Saving passwords in text files on your computer’s hard drive is unsafe; your computer can be infected by malicious software and all your usernames and passwords can get into the hands of hacker, spammers or criminals. Of course, simply writing your login details in your notebook is also unwise, which is why you can use Password Safe – a tool that stores all your sensitive data, securely encrypted, on your hard drive. With Password Safe you will have to remember just one single “master” password and you will never have to worry about getting your important passwords stolen.

No matter what email client or service you use, you are likely to have your inbox bombarded with spam messages: they can range from solicitations to malicious viruses that can do real damage to your computer and steal some of your private information. In order to prevent these messages getting to your computer, you need a program that is able to intercept them before them before they reach your hard drive and this is exactly what MailWasher Free does.

Spyware Terminator might not be the biggest name in anti spyware products, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t capable of flushing your system of unwanted malware. Offering features like the real time protection so often left to premium versions of products, Spyware Terminator proves to be a strong competitor in the field of system security.

ZoneAlarm offers plenty of paid security products including the typical security suite and antivirus offerings, alongside more unique protection against online shopping fraud and identity theft. As well as their big name products and trial editions, it also offers some completely free software. ZoneAlarm Firewall is one such piece of software – a watered down version of the companies’ full internet suite.

Online Armor is a free firewall program that offers increased functionality far in advance of that seen in Windows’ own firewall program. Kernel mode security, script protection and a process guard are amongst its range of features, so if you’ve been using Windows firewall to protect yourself from online attacks in the past, you’re in for a pleasant surprise.

AVG may not have been the first free antivirus software ever created for Windows, but it was the one that brought the idea to the mainstream. In a world where virus checkers cost nearly as much per year as your operating system itself, AVG blew people away with its new business a model – fully functioning virus software that could scan, detect and clean viruses from your system without you handing over any cash at all. However, the free virus market is crowded these days, so can AVG maintain its crown amongst new competition?

Five years ago the idea of free antivirus software was pretty much unheard of. Nowadays there are a lot of freeware programs on the market all offering to protect your computer without you spending a penny. We take a look at what was one of the first programs to offer antivirus without the price tag – avast! Home Edition, now on version 4.8, and see if you can save money on your antivirus and still remain well protected.

Fancy getting your hands on some registered antivirus software for free? We’ve got 20 Edit 50  free keys for the professional version of Comodo Internet Security.

Malwarebyte’s Anti-Malware is a lightweight utility that removes Malware and Spyware from your system.  The free  version provides a malware scan and removal service including a quarantine system.