.

The application includes lots of powerful features supposed to establish an unbreakable security system: auto-update in order to install the latest virus definitions, high-performance scanning and several configurations options. All of them are bundled into a Windows-like interface with intuitive options and menus to be able to be accessed by any type of computer user. Have a look at the following screenshots to see Sophos Antivirus in action.


Kasperksy Antivirus has always been regarded as one of the top antivirus products on the market as it includes excellent detection features providing a pretty smooth performance on most computer configurations. The application comes in several flavors for both individual computers and workstations, so it shouldn't be a problem to install it on your system. Even the security researchers admitted that Kaspersky Antivirus is pretty efficient when it comes to blocking computer infections. For example, Kaspersky Antivirus 7.0 achieved the highest certification in the latest AV-Comparatives tests which underline the efficiency of the application.

The program works quite easy as it comes with auto-update features, real-time protection, on-demand scan tasks, threats and exclusions and lots of configuration settings. Although some people think that Kaspersky Antivirus would need a faster scanning engine, the software is surely one of the most powerful antivirus utilities of 2007. Click on the below images for a closer look on Kaspersky Antivirus (please note that this is an older version of the application - Kaspersky Antivirus for Workstations 5.0.712).


Part Two - Firewalls Reloaded!

ZoneAlarm is an application currently installed on million of computers from all over the world, because it's pretty popular on the firewall market. Check Point, the developer of the application, described ZoneAlarm as "The best free firewall on the planet" and many users really believe it. "ZoneAlarm is FREE for individual and not-for-profit charitable entity use (excluding governmental entities and educational institutions)", is the phrase which attracts everyone's attention. This means you can use the application without any limitation as long as you install it on your home computer.

This firewall has all the features such a program needs: trusted and Internet zones, program control, anti-virus monitoring, email protection and online fraud protection. It comes with a pretty attractive interface which allows the consumers to control the running applications in no-time. Here is how the firewall looks inside.


Comodo Firewall is probably the most powerful ZoneAlarm rival as it is available for free and contains lots of powerful features which may help you protect your computer. As you can see, it comes with an eye-candy interface but in case you're not an advanced user, you may found it pretty difficult to use.

Network security policy, predefined firewall policies, attack detection settings, firewall behavior settings, network zones, stealth ports wizard and many, many other functions are all included in the Comodo Firewall application. The only thing I found annoying is the alert system which may disturb you every time you install/uninstall a new application on your computer. However, have a look at the following screenshots to see the program in action.


Part Three - Anti-spyware, Sweet Anti-spyware!

There have been so many threats this year that an anti-spyware technology is almost a "must have" for every computer user out there. And what's worse, only a few of them are able to block the threats before they are dropped on your computer. From this point of view, Windows Defender, the application that comes with the Windows operating system, might be pretty efficient if it's enabled and updated with the latest definitions.

Windows Defender works amazingly easy and scans your computer in a matter of seconds. As you can see in the next pictures, the Microsoft security solution allows you to scan your computer for spyware threats, but it is also able to analyze the running process to see if there's anything suspect in your system. The preferences menus are quite rich and provide lots of options for configuring the application. In addition, you get a history function which helps you track a certain suspect file found on the computer.


Part Four - That's It! Now I Need an Anti-Spam Filter!

Spam emails have always been a problem for everyone of us because unsolicited messages are continuously arriving in our inboxes. Experts even estimated that approximately 90 percent of the total email traffic is spam, which is pretty shocking if we think that millions of messages are sent every day in every corner of the world. From this point of view, an anti-spam filter is more than required as most unsolicited messages come with Trojans, phishing scams and malicious URL attempting to harm people's computers.

AntispamSniper seems to be the perfect solution for every computer user out there. Being developed by GoodVein, AntispamSniper comes in several flavors available for TheBat!, Outlook, Outlook Express and Windows Mail. 'Too bad this program doesn't work with Mozilla Thunderbird!' you may say. Well, this is the only major problem of the application because AntispamSniper works quite fine. Beside lots of filtering rules and statistics supposed to let you analyze the email traffic, AntispamSniper comes with an impressive attachment policy which enables to block malicious files from reaching your computer.

So, have a look at the following pictures and keep in mind that reporting the spam messages, ignoring them and avoiding downloading the suspect attachments can always help you protect the computer and avoid data looses, intruders and other security problems.


Part Five - How Safe Is Your Internet Explorer Browser?

It's well known the fact that Internet Explorer has been criticized for its weak security features and people abandoned it, looking for other programs. But even so, Microsoft's web-browser is still one of the top applications on this side of the market. The 7.0 flavor of Internet Explorer, which was also implemented into Windows Vista (the most secure version of the Microsoft operating system as the Redmond-based company likes to say) comes with lots of new goodies for the Internet consumers. But even so, some users still want another web-browser. So, which one would be the best replacement?

I guess everybody knows Firefox, the browser developed by Mozilla, which is always compared with Internet Explorer, numerous people considering it is way much secure than the Microsoft application. From this point of view, Firefox seems to be more powerful, but it also comes with several features that attract more and more users. For example, the Firefox users can customize their application with themes and extensions developed by other consumers, add-ons that can easily bring new features to the web-browser. The themes are supposed to change the interface, so they are always welcomed. Even if I'm sure you have already tried Firefox, here are some pictures with the application in action.


So, let's hope 2008 will be a safer year and all the security applications that will be released in the next few months will be able to prevent all the threats targeting our computer. Happy New Secure Year!