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From Tony Bradley, CISSP-ISSAP, Former About.com Guide to Network Security

Free Software for Computer and Network Security

Thursday June 11, 2009
Free is almost always a good thing. Sometimes you get what you pay for, but the price is right. With a global economic recession, free is more of a necessity than a luxury for many people today. You can create your own stimulus plan and get your budget back on track by looking for free tools and utilities to help you protect and secure your computer and network. This categorized list contains links to a wide variety of free computer security software.

There is also a section for readers to respond with their feedback. Have you used some of these tools? Tell us what you liked and which ones you would never use again. Are there tools you use that aren't on these lists? Give us your feedback and let us know what we're missing and perhaps I can get them added to this list. With readers like you contributing opinions and feedback we can all help each other to not only get software at the right price (FREE!), but also make sure we're getting the best tools available at that price.

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Comments

June 20, 2009 at 2:59 pm
(1) Bob says:

I think you know your stuff, and I shall probably continue to read what you put out. I was wondering however if you are aware of the ad that often accompanies your stuff. The one I mean is a dishonest attempt to get mugs like me to click on it thinking I ‘have a message’ and not that it is an advertisement. My question is are YOU as dishonest as this, or do you allow yourself to be associated with dishonesty willingly?

Is there no way of advertisers getting clicks with an honest approach? Beautiful images sponsored by relevant companies, advertising software, for instance, would invite me to enquire. I have no idea what that stupid and sneaky ad is trying to sell - I hope I never find out. It’s on YOUR site, are you proud of it? Don’t you know it’s there? Do you think all is fair in advertising? (you are young for sure) Sincerely Bob.

June 20, 2009 at 3:06 pm
(2) Bob says:

I just left an angry comment about the dishonest ad which accompanied this post. I clicked ’say it! and it disappeared. Your are demeaned by this crooked lying kind of ad, Tony

June 21, 2009 at 1:43 pm
(3) 619clean says:

Bob, I was going to write something long, but here is something even more simpler and to the point. NEVER EVER click on ANY ads you see on the web (unless almost completely necessary), as most of the time they breach your security, waste your time, or become generally annoying… That’s what I tend to do and stay fairly safe and well out of harms way.

June 23, 2009 at 11:16 pm
(4) netsecurity says:

Bob- I appreciate your support and I appreciate you taking the time to express your concerns. Let me start by saying that I have no control whatsoever regarding the ads placed on my site. To take that a step farther, when it comes to some ads, even About.com may not be aware of what the links lead to when they are part of a syndicated text ad service. If you do identify an ad that is shady, please feel free to contact me or About.com support to report it.

While I have to be conscious of how my compensation is generated, that doesn’t mean that we have to accept unscrupulous ads. That said, I pretty much agree with what 619clean had to say on the subject.

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