Anti Virus Software

[RayB]

Which would you buy? TrendMicro or AVG...or?
Got another computer that I'm setting up.

[ITSec]

As you might guess from my user name, I have some time in this area of business...

For most home or small business purposes, if you are going to spend money the ones I suggest are Trend or Kaspersky. If you are going to use freeware, AVG is not bad, but the Microsoft Defender built-in tool is better than you'd think. Obviously, none of these are perfect, and as soon as you follow my recommendations you will immediately hit on malware that gets past them.

At that point, as a seasoned professional, I suggest booting from a USB and using Malwarebytes to rescue yourself! 

[oldbike54]

 I thought for a long time that ITSec was code for It is Eric Clapton 

 Dusty

[ITSec]

I thought for a long time that ITSec was code for It is Eric Clapton 

 Dusty

Shhhhhh! - You'll wake up Melia! She still hates to hear "Wonderful Tonight"...

[Tom H]

To start with I would follow what ITSec wrote.

Second you might want to stay away from those ummm.... questionable websites that promise you..???...???

I have at home AVG Free and run XP OS. I do stay away from those websites. So far, so good with AVG. If I felt that I wanted more like the AVG PC Tuneup and a few other non-free addin's I would pay for it.

At work the PC has Norton. While I "used" to like Norton on my home PC, I feel it has now become too bloated and "seems" to slow the PC down if left in it's "recommended" settings (not allowed to adjust them). JMHO

Just my 2 cents,
Tom

[rss29]

Viruses aren't much of a concern anymore. The real threat is from malware and those damn browser hijackers. They're easy to pick up and are a real PITA to get rid of. Antivirus software won't do anything to block these. Do yourself a favor and get a good malware tool as well. Malwarebytes has worked well for me. If you get the paid version it has realtime monitoring.

[Robert]

Any opinion on ESET?

Working good for me for over 5 years so far.

[Sasquatch Jim]

  Malware and viruses are generated by the people who sell anti virus software.
  It's a modern upgrade of the old protection racket.  If you paid the monthly fee the thugs would not come break up your shop.  The modern version is if you pay for the antivirus program, they stop sending you viruses.  It makes them look good and they sell more protection.
 It should be a strongly enforced violation of law with old fashioned hanging as a punishment.  That makes recidivism impossible.

[ITSec]

Any opinion on ESET?

Working good for me for over 5 years so far.

ESET is pretty good, generally testing out in the top rank. If you like it, no strong reason to switch. I might not suggest it for someone with a new purchase need, but I wouldn't say there's any reason to get rid of it.

[ITSec]

  Malware and viruses are generated by the people who sell anti virus software.
  It's a modern upgrade of the old protection racket.  If you paid the monthly fee the thugs would not come break up your shop.  The modern version is if you pay for the antivirus program, they stop sending you viruses.  It makes them look good and they sell more protection.
 It should be a strongly enforced violation of law with old fashioned hanging as a punishment.  That makes recidivism impossible.

I wish this were true - it would make my job a lot easier.

Sadly, most malware (viruses, rootkits, keyloggers, and all the myriad variations) is created by people who fall into three groups. One is people doing it for the kick or for easy money, who then release it to others. Large parts of the high-volume phishing attacks fall into this category, such as the ransomware attacks recently in the news. Two is actual direct bad actors, particularly those part of or underwritten by either eastern European organized crime or governments in Russia, China, North Korea, and some middle eastern countries (both friend and foe to us, by the way). Third is direct bad actors who are part of the government of some countries, particularly China, and who rival US cyber warfare efforts.

The theory that anti-malware vendors are the source has been around since the first hacker was sighted on the grassy knoll in Dallas.

[Wayne Orwig]

I've been using Microsoft Defender for years with zero issues. And the best part, it doesn't suck computer resources like Norton, Trend or AVG do. Oh yea, and it is free.

  Malware and viruses are generated by the people who sell anti virus software.

Someone needs a tin foil hat. But I suspect it is too late.

[Groover]

I have found the following pair to work great together:

Antivirus:  ESET (Nod32)
AntiMalware:  Malwarebytes Premium

No conflicts amongst the two, they don't try and force system changes to their liking that may mess with other stuff, and don't hurt the machines' performance.

[screamday]

I have been using the paid version of AVG for years on my home and office PC's. It works pretty good but has gotten bloated over the years. I've read and heard from other sources that Defender is a good product, might have to give it a try.

[charlie b]

I just use the windows virus protection and Malwarebytes realtime.

As above, virus protection is almost out dated.  Most attacks are from things you click on the net.  And if you select the wrong one, nothing will really save you.  One of our less protected computers (not running Malwarebytes realtime) got infected badly after selecting the wrong button on a web site.  Ended up repartitioning and reformatting the hard drive.  Glad we keep routine backups.

[Groover]

ESET integrates nicely with email programs, such as Outlook (attachments). That's the one area where AV protection works well, whereas AM doesn't (as far as I know).

[Red Dog]

For the past 18 years:

Avast free edition
Spybot
Scotty the windows watch dog

Browser: Mozilla FireFox

Email: Mail Washer Pro & Mozilla Thunderbird

On the XP machines I run a registry cleaner program about once a month but haven't done it on the W7 units.

[Luap McKeever]

I'll be the oddball rebel here then.  I've been using Avast for many years.  We put it on a lot of my customers computers as well.  There's a paid version that I use and a free version that works really well for average users.  I've been in this industry for over 20 years and have tested a lot of different product. 

Here is why I choose to use Avast.  I've been installing it for customers for many years without problems.
1. The free version is as good or better than the paid versions of most AV software.
2. Avast is the only one that has a real bootup scanner.  Others cannot remove viruses from a boot sector on files that are in RAM status.
3. It has a relatively small footprint and uses minimal resources.
4. It can be used as your screensaver.  When the screensaver is on, it can be scanning in the background.
5. It can be setup to auto-update, auto scan,etc.  Not bad for a free software.

As mentioned above.  Viruses are not much of a problem anymore.  Malware, adware, spyware, junkware, rootkits, rogues, ransomware, etc are all the new thing.  I run Avast paid and SuperAntiSpyware lifetime on my laptop and work server.  I scan monthly with Malwarebytes.  All is well.

Avoid porn sites, file sharing sites, online games, Facebook apps, etc and your computer will be happy.

[RayB]

Thanks for all the replies. Gives me more options

[atavar]

When I was a working sysadmin for an ISP I found it oddly amusing that within hours after I called an antivirus or antispam software company salesman for a demo or quote our organization would see a tenfold spike in the amount of attacks or spam on our network.  You are right, there is a lot of the protection racket involved here. 

[Kentktk]

Which would you buy? TrendMicro or AVG...or?
Got another computer that I'm setting up.

I would get an Apple and not worry about anti virus software because with Apple you don`t need it.

[charlie b]

Tell that to my BIL whose relatively new mac at the time was hit by a virus and had to be reformatted.

[Kentktk]

OK, where is he? I`ll tell him

[AJ Huff]

Bitdefender + Windows Defender

-AJ

[rbm]

Using a signature-based antivirus product is pretty much useless, as it probably has a 10-20% success rate.  Modern malware is able to hide from such antivirus products by altering their signature.  ESET is behavioural based and has a better chance of detecting malware.  The ultimate solution is whitelisting - allowing only programs you trust to run on your computer.

Of greater importance these days is vigilance from phishing attacks and social engineering.  The 2016 Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report shows that phishing is on the rise.  It's used to lure end users to click on web links that install Command & Control (C2) software, rather than viral software. The objective is to steal identities to mount highjacking attacks against accounts for financial gain.  Better to get a good ad blocking extension to your browser and stop clicking on links you don't know or trust.

[Luap McKeever]

I would get an Apple and not worry about anti virus software because with Apple you don`t need it.

That is unfortunately not true.  I hear that every time an infected mac comes into my shop; "How did this happen, Apples aren't supposed to be at risk?".

I just did a quick tally though, and only 7.84% of infected computers that came through my door this year have been Apples.  So, they are indeed less susceptible, but not at all immune.  Most of the Apple problems that come into my shop are hardware related.

[RayB]

We need the equivalent of ATGATT for computers.

[sign216]

That is unfortunately not true.  I hear that every time an infected mac comes into my shop; "How did this happen, Apples aren't supposed to be at risk?".

I just did a quick tally though, and only 7.84% of infected computers that came through my door this year have been Apples.  So, they are indeed less susceptible, but not at all immune.  Most of the Apple problems that come into my shop are hardware related.

Interesting.  I appreciate the hard number.  What % of computers that come in have a Linux operating system?

[Luap McKeever]

0%. I don't work on Linux.

Interesting.  I appreciate the hard number.  What % of computers that come in have a Linux operating system?

[FGO]

I've used free AGV in the past with no issues, however, the free 2016 version kludged up 2 of my pc's.  I unloaded it and went with WebRoot and find it works in the background without slowing things down and trying to change your browser, and startup page or sell you the paid version (every 5 minutes)
I used the AGV tools and really crippled one of my laptops, did a factory restore, and now it is smoking fast with no hiccups.
Cheers,

[rboe]

I use Sophos Anti-virus on our Macs. It finds bad stuff coming in via emails, but so far nothing off of websites. Knock on wood.

I used Bit Defender for several years on my Windows machine. Let it lapse and now just depend upon Defender. It is rarely used (same with the laptop) and if does get a bad infection I'll just reload. I have three hard drives with two different OS's on them so it can be up and running in a couple minutes.