What's the Best Anti-virus?

brotherboard said:

I would say the best anti-virus prog. is the one that keeps your system clean by not allowing any viruses onto it.

Unfortunately it hasn't been invented yet.

Sandboxie just about does exactly what you are saying. It's been around awhile.

Not connecting to the internet will curtail better then 99% of all viruses and malwares!

(gee no web surfing or FaceBook? )

I was a long-time McAfee user until last year, when I started having a ton of problems. The first time my laptop was taken over by malware, I decided to give McAfee another chance. A few months later, the website redirects started happening again, so I enlisted the help of a technician. He replaced McAfee with MSE and also gave me the free version of Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware. That combination has not failed me yet and is much more user friendly. MSE also has no noticeable effect on speed (MBAM does slow me down a good bit, but I only run it every now and then).

A few months ago, our desktop, which also had McAfee, had a bunch of infections (largely the fault of my nearly computer-illiterate brother). I downloaded MBAM and replaced McAfee with MSE. MBAM fixed the bulk of the infections, and MSE fixed a few more that it had missed. That computer, though nearly six years old, now runs very well.

For solid, no-cost security, Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware (free version) and Microsoft Security Essentials make a great team.

I don't think Anti-Virus is all that needed as people say... If you stay on Legit sites and Download from Legit sites the chances of you getting Malware are minimal.... However Firewalls are a different story

The problem is and can be at times knowing which sites are actually valid and not revoked or simply fast spring up sites. As far as free downloads many of those even when found available on the best rated sites can sometimes have a hidden bonus of adware or some other bug.

As far as McAfee someone was very fortunate not to have seen a list of malwares through the years since that receives about the worst rep of any. And yes Malwarebytes will miss things more often then people realize. I compared that to various other spyware/adware programs.

The main thing needed to prevent most infections besides clicking on offers for fake spyware removers that turn out to be I-Worms with a new look is IE protection with an effective web filtering. Web of Trust is another little free addon for your browser that rates privacy protection on each site. I found that one a useful addon when making comparisons as well as the free Crawler Toolbar when your main program lacks those protections.

One thing discovered with VIPRE over any other program looked into for a tetail or free program was actual discovery of trojans embedded in old XP downloads supposedly utilities never used on a separate storage drive still storing some of the old files. Besides the combined protections in VIPRE Home Premium the detection of bugs hidden in zip files came where Avast, AVG, the MS SE, Spyware Terminator, Malwarebytes, and others had missed them totally.

Even after all that however I can agree with the idea that there is no one program you can actually call the absolute best av program since new malwares are constanly being introduced some far more clever then others.

Gizmo's Guide to Securing Your PC
This is the aya to go

Good one! But prevention is always far more effective then simply adding protection. I see the author also referred to the WOT addon which rates each site.

Shadowjk said:

I don't think Anti-Virus is all that needed as people say... If you stay on Legit sites and Download from Legit sites the chances of you getting Malware are minimal.... However Firewalls are a different story

Scumbags are constantly creating poisoned links.

Ed Bott has written articles recently about poisoned links in Google search results:
IE9 versus Chrome: which one blocks malware better? | ZDNet
Also poisoned ads:
Social engineering in action: how web ads can lead to malware | ZDNet

Most malware (in my Virus Vault) seems to appear after I have been surfing "legitimate" sites only!

On my PC, I only see malware occasionally (once every 3 or 4 months).
I haven't had any system-destroying malware during the last 5 years (since I swapped from IE6 to FF + No Script).

I have had my web mail "hijacked" a couple of times in that period.
Both times I think that I failed to delete my Internet cache.

IMO, the best defence is regular backups of:

• Your important files.
• Your OS.

It takes less time to re-image your system, than to reinstall your OS (or track down dodgy files).

Obviously you should check for malware, BEFORE creating your backups.

Additional
I forgot to say make sure that you have EXTERNAL backups (not just local ones).

lehnerus2000 said:

Shadowjk said:

I don't think Anti-Virus is all that needed as people say... If you stay on Legit sites and Download from Legit sites the chances of you getting Malware are minimal.... However Firewalls are a different story

Scumbags are constantly creating poisoned links.

Ed Bott has written articles recently about poisoned links in Google search results:
IE9 versus Chrome: which one blocks malware better? | ZDNet
Also poisoned ads:
Social engineering in action: how web ads can lead to malware | ZDNet

Most malware (in my Virus Vault) seems to appear after I have been surfing "legitimate" sites only!

On my PC, I only see malware occasionally (once every 3 or 4 months).
I haven't had any system-destroying malware during the last 5 years (since I swapped from IE6 to FF + No Script).

I have had my web mail "hijacked" a couple of times in that period.
Both times I think that I failed to delete my Internet cache.

IMO, the best defence is regular backups of:

• Your important files.
• Your OS.

It takes less time to re-image your system, than to reinstall your OS (or track down dodgy files).

Obviously you should check for malware, BEFORE creating your backups.

I am not saying do not have an AV but only mentioning that the AV is not the biggest security problem you should think about