Network (or possibly online) Anti-Virus programme?

[martinlest]

Googling finds a number of such programmes, but can anyone recommend an AV programme which can be set to scan all other PCs on my home network, without the software being installed on every PC individually?

Or possibly an online scanner that will work over the internet?

Whatever, I'd rather not install stuff until I know more about it, and recommendations (freeware preferred, but payware considered!) would certainly help.

Many thanks.

 

[samuria]

There are many online onelike Online Malware Detection | ESET most will do a small install on the hd ClamavNet is a long established free one

 

[Alejandro85]

The farthest you can get is to share some folders in the computers you want to scan and using an antivirus installed on other computers accessing those shares and running the scan there. Any "security" program can do that, there's no special requirement.

Over the internet? Forget about it.
Servers cannot access your computer at all, you must always initiate the connection, which means that it must be installed on each computer. Websites doing online analysis (like VirusTotal) use just a browser, but still it must run and initiated by the user there.

The best you can do is to share and scan those from the network, or install an AV locally and let each one scan itself. Of course, the real best option is to use real security measures instead of antiviruses, but that's another history.

 

[martinlest]

Right, thanks. The PC on my system which has antivirus software has both Windows 7 and Windows XP on it (dual boot, I mean). I use MS Security essentials on the Win7 O/S and AVG on the Windows XP installation. I hadn't seen that either (or both?) would scan shared drives on a network PC - I will have to look more closely. I assumed I'd need some dedicated software to do that.


In fact, where I do not have antivirus software installed (a deliberate choice of course - I won't go into 'why' here), that is to say on a couple of Windows 7 PCs and one Windows 10 laptop, I do use the inbuilt Windows Defender and also Malwarebytes software to make occasional scans. Perhaps that is enough?


I shouldn't really tempt fate by saying so, but the way I use the internet and email means I don't consider myself anything but very low risk for virus infection anyway. Apart from a few low-level monitoring trojans, I haven't had a positive infection result from full AV scans for several years.

 

[samuria]

You can get specific av for networking but its all for companies so its high price. If you map drives to other pcs you should be able to scan that way

 

[martinlest]

Right, thank you.

 

[Alejandro85]

You can get specific av for networking but its all for companies so its high price. If you map drives to other pcs you should be able to scan that way

There is no such thing as a "networking AV", antiviruses always work hooking into the local system ,and they can't have a presence into other computers without installing something there. Corporative AVs work by installing their engine in each computer but doing the administration centrally and distributing it, useful in some contexts but not what the OP wants.

I hadn't seen that either (or both?) would scan shared drives on a network PC - I will have to look more closely. I assumed I'd need some dedicated software to do that.

Nothing special is needed, in fact, mapped network drives behave exactly the same to every program as local drives. Unless an AV specifically refuse to scan those (a deliverate limitation), any one will do fine.

In fact, where I do not have antivirus software installed (a deliberate choice of course - I won't go into 'why' here), that is to say on a couple of Windows 7 PCs and one Windows 10 laptop, I do use the inbuilt Windows Defender and also Malwarebytes software to make occasional scans. Perhaps that is enough?

Well, you're really using not one, but two antiviruses then Crappy ones (like all of them), but they're there.

I shouldn't really tempt fate by saying so, but the way I use the internet and email means I don't consider myself anything but very low risk for virus infection anyway. Apart from a few low-level monitoring trojans, I haven't had a positive infection result from full AV scans for several years.

Your usage of internet has little to do with getting infected in the first place. Many security-aware people have also fall victim of phising, zero-days, massive exploits and the like. Having a good setup is of utmost importance these days.

Haven't received a positive from an AV isn't the same as being safe. In fact antiviruses are notorious for having tons of both false positives and false negatives.

 

[martinlest]

Haven't received a positive from an AV isn't the same as being safe

Not 100%, but pretty much. False results are the exception rather than the rule. Given that I have had no positive antivirus scan results in almost ten years (when, until recently, I did run an AV programme) I think I can 'risk' it! I have everything backed up plus a drive image, should the worst happen.


I will see how i get on scanning mapped drives form the remote PC - but what excatly do you meean by a 'mapped drive'; in this context? A drive accessible on the network, or must it be physically mapped to a drive letter on the AV PC (I am supposing that the answer to that is 'yes'?)?

Thanks

 

[Alejandro85]

Not 100%, but pretty much. False results are the exception rather than the rule. Given that I have had no positive antivirus scan results in almost ten years

Quite the opposite, not 100%, but far from it. Reality dictates that antiviruses struggle to keep up with the new viruses that come out daily. Just google "antivirus false positive" and you'll see the horror histories of those with bricked computers thanks to antiviruses. I have no idea how much exactly, and more often than not a false positive is annoying, maybe disruptive, but ultimately not a security threat (until the user no longer trust the AV and also ignores the true positives). Having false positives isn't the "rule", but neither is a rare occurrence.
Not having those is great, of course.

More worrysome is to have false negatives, ie, AVs not crying when a real virus is there. Problem is that those aren't notorious at all, the AV just display a big green icon saying "you're safe" and the user is happy, but actually that keylogger is sending your banking details out there and the randomware is also happy encrypting your data and requesting a ransom.
This is actually the great problem antiviruses have, they tend to create a false sense of security.

I think I can 'risk' it! I have everything backed up plus a drive image, should the worst happen.

Be aware that "images" are a poor backup method, specially against malware. You have little means to ensure your images aren't infected.

what excatly do you meean by a 'mapped drive'; in this context? A drive accessible on the network, or must it be physically mapped to a drive letter on the AV PC

By "mapped drive" yes, I mean assingning a drive letter though Windows Explorer. That will for sure make it accesible to the AV for scan. Any other shared folder could be accessible too, depending on how the AV is made, if you make it scan "\\server\folder\something". Some programs recognize and use that syntax, others don't, but you can try to avoid mapping.
All that provided you have a user/password on the remote machine with at least read-only access. Since it's not local, the AV must play by the rules of every other program and respect the normal permissions system.

 

[Barman58]

I use the professional version of Bitdefender and this does load the relevant modules onto the various devices, PC, Mac, Android and IOS, It provides an umbrella approach to protection covering the basic Antivirus using definition files, but also uses AI techniques to find new Viruses, and other malware, It includes Ransomware protection, and is regularly at the top of the Anti Malware Suites.

All of this is controlled by a central system where you can manage what is performed when and on which devices, they have also recently developed a version that runs in certain Netgear Routers for centralised control.

Not Free but quite reasonable [I have just renewed an unlimited devices licence for around £40 for the year, which is well worth it for the peace of mind Bitdefender Total Security 2019 - Anti Malware Software

There is a free version if you wish to trial the software for a while

 

[martinlest]

OK, thanks a lot for the comments. Not come to any decision yet... As so often (always?) folks disagree across the net about what is good/not good (some 'rave reviews' of Windows Defender on the web, for example.. not written by Microsoft either!).



For now, I think a combination of Windows Defender and Malwarebytes will do what I want - especially on the PC I use just for X-Plane 11 (I don't browse the web on it or visit unknown websites, have an email client or download from sites I don't know and trust). Nothing's 100% sure of course, but...