Comodo vs Symantec

[sastusbulbas]

I recently had MSE Avira and Ad-Aware all running on my PC. I ended up with a Virus, still don't know the real issue, it seemed I had fake MSE and Avira pop ups. I ran Comodo but the problem still persisted. Hitman pro and CCleaner "seemed" to sort it.

I say seemed as MSE, Avira, Avast, Ad-Aware, SuperAntiSpyWare, MalawareBytes, GMER and Hitman Pro all reported a clean system after full updates and scans with each other AV suite off, and I also did a CCleaner run. After all this I created a new Admin account, changed some of the share settings and changed the old Admin to standard user. But I had a major set back.

A couple of days later, my system came up with a screen stating Windows was repairing itself. When it did finally boot back up, the new Admin account was gone as were all the other changes, and all my Security and updates were claiming to have not been updated for over seven days.

Now I have no idea what AV to trust, nor what caused W7 to seemingly restore to an earlier point. Thinking I may as well secure erase this HDD and start again.

 

[madtownidiot]

Try running malwarebytes. it does a much better job of removing fake AVs than any of the AV suites available.. otherwise there's nothing more effective for cleaning a system of infections than completely erasing the HDD and reinstalling windows

 

[Maxxwire]

While Matousec results show the effectiveness of Comodo, they are worthless for products like Norton.

The best computer security software is the the one that prevails under all security threats not the one that protects under certain favorable circumstances. There are plenty of security suites that do well in Matousec's rigorous 148 part Security Challenge...

Seeing these results goes a long way toward explaining how Norton 2009 let Malware onto my computer.

~Maxx~
.

 

[Dinesh]

Today I installed Norton 360 V5 beta and its wayyyy better than Comodo in all the terms.

 

[mjf]

This is not my area of expertise but when my McAfee license expires I was thinking of Comodo which seemed to receive good support elsewhere on the Windows Seven Forums. Can you advise:
1) Go for a free package: which one
2) Go for a paid package: which one

thanks for any expertise here.

 

[Maxxwire]

Today I installed Norton 360 V5 beta and its wayyyy better than Comodo in all the terms.

Did you see the Matousec Proactive Security Challenge results I posted above? On what scale is Norton's 40% pass rate wayyy better than the 100% score Comodo received on the rigorous 148 part test done by one of the most reputable computer testing firms?

~Maxx~
.

 

[Maxxwire]

This is not my area of expertise but when my McAfee license expires I was thinking of Comodo which seemed to receive good support elsewhere on the Windows Seven Forums.

And deservedly so. Over 1,000,000 new users install Comodo Internet Security each month. I have run Comodo for almost 2 years and I like that it monitors all the processes on the computer and won't let them run without permission. Yesterday I was using some new features in my graphics program and Comodo alerted me each time and asked if it was okay to let it run. Once permission is given Comodo will never ask again unlike the chatty UAC in Windows 7 which Proactive Defense+ can replace.

Some security savvy Members here on the Windows 7 Forums install the Comodo Firewall along with MSE for a well matched creative computer security combo.

~Maxx~
.

 

[Wishmaster]

Today I installed Norton 360 V5 beta and its wayyyy better than Comodo in all the terms.

Did you see the Matousec Proactive Security Challenge results I posted above? On what scale is Norton's 40% pass rate wayyy better than the 100% score Comodo received on the rigorous 148 part test done by one of the most reputable computer testing firms?

~Maxx~
.

EDIT--- misread thinking test was NIS 2009.

Is there a newer test with 2011?

 

[Corrine]

@mjf - Here is the topic that you may find helpful: http://www.sevenforums.com/system-security/72070-whats-best-anti-virus.html

 

[pparks1]

Corrine, thanks for the post. It's always good to see the whole story before you start trusting the marketing materials and propaganda.

I think it's safe to say there is no 1 program which does everything perfectly. If there was such an application...everybody would use it and be in complete agreement. Everybody has differing needs and we all have different experiences. As a relatively cautious and safe web surfer...the free products are fine by me and have never left me with a huge problem.

I use MSE 2 beta, mbam (free on demand scans), and spywareblaster on my Windows 7 box at home. It's kept me clean. As far as I can recall, I've never had any alerts or anything quarantined either. So, the products may actually be doing nothing for me...but the first time they do go off...will make them worth having installed.

 

[Corrine]

You're welcome, pparks1.

I couldn't agree more with your comment:

I think it's safe to say there is no 1 program which does everything perfectly.

 

[madtownidiot]

Today I installed Norton 360 V5 beta and its wayyyy better than Comodo in all the terms.

Did you see the Matousec Proactive Security Challenge results I posted above? On what scale is Norton's 40% pass rate wayyy better than the 100% score Comodo received on the rigorous 148 part test done by one of the most reputable computer testing firms?

~Maxx~
.

EDIT--- misread thinking test was NIS 2009.

Is there a newer test with 2011?

If you have an extra computer you could download the test yourself and try it.. see how much of it NIS 2011 catches. I tried it on the current version of comodo and it caught every single sample

 

[Maxxwire]

If you have an extra computer you could download the test yourself and try it.. see how much of it NIS 2011 catches. I tried it on the current version of comodo and it caught every single sample

I do have an extra computer, but it was previously infected while being "protected" by Norton and since it has never been infected after I got rid of Norton and replaced it with Comodo freeware I intend on keeping it that way.

~Maxx~
.

 

[madtownidiot]

If you have an extra computer you could download the test yourself and try it.. see how much of it NIS 2011 catches. I tried it on the current version of comodo and it caught every single sample

I do have an extra computer, but it was previously infected while being "protected" by Norton and since it has never been infected after I got rid of Norton and replaced it with Comodo freeware I intend on keeping it that way.

~Maxx~
.

Right on... I do so many OS installs in the average day, I forget sometimes that most people would rather never have to reinstall windows

 

[pparks1]

I do have an extra computer, but it was previously infected while being "protected" by Norton and since it has never been infected after I got rid of Norton and replaced it with Comodo freeware I intend on keeping it that way.

~Maxx~
.

Perhaps after ridding yourself of Norton, you never stumbled upon a website/file/attachment with a significant problem/threat/otherwise. You might have had the exact same experience with nothing at all on your machine.

 

[Maxxwire]

Right on... I do so many OS installs in the average day, I forget sometimes that most people would rather never have to reinstall windows

Its not that I don't want to reinstall Windows as I have several different Macrium backup images and a variety of Windows System Images and it only takes 4-5 minutes using the LaCie 2TB Raid 0 eSATA HDD that I have them stored on its just that personally I am done with fiddling with Norton after its colossal failure of letting Malware onto my computer and telling me that the computer was clean all the while it was there until detected by a 3rd party scanner.

~Maxx~
.

 

[madtownidiot]

I do have an extra computer, but it was previously infected while being "protected" by Norton and since it has never been infected after I got rid of Norton and replaced it with Comodo freeware I intend on keeping it that way.

~Maxx~
.

Perhaps after ridding yourself of Norton, you never stumbled upon a website/file/attachment with a significant problem/threat/otherwise. You might have had the exact same experience with nothing at all on your machine.

I have 3 teenagers in my house..judging by the typical firewall and defense+ logs on their computers, I would say it takes about 20 minutes for one of them to find a malicious website.

 

[malexous]

Maxxwire isn't your child. Three people use our computers and haven't come across malicious software in many years (except on purpose).

 

[madtownidiot]

Maxxwire isn't your child. Three people use our computers and haven't come across malicious software in many years (except on purpose).

Oh, for goodness sake, all I was trying to say is there are tons of malicious sites out there. I mentioned my kids because they seem to have a talent for finding them. They never seem to figure out that it's a bad idea to follow links from one page to the next at random. Unless a person has developed a habit of only going to a few sites they on a regular basis, chances are they will encounter something bogus very quickly. Pretty sad situation, but that's what the internet has come to.

 

[malexous]

Why is that? Last I checked, they both have the same purpose.. stopping viruses and malicious software from infecting a computer.

Exactly, no real malware was used and even some of the methods used in the tests are not used by real malware.

Not all products are tested fully:

Since they don't distinguish between products that actually received all tests and products that didn't receive all tests, the number of tests a product received is misleading

Matousec Personal Firewall Tests Analyzed

Every vendor has a right to request a paid Proactive Security Challenge testing, in which case its product will be tested in all levels regardless the results on each of the levels. After the vendor receives the results of the paid testing, it can either keep them private or request their publishing on our website

Introduction - www.matousec.com

Not all products are designed for the tests. The only products that do well have HIPS (many refer to Matousec tests as HIPS tests). Until recently Matousec had no problem testing firewalls, HIPS and behaviour blockers and labeling the tests as a firewall challenge.

Matousec’s New Moves to Recapture the label “Trustworthy” « Smokey's Security Weblog

The tests contain packet filtering (firewall) yet some products like Mamutu have no packet filtering capabilty (it's a behaviour blocker). Emsisoft have asked for Mamutu to be removed but Matousec refuses.

Matousec is happy to remove past results, though, after attempting blackmail. Online Armor temporarily disqualified on Matousec Proactive Security Challenge - Wilders Security Forums

There is a lot more reading to be had regarding Matousec. A good start is to search for Matousec at Wilders Security Forums.