Is paying for antivirus a waste of money?

I think now a days you can get buy with just free antivirus most of my computer friends use a free one without trouble. and computers I work on and fix I usually throw avast free edition and malware bytes free. unless you want the added internet protection firewall protection, I think a free antivirus such as avg avast and mse with the use of malware-bytes added on is more then a enough for most users. although me myself I pay for avast internet security, although the last couple years i have been really evaluating if i really need to.

Personally I use a paid anti malware Emsisoft and a paid lifetime Malwarebytes on my Windows 10, just Emsisoft on my 7 and of course nothing on my Linux machine, for the ordinary home user which most don't really have a clue I put Security Essentials from Microsoft on it or if it's 10 or 8.1 it's built in, I also put Super antispyware free edition on them, I also put two apps on every PC I repair, Unchecky and File Hippo App Manager and the first stops unwanted programs installing or tool bars etc. etc. and the other keeps your software up to date.

As a lot on here have said common sense is very important but most home users don't seem to grasp that. I got one PC last week with ransomware on it, had to nuke and pave it with all data lost, the ransomware came from his Dropbox account where people had been sharing stuff with him. I think this ransomware is the new big thing and it's going to lock down a lot of PC'S.

The only true way of using a computer safely these days is not to connect it to the internet - something I think a growing number of companies are slowly beginning to realise in that they are seriously questioning whether everything they do and store has to be done with internet access.

I agree with themorus that ransomware is the new big thing security-wise, and I personally think the other security disaster waiting to happen is the cloud.

I am perfectly happy to continue using the internet on my home computers of course, but I'm not complacent and I simply decline to have online access to my bank, pension and investment accounts. I prefer to handle them the old-fashioned way.

This is a good point, since discovering the Internet back in the year of 2000..I had fallen over to Norton. *Cringes* Then F-Secure. AVG and now ESET. And no matter what, if you are labeled to get a Virus Or Malware, you will be a victim to it. Because at the end of the day, those little bugs will find a way through in-between the cracks, if you are not careful.

I do have Eset Security at this moment of time. And I can safely say that it has done me justice, as far. *Touch Wood* Saying that Malware is a whole different story.

I also have Malwarebytes and SuperAntiSpyware

I'm curious does anybody still use ZoneAlarm?

I used to have ZoneAlarm years back but then something happened to them, I don't recall what and frankly I thought the company was dead long since. I'm using ESET for years and I've never had a problem. I also like the feature of its firewall that can prevent programs from accessing the internet. It's unbelievable that every little program wants to access the internet the moment it's installed.

I also used to use ZoneAlarm, and don't recall why I stopped. I then used a succession of paid-for anti-virus programs including AVG, Avast and Spyware Doctor which I found in varying ways and degrees to be unreliable bloatware with unacceptably high levels of false positives. I've been delighted with MSE running in the background with daily scans supported by twice-weekly manual scans with MBAM Free ver1.75, as well as browser protection from Chrome/Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit Free.