Windows defender + adblock plus, and occasionally a scan of adwcleaner + free malwarebytes (useless ?)
Used avast free for some years, but the alarm was freaking stressful.
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I got Norton 360, free for 3 computers for a year, when I bought my pc. Then when the time came to renew it, i bought it on a sale for like 20euros? I bought 2 years just to be sure. Cool promotion.
For browser, uBlock Origin is good enough. And I try to avoid sites if I can.
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Norton 360, and it never failed me in action, yet (i had it for many years and it protected me many times). But their ads are annoying. Imagine having ads in a paid software.
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Using a layered approach here:
Opnsense firewall - custom build, with filters in place to block all outbound DNS queries .. except for the next line.
Pi-Hole - also running Unbound as a recursive DNS server -- doing filtering at the DNS level for Ads, malware domains, etc.
--- Pi-hole as All-Around DNS Solution
Windows Defender + MalwareBytes (lifetime licenses) at the Operating System level
Ublock,Origin -- at the browser level.
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Kaspersky Security Cloud and TinyWall, both free, both pretty light on system resources.
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Windows Defender + Malwarebytes for occasional scanning.
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Windows Defender. But if you ever need something more Malware Bites or BitDefender are probably the best option.
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I've been using Malwarebytes, AVG. Ublock on browser. Though I'm thinking of canning AVG. I'm surprised at how many people are using Defender - guess it must be really good!
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Windows Defender is okay, it's much improved compared to what it used to be. However, it doesn't get updated as much as it should which makes Zero Day Detection pretty bad tbh. I'm not a fan of AVG/Avast, but what you have is much, much better against zero day threats. If you were seriously interested in switching to something better, Bitdefender or Kaspersky would be what I'd recommend.
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Some ancient cracked version of Symantec Endpoint Protection. (So old, that I'm pretty sure the fake license expired since it stopped updating recently... XD ) Don't know why I even bothered but that was over 10 years ago so... eh, whatever.
(I won't claim to have any deeper understanding, but I'm well aware that if I myself am compromised in some way this thing won't do anything.)
Oh, and AdBlocker, of course.
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Are you running Windows 10? If so you'd be MUCH better running Windows Defender. If you are looking for something really good and free Kaspersky has a good free program that runs on Windows 7 SP1+, 8, 8.1, 10 and 11.
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Windows 7, so no (good?) Windows Defender, sorry.
As for Kaspersky, naaaaah. I'd much rather not be constantly spammed by messages to "update to the payed version"... or stress about this in general. If I considered it a big deal I'd just get a newer version of Symantec (cough through the same methods I did over a decade ago obviously cough).
I'm much more worried about the fact that this laptop is itself almost a decade old so it could die at any moment and I absolutely cannot afford a new one, than any hypothetical threats on the Internet. :/
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Win Defender
if you need more protection you can test this trick
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First of all, "security software such as antivirus" may cause problems due to function conflicts if you try to use "more than one" software.
The Defender that comes with Windows will deal with the "well-known" ones, but it will not detect the latest types of viruses.
(Apparently two hours is enough time for a virus to become famous nowadays...)
In short, if you are unlucky, you will be infected.
It would be less hassle for the general public to combine general anti-virus software with "MalwareBytes," which has few stories of compatibility problems with other security software.
And there will be relatively good antivirus "made in Germany" with noisy laws.
There is a sense of non-censorship, there is a sense of privacy, there is a good one because it is a "country that has learned from the past" for a reason.
The reason we don't list specific antivirus names is because the "evil attackers" are using these "What kind of Security software?" The attack is based on the information that
It is considered safe to always be using at least two or more somethings instead of just one.
However, since it is mankind's computer, it is sometimes possible for it to suddenly become unprotected one day.
Store anything really embarrassing if it leaks out, outside of your computer.
Because when videos of naked people dancing the wave dance with a few cucumbers on a plate, etc. are leaked, the earth must be destroyed. Please don't leak bad kids.
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As it was said before -common sense is the best protection.
As for the AV software there are many good options. A lot depends whether you're looking for AV alone, or a complete suite and how much time you're willing to spend to configure it.
Currently I'm using Comodo, but mainly for the extra features like HIPS and sandbox. Generally it's not very user firendly, but when configured correctly does a great job. Was also satisfied with Avira some years ago but then their performance plummeted, but as far as I know it's a valid option once again
Still I don't remember when was the last time I needed any AV software. Adblock and script blocking extensions and a write protected pendrive are a very good first line of defence. Unless you exchange a lot of data with untrusted third parties basically anything will do, including WinDefender
Not to just throw biased opinions, you might take a look at sites specializing in AV software comparisons - example
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Indeed, Comodo performs well.
However, there is the problem that the "Vendor List" is initially filled with "Chinese companies".
It would be safer to remove these after the initial setup is complete and operate the system under an appropriate evaluation.
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As I said, it requires some configuration(closer to a lot of it) ;) I admit that on default settings it's probably just average, but that actually applies to many vendors.
Still AV is just an additional safeguard and you should never rely on it fully, even the best companies release faulty versions from time to time, so it's necessary to be careful.
I would also suggest running some alternative scanners occasionally(many have lightweight online versions. But don't do it in parallel with the residential scanner!) and if you still suspect something might be wrong there are tools like combofix and farbar[don't attempt to use them unless you know what you are doing]
At the same time new security models built into operating systems, browsers etc make it much harder nowadays to infect a computer. That's why most attacks rely on zero-day vulnerabilities or social engineering, so keeping things up to date and caution are the best weapons.
I would also say that with the amount of cloud based services it's getting more and more important to protect your passwords. But once again you have to be smart in doing so. A good password manager and checking https://haveibeenpwned.com/ from time to time would be a good starter.
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Generally, yes. (I pointed out that Comodo has a unique setup) (o'Ξ'))
In any case, it seems to be important to assume that you are "prepared to leak.
(Do not store anything important on people computer as much as possible)
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So true, there's nothing remotely close to a secure system. There will always be some vulnerabilities.
I would even say that one of the biggest problems nowadays is that there's a lot of advertising stating that you're safe with product A or B, or some other abstract solution, which is just not the case. Security relies mainly on making things hard enough to crack not to make it worth the effort. If you forget about it, you already lost in this never-ending battle.
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I use Sophos Home, which I find to be great.
I'm going to avoid saying "and common sense", as that's just incredibly condescending :-)
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common sense + 2 FA in everything + 0 trust on everywhere + fiz backup non connected to internet and random scans by free/trial AV
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For close to 15 years I'm a satisfied user of Comodo Internet Security free firewall+anitvirus+(if rarely needed) sandbox.
For my main browser I'm also using NoScript+Adblock Plus.
Fortunately, I've never got into troubles with malicious software, except Windows itself (with Win10 alone 3 blue screen updates, 2 of them recovered with help of 2nd instance of Windows on a separate drive, 1 forcing a reinstall).
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25 years of experience with internet as a common user, common sense also and my own intelligence to trust or not in X webpages etc...
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Windows Defender on PC.
uBlock Origin, Bypass Paywalls and Adblock for Youtube on Chrome.
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A) not-telling, as it is none of anyone business...especially online.
B) not being a potential hack-easily target with listed used SW
π
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OS-wise I don't need an anti-virus, however I have a DNS-level blocking and on browser I use uBlock Origin, Popup Blocker and Cookie Autodelete.
If I really have to scan for Windows viruses, then I use ClamAV.
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ClamAV has a pretty poor detection rate and cleaning capabilities.
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I only use it for flash drives I got from others, which usually I clean them manually. I didn't have problem with detection but yes, it cannot clean on its own.
Do you know a good alternative, just to scan drives I got from others?
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what antivirus do you use - i have used melware bytes in the past and it's pretty good along side spyhunter - what do you use to protect your machines?
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