Think Windows's Built-In Antivirus Will Keep You Safe? You're Wrong

[A Guy]

Microsoft has dabbled in the antivirus business for longer than you might imagine. Back in 1993, MS-DOS 6 included an antivirus licensed from Central Point. That antivirus was later acquired by Symantec and integrated into the Norton Security product line. Over the years we've seen Microsoft Anti-Virus for Windows, Microsoft Security Essentials, and Microsoft Windows Defender. Unfortunately, Microsoft's free antivirus tools will not protect your computer from modern malware.

Source

A Guy

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I had a lot of trouble reading the article because of a stupid menu superimposed over the text but from what I could read, it's the same thing I've been saying for years (MSE does a worse job of protecting than just about anything else) but get flamed for saying so.

 

[ThrashZone]

It's the same old story,
Click on the Comp-view flag on the right end of the url address bar LF,
No Antivirus does well with Malware that's why mbam pro is required for all antivirus programs especially MSE,
But the article was more about 8-8.1 and now 10 and Windows defender and added MSE and 7 for good measure,
But don't let that flog the glass

Bad News from PCMag
Results from the big labs are important, but I always run my own hands-on tests to make sure I have a good feel for each program. Windows Defender totally missed quite a few of my malware samples, and some of them were really nasty. In one case, it allowed a ransomware attack to completely take over the test system. A botnet sample established itself thoroughly enough to trigger a warning from my ISP before I wiped out the affected virtual machine.
My malware collection is relatively static, changed just once per year. However, I also test how well a product handles malware-hosting URLs, and those downloads are typically no more than four hours old. Top score so far in this test is 85 percent protection, either preventing access to the URL or wiping out the malware download. The average score is 40 percent. Microsoft's score? Just 3 percent.
For all the gory details, read my review of Windows Defender. If you've been relying on this utility, or on Microsoft Security Essentials, right now is the time to install free antivirus from another vendor.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Uh...what Comp-view flag?

 

[A Guy]

Thought that was just my old Opera, had to take the URL to IE to see it, lol. A Guy

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I'm running IE11. Apparently, there are still some websites that still don't know IE11 has been out a while.

 

[ThrashZone]

Instead of the comp-view flag = broken page icon your actually showing the Active x filtering flag/ icon
It's not blue but expect that's because of the screen shot being taken = Blue circle with a slash through it

Gear symbol/ Safety and Uncheck active x filtering.

To get rid of comp view lists from Microsoft use Alt+TB
Uncheck everything/ Close.
If you just want to add that site to the comp-view list and your already on the site just click on the add buttom the site will already be listed.
Use F5 to refresh the page and it should appear normally

Delete your browser history next to get rid of the comp-view lists already been auto downloaded,
Alt+TD
Then check everything except for the top box Uncheck it,
You can Uncheck form fills if you use that feature/ Delete.
Close and restart ie.

 

[A Guy]

Or skip the article, lol

A Guy

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Or skip the article, lol

A Guy

I'm liking that option better.

 

[Alejandro85]

What kind of "genius" designed that site?
With the advertising spam covering the main article, we can't read either the text itself nor the ads.
But it's easy, just disable Javascript for a moment and it won't popup (remember to re-enable afterwards or it will break 90% of internet).

Ok, now to back to business.
The article in itself doesn't tells anything at all, just cites sources from somewhere else saying that MSE scores really low in tests and all that has been already said. No value at all in just copy-pasting some other articles.
Even though that, it's really true that MSE is a poor option in comparision to most other antiviruses out there.

There is something that nobody mentions, however. Most antiviruses, including those that rank high are actually a bad options if you want REAL security. Antiviruses are since long ago increasingly becoming obsolete technology, using proved innefective techniques to detect and remove malware.
I really hate when people spend hours discussing which antivirus to use, while almost never anyone talks about real security. Permissions are seldom, if ever, mentioned, firewalls appear frequently but almost never anyone thinks of its configuration, "sandboxing" sometimes is considered, disabling Windows known default vulnerabilities and unused features is regarded as a taboo, and I'm just starting.

Reality is that antiviruses as of today are more placebo than security, but often people get a false sense of security with them.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

What kind of "genius" designed that site?
With the advertising spam covering the main article, we can't read either the text itself nor the ads.
But it's easy, just disable Javascript for a moment and it won't popup (remember to re-enable afterwards or it will break 90% of internet).

Ok, now to back to business.
The article in itself doesn't tells anything at all, just cites sources from somewhere else saying that MSE scores really low in tests and all that has been already said. No value at all in just copy-pasting some other articles.
Even though that, it's really true that MSE is a poor option in comparision to most other antiviruses out there.

There is something that nobody mentions, however. Most antiviruses, including those that rank high are actually a bad options if you want REAL security. Antiviruses are since long ago increasingly becoming obsolete technology, using proved innefective techniques to detect and remove malware.
I really hate when people spend hours discussing which antivirus to use, while almost never anyone talks about real security. Permissions are seldom, if ever, mentioned, firewalls appear frequently but almost never anyone thinks of its configuration, "sandboxing" sometimes is considered, disabling Windows known default vulnerabilities and unused features is regarded as a taboo, and I'm just starting.

Reality is that antiviruses as of today are more placebo than security, but often people get a false sense of security with them.

Antivirus programs are still a valuable tool in one's anti-malware arsenal however, they are but one tool. One needs other tools in addition to an AV. Using just an AV only is kindasorta like tightening a nut on a bolt with one wrench on the nut only and no wrench on the head of the bolt. You might get lucky and get it tightened but you are just as likely to spin the bolt with the nut. Still, just an AV only is better than nothing at all, as long as it is a halfway decent one (unlike MSE).

 

[ThrashZone]

I've had Mcafee/ Norton/ (Stop sign = not cheap one)
All failed in the basics,

Since adding mbam pro I've had no issues at all even the last couple.. years with Yes free MSE
I also have SAS but that is just a tracking cookie cleaner for the most part,

So I completely agree these "Best A-V discussions aren't worth the digital space they take up
But the companies selling services won't ever acknowledge that they are irrelevant now days too much money for the taking with scare tactics articles.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I've had Mcafee/ Norton/ (Stop sign = not cheap one)
All failed in the basics,

Since adding mbam pro I've had no issues at all even the last couple.. years with Yes free MSE
I also have SAS but that is just a tracking cookie cleaner for the most part,

So I completely agree these "Best A-V discussions aren't worth the digital space they take up
But the companies selling services won't ever acknowledge that they are irrelevant now days too much money for the taking with scare tactics articles.

Mcafee has a bad reputation for being a bit resource heavy and not particularly effective; still, it's better than MSE. Norton used to be too resource heavy but has improved considerably over the years. I don't feel it's worth the price, however.

Even MBAM will tell you it's supposed to be used in conjunction with an AV. Since it's a second line of defense, wouldn't it make more sense to use the best AV you can afford for your first line of defense instead of depending more heavily on the second line of defense? No one anti-malware program is going to stop everything, even MBAM, so one has to depend on layers of protection in hopes that one layer will catch what the previous layers may have missed.

 

[NoelDP]

I just cleaned up a machine that had Norton on from new - paid-for.
A full scan of MBAM showed almost 1000 points of infestation - mostly from Mindscape dross.
There were also a few nasties in the Task Scheduler - which all AV and malware programs seem to be very ignorant of.

 

[ThrashZone]

I just cleaned up a machine that had Norton on from new - paid-for.
A full scan of MBAM showed almost 1000 points of infestation - mostly from Mindscape dross.
There were also a few nasties in the Task Scheduler - which all AV and malware programs seem to be very ignorant of.

I saw you post here Noel,
http://www.sevenforums.com/browsers-mail/364847-every-browser-i-use-crashes-7.html#post3044243
The latest screen shots do not show Norton installed but the op posted startup items and Norton is listed
Have a lookout for it in logs I guess :/
Cheers.

 

[Layback Bear]

If someone depends on any anti virus program to do the job Malwarebytes does you are going to be disappointed.

If someone is trying to find a article to tell you that MSE is great you are going to be disappointed again.
No matter how good it is now or will become will ever be front page.

Front page articles are about products that are sold and pay for advertisement.
MSE is not sold and you can't pay for a upgraded better version.
I have never seen a paid add for MSE.

A test to me would be how many computers use what product.

If I'm reading the charts correctly, MSE and Malwarebytes are the most used.

Please use what ever programs you feel comfortable with and not what some ding dong writes a article about what you should use.

This should help. Take a little read.

https://www.opswat.com/resources/reports/antivirus-january-2014

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I had a virus sneak onto my notebook a few months ago. Avast free, MBAM Pro, SAS, ZoneAlarm free firewall, and Spybot S&D all didn't detect it. I discovered it when the music from a CD I was playing started breaking up a bit, then I noticed the CPU was running warmer than usual. I ran all my scans and only SAS came close to finding anything; it would find anywhere from 75 to 150 adware cookies every time I ran it. I checked the Task Manager and found the .exe that was planting the adware. The little bugger had planted itself in its own folder in one of my programs. Deleting the folder was a bit tough because the process was still running and it would keep restarting every time I tried to stop it. It took several attempts to get it stopped long enough to delete the folder. However, as soon as I would reboot, the blasted thing would show up in another folder so apparently it was hiding in the boot sector. I finally restored to an earlier image to get rid of it for keeps and ran SAS again (for the umpteenth time) to make sure I had gotten rid of all the adware. When I researched the name of the bug that was on its folder and its .exe file, I couldn't find anything about it.

So yes, it is true that anti-malware programs and AVs won't stop everything all the time but they are still one heck of a lot better than nothing or settling for less than good measures.

Btw, I frequently see posts from people who say they don't use antiviruses and never get viruses. Considering most viruses, etc. nowadays run in stealth mode, how do these people know they don't have an infection if they don't have the tools to detect them?

 

[Layback Bear]

Lady Fitzgerald nest time you get a nasty that keep starting up at boot try Safe Mode to remove it. It will probable won't start in Safe Mode and can be removed.

All those programs that didn't find the nasty probable will in a few days because of program updates.
It's hard to keep updates updated as fast as the bad guys put out their junk.

I use SAS several times on demand several times a day and seldom find anything. Some how MSE and Malwarebytes Premium keep bad cookies out.

 

[ThrashZone]

Have you tried this Jack ?

 

[Callender]

About the only thing that I find useful in any AV is the on access file scan. Other methods seem to stop malware better than any AV I've used.