Paid Vs Free virus protection......

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daves87rs

daves87rs

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Was totally surprised when our new desktop (lenovo) got beaten down by some nasty, nasty ransomeware. Normally I can handle most of this stuff, but even I had to break down for a trip to best buy's geek squad (actually, wife took it, I would have taken it to a friend)Everything is fine now (still took other precautions), but this is the first time in a very long time I have had an issue with something like this.

This computer has both Avast and malwarebytes free on it, and it has been quite the good combo. Geek Squad added webroot, which I have heard is pretty good, and since I've already paid for t, figured I might as well give it a try. So far, so good...

Have not paid, for one in a while...thinking at the moment it might be the better choice.

Your thoughts?
 
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Bitdefender free is my go to antivirus program, I've never paid for one. I don't see the need, the free version is great. Not a fan of Webroot from what I have seen, but it might work out okay for you. One very big thing to make sure is that you don't still have both Avast and Webroot, as having more than one antivirus on there at once is a bad idea.
 
More proactive protection is needed. An ad- and malware-blocking HOSTS file is important, which can be easily achieved by installing Spybot an using the immunization feature.

Internet Explorer should be avoided in favor of any other modern browser.

All browsers should have ublock origin or adblock plus.

Day-to-day computing should never be done with an admin account.

These steps get you to the point where it takes some effort to mess anything up
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: ClutchDisc
Bitdefender free is my go to antivirus program, I've never paid for one. I don't see the need, the free version is great. Not a fan of Webroot from what I have seen, but it might work out okay for you. One very big thing to make sure is that you don't still have both Avast and Webroot, as having more than one antivirus on there at once is a bad idea.


Nope, the "squad" already took it off, though Malwarebytes is still on there. Had bitdefender on the computer I am on now, but after the hit the computer took with Avast, it has me second guessing using it. The plan is to go ahead (for now) with the paid webroot for now, unless it turns out to not be so good....

The computer that does not get it, may just see bitdefender again....
 
Originally Posted By: Ethan1
More proactive protection is needed. An ad- and malware-blocking HOSTS file is important, which can be easily achieved by installing Spybot an using the immunization feature.

Internet Explorer should be avoided in favor of any other modern browser.

All browsers should have ublock origin or adblock plus.

Day-to-day computing should never be done with an admin account.

These steps get you to the point where it takes some effort to mess anything up
smile.gif



Haven't touched IE in a while. Adblock is on everthing I own. Was hoping that malwarebytes would be the key to that.....and no admin used here....
 
we did some extensive testing - at the time, the paid version of MWB bytes stopped one particular variant of ransonware, while the free version did not.
of course, each situation is different.

as always, backup everything that you care about and keep the backup off your network. also, do not open any email if you are not aware of the source. don't believe any email or popup that you read; nor any phone call that you receive.
 
In the old days I have seen Avast literally get destroyed by viruses.
Was about worthless. Of course if the bad stuff is new and fresh most av. software won't help much.
 
I'm a bit out of date as been years since I've worked with Windows.
One thing to consider is what extra support do you get from the paid product.
I worked for a large organisation and our ~10,000 ish user network got a zero day. With the enterprise agreement we had, McAfee flew engineers up the same day to help contain, they had updated signatures by early evening and the follow day they worked on clean up and getting us productive again.
 
I have kids in the house and quite a few internet connected devices. It simply amazes me the hooks that social media and "kids" sites try and get into everything. In my house, I run AV, Adblock +, Bluecoat K9, Untangle UTM, OpenDNS filtering, and probably some others I'm forgetting at the moment. All of which is free to me, except Untangle is $50 a year....but well worth it. I backup to multiple devices as well as encrypted offsite. Of course, I work in cyber sec, so I'm probably a little more paranoid than the average user.
grin.gif
 
Avira. Panda and AVG are the best of the free ones right now..... meaning at/near the top for both protection and performance. AVG just changed recently and is quite improved. Whichever you choose, opt-out of their ''free'' add-ons they try to push on you.

Me?...... I run Microsoft Windows Defender, for I do not open anyones' attachments or questionable / tricky websites. Yes, some of the ransomware links are tricky. Be sure to know the exact letters of the website you're opening. Any doubts?...... don't open it.

I still have a year or two left on paid subscriptions..... Avira, Webroot, ESET.....etc. They either gave me too many false positives or they slowed my web-surfing, so I ditched them. I'd rather run with lightning-fast Windows Defender, despite their low ratings overall. Their surfing performance level is the best of all of the rivals. I don;t click-on risky links or attachments, so this one is all I need.
 
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If you're totally up to date on all programs, operating system, web browser, flash, java etc., the likelihood of getting infected by just browsing is extremely minimal. Like almost non existent. Email attachments/scams are where most infections occur from user input.

I'd be curious who uses the machine that got infected???

That being said, Malwayebytes Anti-Exploit will stop nearly all zero day attacks on unpatched software while browsing, and you can get it free.
 
Bit Defender 2k17, Zemana Anti-Keyloggers, and VoodooShield. I've never had any problems in the past 10 years at all. There is a mindset in the A/V community that a smart user can mitigate most problems and I agree with it.

Easiest way to avoid malware is put your browser in a sandbox (something along the lines of Sandboxie). Set it to wipe on exit and never bring anything out of the sandbox. This can cause some minor problems but it will go a very long way to prevent future infections.
 
Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
If you're totally up to date on all programs, operating system, web browser, flash, java etc., the likelihood of getting infected by just browsing is extremely minimal. Like almost non existent. Email attachments/scams are where most infections occur from user input.

I'd be curious who uses the machine that got infected???

That being said, Malwayebytes Anti-Exploit will stop nearly all zero day attacks on unpatched software while browsing, and you can get it free.



A lot of drive by download malware never alerts the user the malware was downloaded. In most cases it's actually clean so no alarms will be set. The program will open up an encrypted channel with a server and download the payload. Even if the A/V solution notices it the channel is encrypted so it can't detect it.

This is how most moderately advanced malware works and it's designed to circumvent the A/V solution.
 
Absolutely spot on. It never ceases to amaze me what standard AV/patches/browser extensions, etc.. will allow or never detect. That is why I take a very multi-pronged approach to securing my network/devices. The attitude of "I never click on email links/pop ups, etc.." is very naive, IMO. If you were to actually see everything that comes in and out of your computer, I think most people would be absolutely shocked (regardless of what AV/Anti Malware they run).
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Originally Posted By: BalticBob
eset NOD32 is worth the fee.


++ For ESET.

I think their SmartSecurity Suite is more comprehensive than NOD32.


It is, yes, however NOD32 is pretty robust by itself.
 
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