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Protect Your PC

From dangerous new viruses to stealthy software, the assaults on your computer just keep coming. Who's in charge here? You--with these 26 well-tested tools.

Robert Luhn and Scott Spanbauer

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Symantec NORTON INTERNET SECURITY 2002 95/98/NT/W2K/WME/XP

Network Associates MCAFEE INTERNET SECURITY 4 WIN95/98/WME/NT/W2K (Network Associates-MIS0001NA400)

Netgear FR318NA CABLE/DSL ROUTER WITH 8-PORT SWITCH (NetGear Inc.-FR318NA)

Linksys by Cisco EtherFast Cable/DSL Router With 4 10/100 Switched Ports (Linksys-BEFSR41)

Your home is your castle, and your virtual home--your PC--should feel just as secure. However, protecting both requires vigilance against a multitude of intruders ranging from the merely annoying to the truly dangerous. Just as you must guard against miscreants breaking into your house or office to vandalize and plunder it, you must repel viruses and hackers trying to slip into your PC to wreak havoc and filch valuable personal or company data. And just as telemarketers can disturb your dinner, stealthware-laden downloads and endless spam e-mail can ruin your appetite for going online.

You can protect your PC as you do your home or office, with a combination of strategy and the right tools. In this article we report on the dangers threatening your system and recap the results of our extensive performance testing and hands-on evaluations. Our findings will help you choose the best utilities for your PC-protection tool kit: antivirus, firewall, and antistealthware programs that lock out intruders; and antispam software and services that deflect the slings and arrows of outrageous e-mail marketing tactics.

Robert Luhn is a California-based freelance writer. Scott Spanbauer is a PC World contributing editor. Dr. Andreas Marx of the University of Magdeburg directed antivirus and firewall testing. Special thanks to Sarah Gordon of the WildList Organization International and Steve Gibson of Gibson Research.

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