Replace Your Security Software Today - Discover 14 Open Source Alternatives!

Replace the Popular Security Software with 14 new Open Source Apps

2015-12-30

Replace the Popular Security Software with 14 new Open Source Apps

Defend your network with free and open source - anti-malware, backup, firewall, data loss prevention, IDS/IPS and other security tools.

Although complete shielding from every cyber attack cannot be provided by any security software but a range of tools are developed by open source community that can help resolving security concerns of small businesses and little enterprises as well as home users.The supreme quality of many open source software are proved by the awards they have won and a number of these software are used in commercial applications too.

The following description illustrates some of the best open source security software and for your easy understanding of the capabilities of these open source applications, name of similar commercial software is provided with them. The list is updated one time a year. We have augmented the list, properly updated the information available on various tools and also removed the tools for which patches are not regularly available.

If you think that some other open source security tools should be present in the list, feel free to mention it below in the comments section.

Anti-Malware


1. ClamAV

Can be used in place of VirusScan Enterprise for Linux

It is known as the prime standard for scanning mail gateways.  ClamAV is a highly accepted open source security applications on hand. The packaging of core open source product is done into several other products that includeImmunet too, which is a cloud based version available only for Windows Pcs. The noteworthy point is that only on-demand scanning is offered by standard version of ClamAV and real-time scanning of the incoming content or your system is not done. Mainly built for Linux but ClamAV is available for other Operating systems in both front-end and additional version.

2. ClamTk

Can be used in place of VirusScan Enterprise for Linux

There are many front-ends are available for ClamAV and ClamTk is one of them. It offers several features which include easy-to-use graphics and availability in many languages. This is made for Linux originally and won numerous awards.

Backup


3. Amanda

Can be used in place ofSimpana Backup and Recovery, HP StorageWorks EBS, NetVault

The website of Amanda mentions that it is the most famous open source backup &recovery software of the world. Include features like – easy set up, backing up multi networked systems into a single tape storage system or disk based storage system.   Available in many versions such as free community version, paid appliance version and paid enterprise version. Offered in operating systems like Linux, Windows, OS X.

4. Areca Backup

Can be used in place of Nova Backup

Need back up for only a single system try Areca, provides easy to use interface with simplicity and flexibility. Includes features as compression, filters and support for incremental, AES128 and AES256 encryption, differential, delta as well as full backups. Available in Windows and Linux operating systems.

Browser


5.  Chromium

Can be used in place of Microsoft Internet Explorer

Chromium is a open source web browser that Google chrome derived its code from and offers a lot of built-in security features as automatic updates, safebrowsing, sandboxing, blocking out-of-date plugins and so on. Chromium team comprises of prominent security experts and notifications of the vulnerability issues are handled quickly. A number of time, patches may be available within 24 hours for these issues. Available in Linux, Windows, OS X operating systems.

6. Firefox

Can be used in place of Microsoft Internet Explorer

Firefox asserts to provide a completely secure browsing experience and is created by Mozilla Foundation.Instant website ID, anti-virus and anti-phishing features, do-not-track capabilities, private browsing, automatic update are some of the security features present in the browser. Available in Linux, Windows, OS X operating systems.

Data Destruction


7. BleachBit

Can be used in place of Easy System Cleaner

Various privacy and security functions are combined in this utility know as BleacBit. Cookies and other temporary files are called ‘junk’ collectively and BleachBit removes them. It also helps protecting privacy through erasing history and scrapping log files. Contains a file ‘shredder’ and it helps in removing all remnants of unwanted files. Available in Linux and Windows operating systems.

8.  Eraser

Can be used in place of BCWipe Enterprise

Eraser completely removes files of your drive by repeatedly overwriting it with random data like most other data “shredding” tools .It is mentioned in Eraser website that you should use it whenever you want no one to retrieve your personal information, passwords,financial records, classified documents from work and even self-written poems. Available in Windows operating system only.

Data Loss Prevention


9. OpenDLP

Can be used in place of RSA Data Loss Prevention Suite, Symantec Data Loss Prevention Product Family, CheckPoint DLP Software Blade

OpenDLP is centrally managed software and thousands of UNIX and Windows systems can be examined at once, for finding any sensitive data at rest. Then securely returned results are seen by the compliance officers and security personnel on an easy to use Web GUI for determining the information existing on their systems.It is available in Windows only.

10. MyDLP

Can be used in place of RSA Data Loss Prevention Suite, Symantec Data Loss Prevention Product Family, CheckPoint DLP Software Blade

MyDLP is a robust DLP solution and not only prevents sensitive data from leaving but also identifies its location in the system. Offered in free community edition as well as paid enterprise edition which comes with support. Available for Linux, Windows, VMware operating systems.

Email Security/Filtering


11. Scrollout F1

Can be used in place of Barracuda Spam and Virus Firewall, Abaca Email Protection Gateway,SpamHero

Scrollout F1 is anextremely popular free gateway solution that integrates features such as anti-spam, data loss protection and antivirus capabilities. Scrollout F1 is compatible with all mail servers like Microsoft Exchange, Postfix, Qmail, Exim, Lotus Domino and others. . Available for Linux and Windows operating systems.

12. ASSP

Can be used in place of Barracuda Spam and Virus Firewall, Abaca Email Protection Gateway, SpamHero

ASSP is an anti-spam proxy filter asserts that it is the best software for killing spam. Key attributes of ASSP are that it supports most SMTPservers, easy browser-based setup, virus filtering (ClamAV based), automatic whitelists the people you e-mail, early sender validation and more. This filter is Operating System independent.

Encryption


13. AxCrypt

Can be used in place of Folder Lock,Symantec Encryption, CryptoForge, SensiGuard

AxCrypt is an open source encryption solution that is downloaded and registered by more than 2.7 million users, While it supports cloud services like SkyDrive, DropBox, Box.net, Live Mesh, can be integrated to Windows Explorer ( for encrypting use right-click, double click for decrypting). Available in Windows operating system.

14. Gnu Privacy Guard

Can be used in place of Symantec Email Gateway Solution (PGP)

Multi encryption algorithms are supported by Gnu’s email encryption solution and it provides nice key management features. Gnu privacy guard is a command-line tool in Linux only and when front ends were created by other projects, it was ported to other operating systems. Available in Linux operating system.