STAY SAFE ONLINE AND ON YOUR PC
Vivaldi https://vivaldi.com
Extensions are useful, but they can clutter up your browser. New browser Vivaldi avoids this by including features you can get in Chrome, Firefox and Edge only by adding extensions. For example, you can make searchable notes about websites, take screenshots, use keyboard shortcuts and configure 90 new mouse gestures, all without having to download anything extra.
Vivaldi’s first stable release for Windows 10 arrived just before the Anniversary Update, and it’s undergone major updates every month since. Version 1.4, released in September, is the most customisable browser we’ve ever used – it even lets you schedule its colour scheme to change at different times of the day.
Our favourite new feature, though, is hidden deep in Vivaldi’s Privacy Settings. Untick ‘Broadcast IP for Best WEBRTC Performance’ to block WEBRTC (a technology that may compromise your privacy by ‘leaking’ your data to websites). Most sites and browsers assume you won’t know or care about WEBRTC, so three cheers to Vivaldi for letting us shut it down (see screenshot above).
Tunnelbear www.tunnelbear.com
Break through internet barriers and browse without being tracked using this free VPN (virtual private network) tool. The latest version (3) has been beautifully redesigned and adds a Trusted Networks feature that lets you set certain secure Wi-fi networks to connect without the VPN being switched on. Why? Connecting via VPN helps protect your privacy and provides access to web content (such as TV and films) that’s blocked in the UK, but it can slow your internet connection. The solution is to set your home Wi-fi as a Trusted Network to prevent Tunnelbear kicking in automatically every time you go online.
Winja www.phrozensoft.com/ freeware
Find and remove malware using this free new tool that uses Virustotal to automatically identify the latest threats.
Winja (‘The Windows Ninja’, apparently) is a manual scanner in the mould of Malwarebytes Anti-malware and Adwcleaner. This means it doesn’t try to block malware, PUPS and other nasties before they get on to your PC, but can find them once they are there, and then remove them completely.
To get Winja, click Download and then run the installer. There’s no junk to dodge, unless you count a pre-ticked ‘Open our Facebook Page’ box as junk (we’d quite understand if you did).
Unchecky https://unchecky.com
Prevent PUPS and other dodgy files getting on your PC in the first place by installing Unchecky. This excellent free program was in beta mode for three years before the first stable version was released in September.
To get it, click the orange Download button then run its installer. As you’d expect, there’s no junk to opt out of. Once installed, Unchecky runs in the background and works automatically, ‘unchecking’ (unticking) unwanted extras when you’re installing software. To see what PUPS Unchecky has blocked, click the Unchecky icon next to the clock on your taskbar then click ‘Activity log’.
Screenwings www.snipca.com/22354
Hackers just love screenshots. While ransomware grabs all the headlines, hackers are also grabbing your screen and stealing your secrets. All a hacker has to do is sneak a piece of malware on to your PC, then use it to remotely take screenshots of your passwords, bank details and more. If you’re in any doubt about how easy it is, type hacker screenshot into Google.
New tool Screenwings protects you by
blocking all screenshots. It’s free, portable and easy to use. Simply click the Windows icon to disable screenshots. If you use more than one screen, click the appropriate icon to disable screenshots in just that monitor.
Now for the bad news. On our PC Windows 10 tried to block Screenwings – as did two out of 58 AV companies in the Virustotal database. Fifty-six other AV companies, including all the most popular, say it’s safe. We ran Screenwings with no problems. However, be aware that your AV may judge otherwise – at least until Screenwings has finally been around long enough to be added to your AV’S whitelist.
Avira Free Security Suite 2017 www.avira.com
Your AV is the most important installed program on your PC – and it does need to be an installed program. The best new AV suites cost money (see our Reader Offer on page 68 for discounts on Kaspersky Internet Security 2017) but you can get excellent protection from a free AV. The catch with free AVS is that they tend to install unwanted extras. Avira’s free new suite does include extra components, but we found them to be useful. For example, Phantom VPN works much like Tunnelbear (see page 55). There’s also an improved System Speedup tool for boosting your PC. They’re effectively separate programs, so you can uninstall both if you want and just use the Free Antivirus component.
Avira is a huge program that takes a while to install. Don’t try it if you’ve only got a few minutes and plan to use your computer for anything else. Click Get My Free Security Suite, then Download Free, and run the installer. We were worried when we saw extras like ‘Scout Browser’, but these only install if you request it.
Don’t install Avira or any other AV suite if you’ve already got an AV running in the background, because they will conflict. Instead, uninstall your old AV and then immediately replace it by installing Avira to stay protected.