Test Your Computer's Anti-Keylogger, Firewall & Antivirus Protection

 

Test Your Computer's Anti-Keylogger, Firewall & Antivirus Protection

When browsing the Internet we can run into many types of threats that put the proper functioning of the systems at risk. Many types of viruses, Trojans, Keyloggers. In short, malicious software that threatens our security and privacy. Luckily we can also count on a wide range of possibilities in terms of security tools to protect ourselves. Now, do they work properly and protect us? Not all of them work well and prevent the entry of malware. In this article we are going to name some tools and methods to check that they work well.

Are the security programs we have working well?

This is a question we can ask ourselves when we have an Antivirus or antispyware on our computer or mobile. This will depend on the type of software it is, from where we have downloaded it, if we have it updated or not, etc.

The first thing to keep in mind is what type of antivirus we have. As we know, not all of them work correctly and many of them simply serve to detect threats but not eliminate them. In this sense, we recommend avoiding trial antivirus, free and that do not offer real guarantees.

You must always keep your antivirus updated. It's how we truly ensure that they can deal with the latest threats. Having an outdated database could lead to security problems. We already explained in a previous article how an antivirus works.

But the antivirus is not the only security tool that we can use. There are other more specific solutions to avoid Keyloggers or Trojans, for example. In any case, it is always good to ensure that we are using tools that really work.

Check if the antivirus works well

One of the tests that we can use is offered by Comodo. It is about downloading a ZIP file from its page and running a series of tests that it brings. The idea is that the antivirus that we have installed is capable of detecting the threat and eliminating it.

Another similar option is offered to us by EICAR. This company specialized in security has been offering for many years the possibility of checking the security of the antivirus. It basically works the same as the previous one. We have to enter your page and download the test files you have.

As we see in the image, as soon as I download a file, my antivirus skips me. In my case I just use Windows Defender. Delete the file before the download is complete.

Test the firewall

As we have mentioned, we not only have antivirus to protect our systems. We can also opt for tools such as firewalls. We can also test if it really works or not.

We have the opportunity to go to the GRC page and take the test. We just have to go in there and hit Proceed. Later we click on the GRC's Instant UPnP Exposure Test button. You will have to wait a few seconds while they try to carry out the attack.

If our firewall works correctly, a message like the one in the image above should appear. That tells us that the game was correct and that our team is safe.

Protection against Trojans

There are not only viruses, as we have already mentioned. We can run into many other threats such as Trojans, which can be very dangerous and can write to the registry. There are also tests to see if our equipment is capable of dealing with these types of problems.

An example is the file that the Windows Advisor website offers us. There we can download a file configured to act as a Trojan. If our security tools detect it, that file will not be downloaded.

Check if our team is prepared against Keyloggers

One more test to detect other types of threats. These are Keyloggers. As we know it is the type of threats that aims to steal the credentials and everything we write. They are also very present on mobile devices.

In this case, this file is offered by Spy Shelter. You just have to go to their website and download the file. Inside the ZIP there is an EXE that we must execute. The antivirus should block it. * Note: it may happen that our security system does not even allow the download to complete. That would also allow you to check that it is working as it should.

All these tools that we have shown are totally harmless. None will pose a threat to our computer, even if we do not have antivirus installed. They have been developed by security researchers simply for the purpose of testing the software we have.

Not only security programs matter

On the other hand, we want to mention that not only security programs matter to protect our systems. Common sense is also vital, for example. Most of the threats come from carelessness and mistakes made by the users themselves. Topics like Phishing, for example. Therefore, you must always be alert and use common sense at all times.

In addition, to keep our systems clean of threats it is very important to keep it updated. This not only improves overall performance, but also helps prevent vulnerabilities and bugs that can be exploited by cybercriminals.