Free Computer Security Software Not Catching On
Free is great, only if you know how to use it...



"I absolutely don't argue that the highly tech-savvy consumer will and can search the Web for freeware and knock out 90, maybe 95 percent of the risk," said Lane Bess, Trend Micro Inc.'s (TMC) general manager for consumer products. "That's not the largest [base of] consumers out there."

Most people, he said, would rather install a package — for $50 in Trend Micro's case — that does everything.

Free often means cobbling a package together:

• Taking the basic firewall that comes with the Service Pack 2 version of Microsoft Corp.'s Windows XP, or getting a stronger one like Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.'s (CHKP) Zone Alarm to monitor and block outbound traffic as well;

• Adding anti-virus protection from a high-speed Internet provider like Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) or Time Warner Inc.'s (TWX) Road Runner;

• Obtaining one or more free spyware removal tools like Spybot Search & Destroy;

• Installing a toolbar from EarthLink Inc. (ELNK) or elsewhere to block Web sites known to engage in e-mail "phishing" scams.

Even AOL's free all-in-one package, which uses technology from McAfee Inc. (MFE) and others, is incomplete, said Joel Davidson, an AOL executive vice president for products and technologies.

Read all about it here, courtesy of Foxnews.com:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,214285,00.html

-Eric