Tech: Antivirus choice

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: gnu
Date: 04 Mar 15 - 05:55 PM

Well, Staples.ca put Kaspersky Total Security on sale at $45 today ($100 regular) so I went to Future Shit and got it (they match). $50.85 rather than $113 with tax. I did like the free trial of ESET except that some of the options for scans and other functions are a bit unclear.

So, done deal. I want to say thanks to all the contributors to this thread, except for, well, you know, that guy who always shits on everybody for anything and everything, deserved or not, simply because he just likes to be an asshole.

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: EBarnacle
Date: 26 Feb 15 - 07:59 PM

Lady Hillary and I use a mix of freeware: Avast, Glary Untilities and Malware Bytes, as well as the freeware that comes with Win 7. So far, nothing has gotten to us. Of course that means that we run the programs regularly even though Avast is on background all of the time. We also update when we are told to.
We don't use AVG because it slows our machines down.
I was given a machine with Spybot yesterday to rehab. I found it incredibly intrusive, asking me whether programs I was downloading were malware, etc. I intend to live without it.

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: treewind
Date: 26 Feb 15 - 07:08 PM

Don't go anywhere Norton or McAfee.
AVG and Avast are good and available for free (in a limited but still useful package)
Kaspersky is what we run at work now and gives us very little trouble.
Sophos is excellent but very expensive for a home user.
I've heard good reports recently about ESET but know little about it.

As for Gargoyle's advice about what sites not to visit, more to the point would be to block adverts as they are frequent sources of malware on ANY site. I use the MVP hosts file (free download) which blocks hundreds of ad sites and saves you a fair amount of bandwith as the adverts are never even fetched. Ideally update it monthly.

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: GUEST,JHW
Date: 26 Feb 15 - 06:02 AM

Currently have shop recommendation ESET, was 7 now upgraded to 8, replacing free Panda. ESET no bother but I've no way of knowing how well it works so pleased to see it well reviewed in Andrez post.
Had free Avira a long time but had to ditch when it refused to update any more. Paid for Avira ground the m/c to all but a halt. Free Avasti also seemed to bog the laptop down. Free AVG no bother but for ever advertising paid versions.

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: gnu
Date: 25 Feb 15 - 08:29 PM

Gargoyle. Why do you bother? You are such a pimple on the ass of those who actually care about others. All you ever seem to do is attempt to insult and demean others. Fuck yer pathetic... as usual.

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 25 Feb 15 - 07:09 PM

Try GNU "Gnu Not Unix"

AKA - Linux

Sincerly,
Gargoyle

You are paying a fortune....for what is free....   (Poor, poor, Max, Go-Daddy hung him in the closet and I'm feeling so bad.)

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: gnu
Date: 25 Feb 15 - 11:20 AM

Thanks all!

In the OP, I pondered about the unavailability of Kaspersky Pure 3.0. I discovered that Pure has been replaced with Total Security

Took Norton for a (free) spin... got stuck in the mud. Can't access my Rogers Yahoo email; "insecure connection". I am looking at ESET or Kaspersky.

Thanks again for the (great) help!

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: Nick
Date: 25 Feb 15 - 09:30 AM

Windows Essentials work fine for me

Use Kaspersky at work which is fine and have used AVG before

Common sense helps too

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: Andrez
Date: 25 Feb 15 - 06:06 AM

HI folks, for what its worth for the rest of the computing universe here are the ratings from the Australian Consumer Mag Choice from their March 2014 survey. I've posted their recommended packages and their ratings and also a list of what was actually reviewed. When it comes to buying things like security and software I prefer to make a decision based on evidence not marketing hype. I have to say though, over the years the ratings change and there is some movement up and down the rankings. So if a package works for you and does the job thats great! Hope someone finds this info useful.

Cheers,

Andrez

PC Software ratings from Choice March 2014

This time around we look at 22 PC packages from antivirus programs to full security suites that promise protection from all sorts of cyber attacks. Included are the big name commercial programs along with free programs and Microsoft's own home-grown solutions.

Desktop programs tested.

Avast! Free Antivirus
Avast! Free Antivirus + Windows 7 Firewall
Avast! Internet Security 2014
AVG AntiVirus Free 2014

AVG AntiVirus Free 2014 + Windows 7 Firewall
AVG Internet Security 2014

Avira Free Antivirus
Avira Free Antivirus + Windows 7 Firewall
Avira Internet Security 2014

Bitdefender Internet Security - New Edition
BullGuard Internet Security 2014

Eset Smart Security 7

F-Secure Internet Security 2014

G Data InternetSecurity 2014

Kaspersky Internet Security 2014

McAfee Internet Security 2014

Microsoft Security Essentials

Microsoft Security Essentials + Win 7 Firewall
Microsoft Windows 8

Norton by Symantec Internet Security

Panda Security Internet Security 2014

AND THE WINNERS WERE…………………?

Eset Smart Security 7
Scored 86/100
86%
Good points:
• Highest overall score
• Equal second highest system impact score • Very good overall score
• Very good anti-malware score
• Very good ease of use score
• Excellent system impact score
• Very good firewall score
Bad points:
• Nothing to mention

G Data InternetSecurity 2014
Scored 85/100
85%
Good points:
• Second highest overall score
• Equal second highest anti-malware score • Equal second highest firewall score
• Very good overall score
• Very good anti-malware score
• Very good ease of use score
• Excellent firewall score
Bad points:
• Equal lowest system impact score

Bitdefender Internet Security - New Edition
Scored 83/100
83%
Good points:
• Highest anti-malware score
• Very good overall score
• Very good anti-malware score Bad points:
• Equal lowest system impact score
F-Secure Internet Security 2014
Scored 82/100
82%
Good points:
• Equal second highest firewall score • Very good overall score
• Very good ease of use score
• Very good system impact score
• Excellent firewall score
Bad points:
• Nothing to mention

Kaspersky Internet Security 2014
Scored 82/100
82%
Good points:
• Equal second highest anti-malware score • Very good overall score
• Very good anti-malware score
• Very good system impact score
Bad points:
• Nothing to mention
Avira Internet Security 2014
Scored 81/100
81%
Good points:
• Second highest ease of use score • Very good overall score
• Excellent ease of use score
• Very good system impact score Bad points:
• Nothing to mention

Avast! Free Antivirus + Windows 7 Firewall
Scored 79/100 | $0
79%
Good points:
• Equal second highest system impact score • Excellent system impact score
Bad points:
• Nothing to mention

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 24 Feb 15 - 08:51 AM

Our techie recommended free version of AVG, got it on PC and tablet. Does all that Norton,Macafee does but free.


RtS

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: GUEST,Desi C
Date: 24 Feb 15 - 05:57 AM

I used various brands which all let me down, then bought a new PC with Trend Micro installed, not cheap at around £70 p.a but in 5 years I've never even had a sniff of a threat that wasn't immediately dealth with, so I'm very happy to stay with it

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 24 Feb 15 - 12:20 AM

Dear Mr. Original Poster,

Dude do not go to porn sites.

Do not connect to unknown e-mail.

Do not follow spurious links.

You...yourself...as an internet user, are your own, meat, butter and bread defence against nasty things.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

....you are the sort that gorges at a cheap buffet table on undercooked egg custard and then slithers into the doctor's office begging for an anti-biotic for food poisoning.

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: Gurney
Date: 23 Feb 15 - 10:22 PM

Opposite to Bill D, I dumped AVG free for Avast, had niggles for a year, went back to AVG and have had faultless performance.

I only stopped AVG because they wanted me to pay for it. They seem to be treating me as a new user again.

Mind you, I'm on WinXP and don't browse any more than I have to.
I'm still (apparently) getting updates from Micro$oft but some third-party software has stopped updating.

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: Janie
Date: 23 Feb 15 - 07:39 PM

Thanks Andrez. Appreciate it!

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: GUEST,Les B
Date: 23 Feb 15 - 07:32 PM

Avast free for me.

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: gnu
Date: 23 Feb 15 - 05:03 PM

Call Us- Toll-Free 1-800-804-8318

We're sorry. Your call cannot be completed as dialed.

Fuck Norton.

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: gnu
Date: 23 Feb 15 - 04:58 PM

Okay... last resort. Thanks, W.

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: Weasel
Date: 23 Feb 15 - 04:25 PM

Phone them. I had a problem with Norton (related to billing) I phoned them and they sorted it immediately and refunded the money I had over-paid.

Cheers,

Weasel

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: gnu
Date: 23 Feb 15 - 03:54 PM

Been messing with Norton for 4 hours. What a nightmare! I bought it on sale (14 day return unopened) and have been trying to download the free trial. It tells me I already have an account so I can't do it. ???

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: GUEST,Jon
Date: 23 Feb 15 - 06:52 AM

The last desktop AV I used on Linux was AVG free. I had a few performance problems with it.

I've got AVG free on the very rarely used Vista partiion of my dual boot laptop but the only other place I'm using Av at the moment is on email. All our email gets pulled to a local IMAP server and goes through ClamAV as part of the process. Also, my own emails are scanned by ClamAv before they are sent.

These measures with email are sometimes considered to be of more value in preventing Windows viruses being passed around than needed protection for Linux itself.

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 22 Feb 15 - 08:30 PM

For my last 2 laptops I've used Microsoft Essentials for Windows 7 and
Windows Defender for 8.1. Both have been unobtrusive and I've never had a problem with either and they're already loaded in Windows.

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 22 Feb 15 - 07:42 PM

I've heard good things about Sophos and follow their news on twitter just to keep up with recommended good practices to do with safe computing. :)

SRS

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: gnu
Date: 22 Feb 15 - 06:45 PM

Wow! Great info! Thanks.

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: Andrez
Date: 22 Feb 15 - 05:21 PM

Hi Janie, there is a need for antivirus and malaware protection on Macs. There are Mac specific viruses and other malaware/spyware although not as many as for PC's. The other reason for having protection on a Mac is that people using a PC may send you a document that is infected and while it doesnt affect the Mac if you pass the file on to someone else who has a PC then they might get infected and so it goes round and round.

When it comes to computer security I tend to go for mainstream products although they may cost more at times but at least the updates are regular and the support is there if needed.

On different Mac's (MacBook Pro, iMac) I use either the Trend Micro or Intego Antivirus products and havent had any problems with either package. On the PC side of the Mac using Bootcamp, virus protection is essential: I use Trend Micro products for that along with SpyBot and generally have had NO issues at all.

There is one extra cost for virus protection as I need a family licence to protect Macs owned by partner and offspring.

Here is some info from the Australian Consumer Magazine Choice in their review of virus protection software for Macs and PC's dated March 2014. Its not quite current but Ive pasted the Mac info from the review for you below. There is also a list of the main Mac based packages at the end as well.

Hope this helps,

Cheers,

Andrez

"Mac malware exists, and while nowhere near as prevalent as malware targeted at Windows, it can still cause grief. Also, certain types of threats such as phishing and other browser-based or email scams work equally well across all platforms. There is no room for complacency.

While plenty of the big name companies make a security product for the Mac (OS X), it is not necessarily an equivalent.

Mac versions of programs aren't necessarily comparable feature-for-feature with Windows programs from the same company. In some cases they're anti-malware only, or lack features such as parental controls, active firewall and system tuner, so check the features of the Mac program carefully. Keep in mind the protection performance of a Mac product does not necessarily correspond to that of a Windows product, even if from the same company.

There are also Mac-specific programs not available for Windows, and some may include the detection of Windows malware. This is a good feature, because although Windows malware won't affect Macs, it can still be unwittingly passed on to other Windows users. Any Mac running Windows (via Boot Camp, Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion or Oracle's VirtualBox) will need Windows security protection.

Mac equivalents for the Windows programs tested:

Avast! Free Antivirus for Mac
AVG Antivirus for Mac
Avira Free Mac Security
BitDefender Antivirus for Mac
ESET Cyber Security Pro
F-Secure Anti-Virus for Mac
G Data AntiVirus for Mac
Kaspersky Internet Security for Mac
McAfee VirusScan for Mac; McAfee Family Protection for Mac
Norton Internet Security 5 for Mac
Panda Antivirus for Mac
Trend Micro Internet Security for Mac

Other Mac antivirus programs include:

Comodo antivirus for Mac
The Intego family of products
ProtectMac AntiVirus
QuickHeal Total Security for Mac
Sophos antivirus for Mac home edition

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: GUEST,#
Date: 22 Feb 15 - 05:15 PM

http://www.pcantivirusreviews.com/Comparison/Editors-Choice.html?avrtsid=2&gclid=CO6w-ZnJ9sMCFUlp7AodlkEAHg

Another set of reviews to add to Bill's.

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: Bill D
Date: 22 Feb 15 - 05:11 PM

http://anti-virus-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

This puts Panda way down at #12 ...I had forgotten about Avira, which gets good press in many reviews.

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: Bill D
Date: 22 Feb 15 - 05:07 PM

I hate to change, so I have stuck with Avast the last several years... after dumping AVG.
I might look at Panda....

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: Stanron
Date: 22 Feb 15 - 01:50 PM

Linux doesn't need anti-virus and Mac is far closer to Linux than Windo$e.

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: Janie
Date: 22 Feb 15 - 01:04 PM

The Apple folks keep telling me I don't antivirus or anti malware, but I find that hard to believe. Any recommendations for an iMac?

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: michaelr
Date: 22 Feb 15 - 01:02 PM

I've been using Panda and it does a good job, but doesn't find all malware (same is true for Malwarebytes), so I use it in conjunction with Spybot Search&Destroy.

Subject: RE: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: olddude
Date: 22 Feb 15 - 12:29 PM

Panda cloud antivirus download the free version as the paid version gives you stuff you really don't need. It is the best. Also download panda cloud cleaner, also free run it every few weeks it does a great job

Subject: Tech: Antivirus choice
From: gnu
Date: 22 Feb 15 - 12:23 PM

My AV licence runs out in two weeks. I saw Kaspersky Pure 3.0 on sale at Future Shop for $25 (regular $90) but all I got was a rain check. Over the past three days of checking stock : 0 online and 0 in store. 21 online and 0 in store. 20 online and 0 in store.

There may be a connection to (?)... Some people know of the Canuck government's sanctions against Russia. Some also know that Kaspersky broke a story last week regarding the US NSA getting the source codes from hard drive manufactures like Western Digital for their firmware and embedding spyware in the hard drives of millions of PCs. Apparently, this has been going on for a number of years. I believe this may have pissed of a LOT of people, including many countries governments. Therefore, although Kaspersky has done me well for the past few years, I shall be replacing it.

What do you use? Pros and cons? Warnings? Two geeks told me ESET NOD32 Antivirus 2015 is tops but ESET is in Slovakia. Symantec is in USA so I am leaning that way.

In any case, I gotta get me a new one tomorrow. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance.