About antivirus station to prices ...

[Korben Dallas]

Exactly, could you explain what must be done not to be default, but with a configuration a little safer?
And as you seem (and the song) to know you could not give us a little lesson on virtual firewalls and subject to how interesting, the firewall built into the WIFI modem and or ADSL ?

To not be a default administrator, you must create (with the administrator account) another simple user account, and limit the rights in the management of this account. It will not be able to install anything, will not be able to delete system files, will not be able to access other users' files, etc.

I do not pretend to know about virtual firewall. I know IPTable on Linux, virtual firewall which is quite inaccessible for snags at the click of the mouse. There are some graphical utilities under Linux that allow you to correctly configure a firewall. On Windows, it's been a long time since I've taken care of it. I used Zone Alarm, free (but not free). It was not bad.

I rather trust a hardware firewall like the ones found in commercial routers. Some Boxes have some that seem quite effective.

To test its security, I found an old site that explains how to do it. I do not know if the links are still good ...
http://www.futura-sciences.com/fr/sinformer/actualites/news/t/high-tech-4/d/tester-sa-securite-cest-facile_344/

[chatelot16]

confirm or contradict me if I am wrong: but it seems to me that with unix or linux important files are only editable when a root session is open no programe or virus can not do anything without knowing the password root

with windows we can define users and password but it only limits the actions of the users: a program or a virus can do quite easily what it wants in all the machine

[Rulian]

confirm or contradict me if I am wrong: but it seems to me that with unix or linux important files are only editable when a root session is open no programe or virus can not do anything without knowing the password root

That's it. Any program can only run (except system files) with the rights associated with the current session. A typical user does not have the rights to touch system files, so a virus caught during his session will not have these rights either. Hence the strong security of Unix / Linux systems. But if you spend your time connected in root, it works more and it is the party for the virus that passes by there. It is a basic rule not to work in root (except maintenance).

with windows we can define users and passwords but it only limits the actions of the users: a program or a virus can do quite easily what it wants in all the machine

I do not know anything about it. Anyway my win (for games ) is forbidden from web. It strongly limits the risks.

[Matt113]

If you create a limited account under windows, everything that is run from this account is limited too. A limited account under Windows does not even allow to install a Messenger Update for example. Must be an administrator.

And you can add / remove / modify actions that can be done by a user / group. But hey it is more used in business. As in Linux in fact, the concern is that it is not used for "family" PCs.

[Korben Dallas]

And you can add / remove / modify actions that can be done by a user / group. But hey it is more used in business. As in Linux in fact, the concern is that it is not used for "family" PCs.

Almost: the serious Linux distributions do not allow to log in graphical mode as administrator. This significantly reduces the risk of mishandling: typing a command requires more analysis than accidentally clicking with a mouse.
It is true that if the security was properly managed by Windows users, the risk of being infected by a virus is quite low (but it exists, it justifies an anti-virus in the background).

[Matt113]

It is true that if the security was properly managed by Windows users, the risk of being infected by a virus is quite low (but it exists, it justifies an anti-virus in the background).

I agree, well configure his machine does not necessarily do without an anti virus, especially with some viruses that use windows vulnerabilities and allow to execute code when precisely it should not be able. Just for that too, you must have a windows properly updated.