If you’re creating a home office so you can telecommute and are providing the budget out of your own pocket there are a number of useful software titles you should consider. These programs are completely free or even Open Source – which means not only are they free for anyone to download but there is a whole Open Source community dedicated to upgrading and improving the software, all at no cost to the user.
You may not be working on a corporate server anymore but your files still need to be protected. Your home office won't have an IT staff to call on when
there's a problem but luckily for you there are some great free tools that can minimize the chances of something going wrong.
AVG Anti virus
Grisoft offers a free version of it's Anti Virus software with lots of great features and a built in automatic updater. Every day AVG Anti-Virus will check for updates to the program and it's virus definitions and download any required updates. The program is easy to install and use and definitely rivals Norton Anti-Virus.
Zone Alarm Free Firewall
This is a must have program for any computer. Zone Alarm provides a basic version of it's award winning software for free for personal use. It allows complete control over every program on your computer that tries to access the Internet and gives the option to allow or deny access, or ask you each time the program attempts an outside connection. There are ample help files to explain every action you will be required to take to configure this program so even a security novice can use it.
Spyware Cleaners
Nowadays any computer connected to the Internet has to worry about a lot more than just viruses. Many software programs and website pages are filled with Spyware - these are small programs that install themselves on your computer and can do anything from slowing down your system to stealing password and credit card information by recording key-strokes.
No one program can keep your system clean from every spyware program out there so you'll need to run a few regularly - the best is every week.
Ad Aware the program, run the update feature and then do a system scan to find and delete any spyware hiding on your computer.
Spybot Search and Destroy Open the program, run the update feature and then do a system scan to find and delete any spyware hiding on your computer.
Spyware Blaster Open the program and run the update feature. Make sure to update any unprotected features once you've downloaded the
updates (it doesn't do this automatically). You do not need to run a scan with this program; rather, it sits in the background like a firewall and keeps spyware from being installed in the first place. Ad Aware and Spyware S&D will get rid of anything that slips through Spyware Blaster's always-on protection.