Microsoft Security Essentials is arguably the best free computer security tool. I looked at the free antivirus application in October and found it ticked all the important boxes.

It works well, it imposes hardly any overhead and the price is right. Yet as Simon Sharwood says at SearchSecurity, the lack of interest in Security Essential has Microsoft scratching its head.

Moreover, Sharwood asked security specialist Symantec what effect the Microsoft package had on its sales. “None at all” was the reply.

It seems Microsoft has a great security package, but the company can't give it away.

Microsoft can’t give away better security :: SearchSecurity.com.au

At first sight F-Secure's Health Check 2.0 seems a useful addition to a PC owners' box of troubleshooting tricks. It is OK, but it is nothing to get excited about.

The online application is a Java program. Itworks with Firefox or Microsoft Internet Explorer to check a computer's security status then reports on potential risks.

On the plus side it is free, quick and simple to use. The code loads directly from the Health Check web page and after the fuss of accepting terms and conditions it takes next to no time to download even on my erratic broadband connection. I clocked the first download at seven seconds.

Once leaded the software steps through a familiar wizard-style process with four stages. The first stage is automatic. It checks you have anti-virus, anti-spyware and a firewall installed and up-to-date.

The 'next' button moves things along to stage two which investigates back-up – we'll look closer at this in a moment. Stage three checks key programs are up-to-date. The last stage is a summary screen with links to 'solutions' to identified problems.

Even if everything was perfectly hunky-dory, which it isn't, PC Health Check 2.0 is of limited use.

For a start alternatives do the same job either as well or better. For example, Secunia offers the free Online Software Inspector and the more complete downloadable Secunia Personal Software Inspector.

But my big problem with Health Check 2.0 is it is mainly a crude promotional device for F-Secure's products and services. It's compromised by its commercial function.

My computer failed the second stage back-up test. The software told me it didn't find any back-up. This is wrong. There are three back-up applications on my computer. I back up regularly to an external disk and to a server.

When I clicked on the Health Check 2.0 'solve' button to troubleshoot the 'problem' found by the software it told me I could protect my "valuable content" with F-Secure Online Backup. And gave a link to the F-Secure store.

I live in New Zealand. My computer has almost a terabyte of data. I'm theoretically on an unlimited broadband plan, but with shaped bandwidth for almost the entire working day. In other words, online back-up isn't realistic. And yet PC Health Check tells me it is.

If the application gets this advice wrong – what use is the rest of its information?

Lastly, when the program finishes, there's the opportunity to register an email address with F-Secure. Now why would I want to do that?

For an alternative view see F-Secure refreshes online PC Health Check by Stephen Withers at iTWire. His found other shortcomings, but reached a similar conclusion.

Panda Cloud Antivirus is hard to beat when it comes to free PC security.

Unlike other security tools, Panda does most of its work in the cloud – it is software-as-a-service. Panda sends data about dangerous looking files to its servers for closer inspection.

Because your computer doesn't do the hard work, Panda imposes almost no overhead.

When I benchmarked my PC there was no performance difference between the system running the software and having the software switched off. If there's a network overhead, I couldn't measure it.

Panda's other big advantage is the malware checking database is always up-to-date. There are no signature files to download.

One issue I have with Panda is the program is so trouble-free, it is easy to forget. You barely notice it. I previously described Microsoft's Security Essentials as "barely there" – Panda Cloud is even less noticeable.

Panda is better than other free anti-virus products at trapping malware. I previously ran it for a month without any issues and have run it for the past three or four days with no ill effects.

I'd say it is the most promising free anti-virus application on offer. At some point the developers will need to make some money. I'll be interesting to see how. For now, this is possibly the best free choice.

Of course, you may prefer not to leave your computer's protection in the hands of free software makers.

I can't tell you if AVG Free 9.0 offers decent PC security. That's because the application was so annoying and imposed such an overhead on my computer I deleted it before testing finished.

There are times when free is too high a price.

AVG Anti-Virus Free 9.0 is still only two weeks old. It arrived about the same time as Windows 7 and is compatible with Microsoft's new operation system.

I downloaded the file in late October to test on my computer running Windows 7 release candidate version. The program is available at AVG's free web site – but as I'll explain in a moment, I don't recommend it.

It is only a small download at 869Kb – it takes seconds with broadband. The first file is a downloader which fetches and installs the rest of the software.

The process is easy enough. Yet the second screen you see is only the start of what becomes an annoying and shrill sales pitch designed to control your choices and trick you in to paying money. It appears AVG has learnt from the scam artists the software promises to protect you from.

Flakiness abounds

Your first choice is to select either free basic protection or a 30-day trial of the company's comprehensive protection.

The implication is responsible people will choose the second option – which means in 30 days AVG will ask you for money. Don't worry – you'll get plenty more opportunities to pay AVG if you choose not to do so at this point.

I thought I was downloading the free software – that's what I clicked on at the AVG web site – so that's what I proceeded with.

During the download AVG asks you to remove existing anti-virus software. This makes sense, anti-virus applications can conflict with each other and anyway, as each program imposes an overhead, the performance drop can multiply.

Annoyingly AVG doesn't remove the other software. It  halts and opens the Windows uninstaller so you can manually remove it. Even more annoyingly, the AVG installer closes itself at this point – you need to hunt around in your download folder to find it and start all over again – by now many megabytes have been wiped off your download cap.

Click, click, bloody click

There's a lot of clicking throughout this process – some of it unnecessary. Then it asks if you wish to install the AVG Security Toolbar.

The software has also helpfully pre-selected the option to change your default search engine to Yahoo. This is spam – of a sort. In both cases I choose No.

It is tricky – if you click off the first box, the Yahoo box stays ticked but grayed out. This can only be designed to trick you into selecting the search engine choice.

At this point the installer had to close Firefox. Not wanting to be sent all the way back to the start like that horrible long snake at the end of a game of Snakes and Ladders, I clicked to close Firefox held my breath. Phew. The install resumes.

We are now 40 minutes into the process. Even at minimum wage rate this free anti-virus program has cost me the price of lunch and a clutch of grey hairs.

Finally

Suddenly the process is over. A box appears telling me the install has finished. But wait, what is this?

More stuff to click.

Do I agree to give anonymous information? Oh alright then. And now would I like to receive spam? (Sorry news and alerts). Please enter your email address. Are you kidding? No.

While AVG starts its first scan. I reload Firefox. In the meantime I notice the program has installed an icon on my Windows desktop. Did I ask for this? No I damn well did not. AVG asks tons of questions during the install – but doesn't allow me to choose whether the icon despoils my desktop. At this point I'm starting to get angry.

Not responding

Meanwhile Firefox is failing to load. What's going on here? There was a string of open tabs – none of them are visible. Windows tells me Firefox is "not responding".

Eventually – more than an hour after the first download, Firefox opens. And what's this? AVG has installed AVG Safe Search. Is this the toolbar I choose not to install? The name is different, so let's assume it isn't the same thing. I wasn't warned or asked about it, but hey, let's go with the flow for a moment.  So, Firefox opens at the home page – my tags are all lost.

AVG is now scanning my computer looking for viruses. I open up the scanner's display and see what looks like a banner ad for the paid for software at the bottom of the screen.  Fair enough, the software was free and these people have to eat. I can accept advertising as the price to pay for free anti-virus.

But it has to go

Before long my computer started crashing, randomly. And things started being very s l o w   l i ke  w a d i n g t h r o u g h m o l a s s e s. There could be only one explanation for this. I removed AVG, reinstalled Microsoft Security Essentials and performance returned to normal.

Of course, you mileage may vary. AVG may rock your boat. But for me it has proved so disastrous I couldn't even test its efficiency as an anti-virus tool. I give it zero stars out of five.

Symantec's SMB director for the Pacific Region Steve Martin says crooks duped millions of customers into buying fake security software products. And the middlemen peddling the dodgy wares have grown fat on the proceeds.

At best the programs do nothing to protect computers from viruses and other threats. However, some of the fraudulent applications on offer contain malicious code which can give crooks access to data or worse.

Martin warns the companies selling these programs online have a plausible-sounding sales pitch. In some cases they place advertising with Google and other ad networks. But more often visitors to web sites stumble across pop-ups delivering what looks like a legitimate message telling people their web site security needs updating.

Perhaps the most frightening aspect of the scam is the way people are lead to a safe-looking payment page asking for credit card and other details. Many unwitting consumers who have handed over these details find their private information is then passed on to other crooks who can extract more money from their accounts.

Symantec's warning stems from an internally produced study report on rogue computer software.

Eight office extras every small business needs:

Broadband Internet

Even if your business is in a backwater left behind by the telecommunications revolution there’s no excuse not to swap your dial-up connection for a fast link to the Internet. You’ll probably need an ADSL or Cable modem. These are usually included in the start-up kits offered by ISPs.

If you can't get conventional broadband choose a wireless, satellite service or a 3G mobile phone.

Security software

The moment your computer connects to the Internet, it is open to attack by viruses, hackers and other online nasties. Buy an all-in-one suite of security software that includes antivirus tools and a firewall.

Some packages also have spam filtering software and other security applications. There are free packages, but they can be troublesome.

See also:

Computer security: Introduction
Computer security: What are the main threats?
Computer security: Defensive software
Computer security: How to buy security tools
Computer security: What to buy or download for free

Web Presence

If you sell products or services in the real world, even a modest web site will help you sell online – create an online brochure to promote your business. You don’t need to be a technical expert to set up a simple site, some ISPs include free Internet hosting with their accounts. Otherwise you can choose one of the free online web hosts to get started.

Phone Answering

A missed call is a missed opportunity – avoid losing business by installing a phone answering machine or signing up for voicemail. Alternatively forward your business calls to your mobile or home number when the office is empty. You do have a mobile phone, don't you?

Book-keeping or accounting software

Don’t wait until you visit the accountant to know whether you’re making a dollar. There are low-cost packages from companies like MYOB and Quicken that will allow you to create invoices, fill out tax forms and track the flow of money through your business – some are even simple to use. Alternatively choose an online service like Xero.

Reliable Power Supply

While mains electricity is usually reliable and safe, there are times when it can damage sensitive electronic equipment. Invest in anti-surge devices that prevent power spikes from wrecking your hardware. Better still, get an uninterrupted power supply so you can save important files and conduct an orderly computer shut down when there’s a power outage.

Back-up important data and store it off-line

Sooner or later your computers will fail so make regular copies of all important documents and keep them away from your office in case of fire. It may also pay to have two or three external hard drives to keep multiple back-ups. Make sure you get decent software to automate your back-ups.

Paper Shredder

A lot of important documents arrive at your business on sheets of paper. Eventually you’ll want to get rid of some of them, but crooks have been known to dive through waste bins in the hope of gleaning valuable information to help them commit fraud. Get a shredder and destroy every document before throwing them out.

Better still, get a scanner and make electronic copies of every document that comes through your business.

Norton Internet Security has been my main PC protection in recent years. I've a few minor criticisms, but for the most part it has done a good job guarding my desktop, laptop and my wife's laptop. The computers run Windows XP and Vista.

One problem worth mentioning is PC performance drops a few percent while the program is running – which is all the time. A small performance hit really doesn't matter when I'm surfing the web or using Microsoft Word. It is noticeable when there's heavy-duty video, audio or Photoshop processing.

Earlier this year I switched from Microsoft Windows Vista to Windows 7 RC. The new operating system performs better than Vista on my machine. It appears stable enough to for everyday use. It is everything Windows Vista was not, but it doesn’t work with some popular anti-virus packages.

Beta problems with Norton

My copy of Symantec Norton Internet Security didn’t work with Windows 7. So I tried a beta version of an updated version for the new operation system.

I promptly ran into major problems with the beta version of Symantec Norton Internet Security 2010. There are great features, but the performance overhead is huge.

It’s also flaky around the edges. Of course, the software is beta and Symantec made no promises about performance. But the system crashed two or three times a day.

There were also installation problems. Sadly this isn’t a one-off pain, the software repeatedly timed out. Each time this happens you need to download and install a new version. In fact there were times – many times when the older version timed out before a new build was ready and the PC was left vulnerable for days at a time.

The beta appears to be the only version of Norton Internet Security that runs properly on Windows 7, so I needed to find an alternative security package. For details read the next story:
Alternatives to Norton Internet Security

Even IT professionals are confused about Web 2.0.

In IT professionals confused about Web 2.0 Angela Moscaritolo writes only 17 percent of respondents could correctly identify all the items in the survey considered as Web 2.0. For example, she notes only half recognised video upload sites as Web 2.0.

From Secure Computing Magazine’s point of view, the implication is this lack of knowledge means IT managers will be unable to recognise and guard against Web 2.0 security threats. From a business point of view it also means companies are not in position to take advantage of the technology’s benefits.