What Should I Pay for My Security Toolbox?

Security problems on your computer are not your fault. So you shouldn't have pay to protect yourself. However, sometimes the responsible parties, such as your Internet provider, the software publishers, and Microsoft, fail miserably to protect you. So you have to take it upon yourself to make sure your computer, the assets on it, and your digital life is as secure as it can be.

These programs I recommend in this book are every bit as good as the payware products marketed to you. The freebies are by no means premium products and so some conveniences are not included.

If you come across payware that you like the feel of, that you learn to trust, and that makes you feel more confident than freeware, by all means pay for the software and use it.

Sometimes it's worth buying the extra-strength, coated painkillers, right? It's better than the chalky, slow-acting, and bitter tablets. But both kinds do the job. So it is with security software. Sometimes it's worth the money to get software that's a little more palatable.

So what should you pay? Usually not more than $50 per software title. Antivirus programs run $30$50 per year (see Figure 11.3). Anti-spyware products seem to float around $30 per year. You're paying annually for the ongoing signature updates. Software firewalls and anti-spam programs are sometimes treated like services and run $30 per year or thereabouts.

Figure 11.3. Big-brand antivirus payware runs around $30 to $50 on Amazon.com, which includes one year of updates and virus signatures.

Buyer Beware: How to Avoid Bad Software Products

If you decide to buy software for your security needs, here are a few tips to help you buy the right program for your needs:

• Before buying, go to the publisher's website and look at the support area to see what problems have been posted. Also look at the support forums, if available, to see what other users are saying.

• Search for reviews of the software on the Internet and read a few. No one reviewer will have it all right. Look for a consensus.

• Use the trialware version for 30 days, if available. Most anti-spyware and antivirus programs have 30-day trials.

• If it's free, read the end user license agreement. It's boring as haddock, but the publisher will sometimes reveal advertising, adware, or spyware clauses.

• New software always has problems. It usually takes a publisher three to six months to post fixes to their software after it is initially released.

• If you want to be conservative, buy only mature software that's has reached version 3. Microsoft is famous for getting it right by the third time around, although I am not sure what happened with Windows XP.

• Newsgroups and user forums are also great places to get unbiased feedback on software.