I've long since been out of the IT business -

Could I get some thoughts regarding what sort of FREE security software I should be running for a wireless network in an apartment complex?

I have a netbook running W7 starter and she has a bastard version of wholly outdated Ultimate running on an ACER laptop w/ only one 1gb RAM. I should be able to update Ultimate when I have a decent connection.

We both are running Avast and Malwarebytes and Windows Firewall. She has an old vers of MS Office and I using Open Office.

I do some minor checking of financial accounts. Logging in/checking, a few trades every so often.

We do not keep any critical or personal data on our computers.

Thanks-

We both are running Avast and Malwarebytes and Windows Firewall.

That's good enough. All you have to do is secure your WLAN. Configure your wireless router or access point as follows:

- Enable WPA/WPA2 encryption (do not use WEP)

- Enable MAC address filtering

- Disable SSID broadcast / roaming

I got my PayPal account temporarily blocked after using a hotel WiFi network in Philippines. Be careful with WiFi.

What you have would be sufficient for normal use, but if you do anything remotely sensitive over public networks (particularly unsecured WiFi) then I'd get one of the reasonably priced VPN accounts (I worry about the free ones, one never really knows what they're sniffing).

Forum sponsor StrongVPN do a very good package for $55 a year.

Instead of the VPN, what about using Foxfire with the ETF security extension? I'm using Chrome now for browser.

Thanks all