Well at least I think I do. I have Norton 360 now that has been included with my Comcast subscription, I have the triple play with my own network. After today they will not offer it. I have a couple of old Dell laptops, maybe 7 and 10 years old plus a Samsung tablet that's about 4 years old. I don't use any of them for work only surfing the web so they are totally adequate. I do order small stuff off the web so I use my credit card. I am totally ignorant on the subject, have spent all morning trying to find something to get. I don't mind buying something if need be, doesn't need to be free. I just don't have any clue on what I need to get, obviously I don't want to spend $150 a year if a $39 will work. Any advice would be appreciated greatly.

No, you don't.

Presuming you have fairly recent versions of Windows that are still being updated (Windows 8, Windows 10), then the built-in Windows Defender is all you need. Anything else is wasting CPU overhead.

If you have Windows 7 or older, you should take your $150 a year and upgrade to the latest version of Windows.

Then, invest some time/energy to learn about and implement a backup strategy.

The biggest threat these days is ransomware, where downloaded malware encrypts your computer and demands a ransom to unlock it. The counter to that is a good backup strategy.

Your financial information isn't likely to be stolen from you directly. The retailer is more likely to be targeted. Why target one individual person, who (statistically) will be pretty much broke, when you can target a retailer database with the financial information of thousands of customers?

Thank You
I do have Windows 10 on 2 of the devices and Vista on the old Dell which I rarely use, never order anything with it. One other thing that might be pertinent is my wife's identity has been stolen. She is a member of the AOA and their site was hacked, they have her SS# and we get our credit card # stolen at least once a year. The AOA has given us identity theft protection, IDX and Identity Guard, which will expire in 2021.

You seem to be in good shape. I wouldn't worry about it to much. Generally speaking, the best thing you can do to prevent bad guys from getting at you on your computer is to remove admin privileges from your user account, and create a separate Administrator account.

Most virus attacks rely on user error. You typically have to click on something and authorize the installation of malicious software. Malicious software is often confusingly or deceptively packaged as something else--a word document or something. Removing administrator privilege means you can't accidentally install malicious software (only an administrator can install or remove software). So, when you click on what you think is a word document (but is really a software package), the computer stops and says, "Hey, you aren't an administrator!" and then you say to yourself..."That's strange. It was just a word doc. Must be something sketchy happening."

Between removing admin privileges, giving yourself a good backup scheme, and windows defender, the odds of the random crap floating around causing you much heartburn is diminishingly small.

The only thing left is to contend with directed attacks (in terms of your hardware getting attacked), and that's just a matter of keeping your head down and not presenting yourself as a target.

Don't forget to make strong and UNIQUE passwords for your accounts. Not a hardware/antivirus thing, but generally the weak link these days in getting info stolen from you. Some random website leaks your password, and if you use that password across your other accounts, then now the badguy has access to those accounts.

^^^^
Up to date versions of Windows need nothing more than Defender. IMO, they cause more problems than they fix. I do use a clean up (free) program to keep the computer free of resource draining crap that somehow seems to accumulate.

I'll repeat the Windows 10 Defender comments. I have a small law firm, and "my computer guy" told me that was all I needed, as it was as good as any other, integrated better, and updated reliably along with all the OS software.

Sorry, one more stupid question. I do have windows 10 but I cannot find anything that shows I have defender. I did find a defender firewall but it said that Norton was controlling it.

Press the Windows key and type "Defender" or "Windows Security".

The Windows Security app should be the first hit.

Windows Defender got rolled into a comprehensive security suite with Windows 10.

If you are going to purchase a AV then buy MalwareBytes .
They even have a sale going on now.
I have used this AV to clean many, many customer machines without fail (except one that has already been hit with Ransomeware).
Even had a client this week buy this.
Nothing is perfect in every situation but this is a good product and doesn't take a shitload of resources to run or have a complicated firewall to configure.
YMMV

I have a 15 month old laptop. I just turned it on and started using it.

How do I do this: the best thing you can do to prevent bad guys from getting at you on your computer is to remove admin privileges from your user account, and create a separate Administrator account.

Thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by OKCGene:
I have a 15 month old laptop. I just turned it on and started using it.

How do I do this: the best thing you can do to prevent bad guys from getting at you on your computer is to remove admin privileges from your user account, and create a separate Administrator account.

Thank you.

Assuming Windows 10, it is a 2 step process:

1) Create a local ("offline") account that will have administrator privileges on your computer. Most people will name the account "Administrator" or "Admin". Follow these instructions to create the Administrator Account. https://support.microsoft.com/...02-a866-32915af2a34d


2) Remove the administrator privileges from the default account that you created when you first turned on your computer. This leaves only the Administrator account created above with the level of authority to install or uninstall software. To do this, press the "Windows Key", type "Control Panel", and click the icon that says "User Accounts" and then click the link that says "Change Account Types". Click the icon for account with your name on it (not the Administrator account created above), and follow the prompts to change the account type from "administrator" to "standard."

If successful, every time you want to install software or change security settings, you will need to use the Administrator logon and password created in step 1 to make the changes. This additional step reduces the possibility of you or anyone else accidentally installing viruses on the computer.

IMPORTANT: DON'T LOSE OR FORGET YOUR ADMINISTRATOR PASSWORD. You cannot recover the administrator password.

^^^^ Thank you so much. I have to leave now but I will do this tomorrow.
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I echo the comments above, but if you still feel you need a stand-alone piece of software, I've used ESET for years and am very happy with it.