Which antivirus is best for win7

[penn]

Tried KIS Internet Security 2009 - and everytime I logged on the GRC it kept failing the leak tests - even windows 7 firewall passes those tests every time

 

[Night Hawk]

The one thing seen in IE 8 now is the Suggested sites option to help filter unwanted sites where you are likely to catch bugs from to start with. The Live search also steers you away from sites that are known to bugged.

 

[tw33k]

eset NOD32. been using it so long now i would never dream of using anything else

 

[Night Hawk]

The only reason I even have an antivirus program on at this point is due to the constant prompting you would see from Windows itself. The last time and probably the only time I can remember running into a virus was like 4yrs. ago.

I had to intentionally let it run just to see what it would do as well as testing the older free version of AVG at the time. AVG won out when put against the I-Worm that came attacked on an unknown email at the time.

 

[sexytool]

The last time and probably the only time I can remember running into a virus was like 4yrs. ago.

Trojans and back-doors don't show any visible signs of infection, so how can you know you didn't have one?

 

[Night Hawk]

Trojans and back-doors don't show any visible signs of infection, so how can you know you didn't have one?

I've run into enough trojan downloaders and other bugs trying to get a foot hold to no avail back when there was no antiphising filtering seen in IE 6 while AVG actually pointed out where those were located for manual removal on the few occasions as well as other protections catching a few. Viruses and trojans however are two different things entirely to begin with there.

Adwares, spywares, downloaders, key loggers each fall into their own catagory of malwares. Likewise there are different forms of viruses. An I-Worm for example is a self replicating worm that uses your contact list in order to infect other systems by spreading to them by your own email client.

Downloaders generally create a doorway for other bugs to be downloaded directly onto your system. Browser hijackers are a form of adware by forcing the older versions of IE onto a specific site trying to keep you logged in there. You'll notice that all of the newer antivirus programs now indicate having additional malware and IE protection added in not just offering protection from various viruses.

 

[sexytool]

If you'd been using firefox or netscape before that i'd agree you had a low chance of malicious software.

Regardless of category however, until version 7 IE was exploitable to the stage where vicious software was able to be dropped without any visual indicator whatsoever.

The only way you could tell, is if you had a process monitor that alerted you to a second instance of IE running. And in those days, such software simply didn't exist. It still doesn't to date, if a process is cleared for running like IE then software to date will not be able to differentiate between a user initiated process and an exploit initiated process.

Thus the problem with popup blockers and the reason they never work 100%; They can't tell the difference between a normal popup and an exploited popup since exploits usually run with administrator or system privellages, the software simply assumes you needed administrator privelages to run IE or that you initiated it by clicking a link in another application, such as a link in the Version segment of Azureus.

Furthermore is windows' core susceptibility with TCPIP.sys. It's not very exploitable nowadays, but even as recently as 2 years ago XP was vulnerable to multiple attacks via the TCPIP networking host and windows 2000 sadly never received hotfixes for all the attacks XP is protected against.

Anyone who knows this understands just how necessary an anti-virus and decent hardware or *nix firewall is. Software alternatives like ZoneAlarm simply don't cut it.

The only way you could get away with having no AV and anti-spyware software -in ANY day- is if you used netscape/firefox and only checked web-based email.
Even then you're at the mercy of the server; if their AV missed a virus (And there was a 3 to 15% chance then that it did happen) you'd cop it for certain.

 

[Night Hawk]

FireFox seems to have it's own problems with "bugs" of various types ruling that one out as a 100% safe alternative. Read up on a few of those like "FireFox Vulneable To 7-Year-Old Bug" http://www.crn.com/security/164300698;jsessionid=IWRVEHUHJHG5YQSNDLPCKHSCJUNN2JVN

Or how about,,,
Drive-by Trojans exploit browser flaws

Is Firefox really more secure than IE? Drive-by Trojans exploit browser flaws • The Register

Don't think for a moment that since you are not using one browser but another you can't be wailed good by some other malware intended for alternate browsers.

There's never any 1000% percent guaranty in writting for any browser that exists. Being very familiar with any subtle changes plus multiple layers of protections on top of "smart browsing habits" are the methods that help steer you away from most bugs to start with.

 

[Night Hawk]

To suppliment the antiphising filter and suggested sites option now seen in IE 8 those who run WLM with the optional toolbar as well as any other 3rd party addon security bar are actually far less likely to run into the bad sites to start off with. The few run into so far were flagged instantly with a trojan alert prompt where you either hit the back arrow or closed out the browser window before anything could be dropped onto the hard drive.

The one thing that will get past any and all browsers despite what faults you want to point out for any particular is what you download. If a virus is concealed there then you have a problem without a good layer of protection inplace.

Some of the bugs out there will actually slip past the best rated browser as well as the top antivirus programs where you then need some type of special remover. It depends often on how well they are written regardless of which program or browser is used.

 

[ten]

The best protection is using ones head. I don't run diddly squat for protection or use Active X and never have any issues.
If I purposely download something from a "bad" site, I online scan it and run it in a VM.

 

[turgo]

Nod32 by www.[B]eset[/B].com
Not free but lightweight.

 

[newtoallthis]

can anyone tell me what is the best anti virus in windows 7 plz
thanks
Kareem

I had been using AVG 8.5 free edition on Win 7 Beta and although it ran OK Windows wouldn't accept it as a valid antivirus.
I got a mail from the AVG beta testers team today to try the latest AVG 8.5 beta and this installs OK and Windows accepts this with no problems.
This version has the firewall and toolbar from AVG.
I've not had time to check all of it but if it continues to run OK, I will try an install on my Windows 7 RC and see how it runs there.

 

[rive0108]

Actually there is no one "best" antivirus program since 7 is still in beta form. Avast was tried on 7 here and later replaced by the free version of AVG. The first run of AVG saw 7 lock up solid. Later once updates became available AVG began to run as it would on XP or Vista.

For retail AVG Pro, Kaspersky, Trend Micro, NOD32, and a few others make the preferred lists. The best if you are intending to run a retail product not advised for any beta at this time would be to try out the shareware versions of each to see which one runs the best on your system.

AVG and Trend Micro are poor antivirus apps.

Recent AV testing certifies AVG as standard, and Trend Fails almost all the lab tests it is part of.


Avira Antivir (Advanced)
Avast! (Advanced)
Bitdefender (Advanced)
AVG (Standard)


poor performers-Not recommended
Vipre (ineffective removal of detected malware threats)
Advanced SystemCare 3 (disables critical Windows components, low detecton rate, and high false alarms)
CyberHawk (high false Alarms)
CyberDefender (Network Dynamics aka CyberDefender Corp-Product vender known for releasing spyware/malware [eblocs/spyblocs], low detection rate)

For Trend there is only the west coast labs certification, which shows a missed Trojan, and ICSA (which doesn’t even test for polymorphic threats-i.e., self replicating/potentially catastrophic malware threats). AV-Comparatives is top notch, and is the best, followed closely by Virus Bulletin’s VB100. Trend Micro failed the last VB100, and has no recent entries at all with AV-Comparatives. It is usually a fair indicator that a Vendor’s product is subpar, when it is not entered into either AV-Comparatives, or the VB100, and/or consistently fails the VB100 whereas NOD32 and Symantec consistently pass year after year.

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/produ..._pro_2009.html

“Trend Micro Internet Security Pro 2009 Review
Jan 22, 2009 by Erik Larkin, PC World
Trend Micro's suite fails at the most basic task of detecting and blocking malicious software. Not recommended.

Trend Micro Internet Security Pro 2009 ($70 for three users as of 12/24/08 ) fails badly at any security suite's most important task: Identifying malware before it can attack your PC. In tests for "Paying for Protection," our 2009 roundup of nine security suites, Trend Micro's newest offering didn't just come in last place in that crucial category--its dismal 69.3 percent detection rate was a full 20 percentage points behind the next worst competitor. In AV-Test.org's tests, which put each suite up against a huge array of bots, password stealers, and other malware, top performers tagged about 99 percent of the 654,914 samples--but Trend Micro's package let three out of every ten pieces of malicious software go by untouched. That just doesn't cut it for security software.
Trend Micro likewise fell flat in heuristic tests using two-week-old signature files to simulate dealing with unknown threats, and at catching annoying adware. It was dead last in both categories.
The company says that it emphasizes proactive protection that attempts to block threats before they can try installing malware (and before the suite would have to recognize it). Trend Micro uses its own Web crawlers, download tests, and user reports to maintain a database of malicious Web sites, and will block those sites from loading on your PC. It's a valid approach--one that could well supplement scanning for malware on your PC--but it can't yet replace that core detection task.
Trend Micro's package did shine when tasked with cleaning up an existing infection. It removed all the files from nine out of ten malware infections, a performance that only BitDefender matched. It was almost as good in dealing with Registry changes, placing second in that test.
The suite offers a few interesting features, such as a scan for missing Windows patches that assigns a risk level for each one. You'll also get a useful Wi-Fi advisor button in a browser toolbar that can warn you if your wireless network lacks encryption--a smart tool placed in a good location.
Trend Micro also did well with its user interface, and clearly took time to provide good descriptions for features and options. Right away we noticed the use of plain English throughout the program.
But the company went too far with its desire to simplify, as we saw no pop-ups or warnings when it blocked our attempted Zango-adware download. We had to dig into the program logs to find out what was going on. It's good to help people make informed decisions to protect their computer, but it's also important to at least give users an idea that something we just tried to do was potentially harmful. Without an alert, a user might think that their browser simply had a problem, and they might then try installing the dangerous software through another browser--or even worse, on another PC. You can change the default setting to display warnings when your PC encounters viruses or spyware, but you shouldn't have to.
Trend Micro's suite has some good points, but there's no getting around the fact that Internet Security Pro 2009 fails at detecting malicious software, and therefore fails as a security program. We cannot recommend buying it.”

 

[rive0108]

I've run into enough trojan downloaders and other bugs trying to get a foot hold to no avail back when there was no antiphising filtering seen in IE 6 while AVG actually pointed out where those were located for manual removal on the few occasions as well as other protections catching a few. Viruses and trojans however are two different things entirely to begin with there.

Adwares, spywares, downloaders, key loggers each fall into their own catagory of malwares. Likewise there are different forms of viruses. An I-Worm for example is a self replicating worm that uses your contact list in order to infect other systems by spreading to them by your own email client.

Downloaders generally create a doorway for other bugs to be downloaded directly onto your system. Browser hijackers are a form of adware by forcing the older versions of IE onto a specific site trying to keep you logged in there. You'll notice that all of the newer antivirus programs now indicate having additional malware and IE protection added in not just offering protection from various viruses.

The only reason I even have an antivirus program on at this point is due to the constant prompting you would see from Windows itself. The last time and probably the only time I can remember running into a virus was like 4yrs. ago.

I had to intentionally let it run just to see what it would do as well as testing the older free version of AVG at the time. AVG won out when put against the I-Worm that came attacked on an unknown email at the time.

AVG is pretty much bottom of the barrel Antivirus- Standard certification in both Hueristic and On-Demand testing. 93% detection.

A decent AV app has atleast a 97% detection rate, with minimal false alarms.

[Feb 2009 AV-Comparatives detection rates]

Virus 97%
Macro Viruses 91%
Script malware 42%
Worms 95%
Backdoor/bots 96%
Trojans 92%
Other malware 79%

The best malware out there is not easily detectable, and is silent and deadly. Things such as loggers, rootkits, etc., Those who think they are not in need of AV products are usually those who become part of botnets, with backdoors for remote by malicious Users, and in worst cases suffer fron the "unexplained" issues of Identity theft when their passwords, Bank Accounts, and other Info is comprimised. Look around, the black market for SSN numbers, credit cards and other personal data is flourishing. Hundreds of sites, and as soon as one comes down, another goes up. Where do you think this data comes from? Hacking data networks, and personal computers is big money. Worms, and botnets with hundreds of thousands of comprised computers is also flourishing. Those without Antivirus, or poor performing AV products (includes those that are expired, with old definitions), or unpatched Windows make up the bulk of those in botnets, and whose comprimised personal data is for sale for pennies on the black market. The sad thing is most Corporations that have your credit card number and accounts use substandard Av products, or unpatched servers without AES encryption measures in effect, and while you cant do anything about that (other than not give your SSN to those who use it for "filing identification purposes": i.e., doctors, dentists, etc.,) The only ones who "need" this information are the Government, Banks, and Employers. You can at least reduce the risks (and time consuming methods involved in repairs/malware removal) by at least securing your own Computer and data- this is a must if you do online banking and shopping [and who doesnt do this?]

 

[Night Hawk]

Wow. You do realize the best malware is the kind not easily detected right?, and as I stated in a previous post, AVG is pretty much bottom of the barrel Antivirus- Standard certification in both Hueristic and On-Demand testing. 93% detection.

A decent AV app has atleast a 97% detection rate, with minimal false alarms.]

I've been AVG for the last 6-7yrs. and seen it detect trojans while being disabled in the startup and services tabs in the system config. That was before Grisoft bought out Ewido an old favorite updated and since seen in the 8.0 and 8.5 builds.

As for ratings they seem to be looking mainly at the basic AVG retail editions found in stores like Walmart not the AVG Pro editions sold for commercial application. Trend Micro may have slumped there somewhat while they had a great scanning tool known as House Call available.

As for false positives that can end up being seen in any protection type of software. I ran into Adware and others seeing the IPoint.exe file for the MS as a "threat"? being part of the MS software for their own optical mice. But the thing that most seem to forget is not to place everything in just one basket when stating multiple layers of protection along with "smart browsing" habits and deletion of any "unknown" emails with files attached will tend to keep bugs off to start with.

As far as any boot sector viruses that was seen a decade ago before boot sector protection was added into bios programming. Have a look in the bios setup on an older board sometime to see the option to enable or disable boot sector protection there.

The other item now seen built into just about every updated software is antirootkit protection to replace old and now outdated separate tools you had to go for separately. Removers for those used to be seen in the special tools section at the download site for the various programs.

 

[sexytool]

others seeing the IPoint.exe file for the MS as a "threat"? being part of the MS software for their own optical mice

KAV when set to advanced mode has picked that up as well, i use one and co-incidentally was using the official driver package when i used KAV.
I had to remove it because the package forces mouse accelleration on, and that pisses me right off, but it was still detected.

KAV Also detects STEAM.exe as a trojan.

I think it's more important to mention; There is no such thing as a false positive.

If an AV says something is a trojan, IT IS A TROJAN.
It's just not a HARMFUL trojan, many companies these days are implementing trojan-like code into their software to allow them to keep track of you.

STEAM is a perfect example where STEAM.exe and a few other files are picked up as a trojan - AND IT IS.
Yet the features which make it be detected as a trojan are simply part of STEAMS' anti-cheat system.

Doesn't change the fact that for all intensive purposes, steam is a trojan by definition. Not all trojans attack and not all trojans steal important info, so the most accurate defenition to stick by is my own;
"Software that has attractive qualities about it and the user installs the software wanting these attractive features. The software also has the ability to steal information and/or perform milicious attacks on the computer, which is hidden from the user"

STEAM.exe does exactly that, it reads memory, hdd folder tree and multiple other virus-like activities so it can find cheats on your system.
If you are found cheating it then bans you.

None of this is in STEAMs' End User Licencing Agreement however, so you're not giving STEAM consent for it to do this. That makes it fit every trojan definition to date; even http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trojan_horse_(computing) tends use a computer game as an example.... i'm wondering by now if they're actually referring to VALVe releasing steam with a trojan/backdoor

Nighthawk; FixMBR has been around since windows 2000, not sure if it was in 98, never needed it then. I needed it with 2000 however when installing a devian boot loader killed my MBR

Have a look in the bios setup on an older board sometime to see the option to enable or disable boot sector protection there.

That is rather useless. Boot Sector Protection only works on HDD0 Partition1 and your boot HDD may be HDD2 Partition 3. Sadly newer motherboards have allowed you to specify which hdd was your highest boot priority. I guess it was to remove the need for a multi-oS capable boot loader and allow you to boot into multiple OS's via picking the HDD it's on as the boot device.

Either way, especially with XP and 2k not requiring boot data to be within the 1018* odd cylinder boundry, boot protection is a false claim. It's much harder to protect your boot sector now than it ever was.

We're just lucky that 2k and newer has eliminated the rootkit problem which allowed the MBR to be attacked in the first place.

 

[Night Hawk]

Mouse movement and IE activity are two separate items there. The mouse input and cursor display items without any direct IE connection or involvement. Your ISP is more likely to be watching just where you go. That's been seen enough times.

I'm far more inclined to think freewares would be the more likely to see hidden bugs like keyloggers and other things for collecting personal data in those over any registared softwares.

As far as the boot sector protection process to start with most systems generally see but not always see one main drive by itself at this time. But you also have to look back to see how small drives were back some 10-15yrs. ago where it was common for seeing several drives if the enclosure allowed for it namely server or full tower cases with 20-50mb capacities later growing in size to 5gb.

As far as antirootkit tools those were seen available for XP up until recently within the last year. And who mentioned anything about fixboot needed in 7? Vista introduced the startup repair tool which you may not too familiar with that can be used to correct a few more things then just mbr entries.

For the most part the bugs floating around at this are intended more as adwares, data collectors, self replicators, and only a few intended to trash some part of Windows. Probably the largest concern in that sense would see the focus on botnets.

 

[ronalde]

I'm running Eset Anti Virus 4.0 X64 and Windows Firewall.
Works great for me!

Greetz Ronald E

 

[rive0108]

New May 2009 Hueristic detection test results are out:

 

[rive0108]

AVG detected "generic" malware in AVAST! antivirus, and SOPHOS antivirus...
Kaspersky detected malware in Google....