Right now I use Avast Free antivirus with windows Firewall. I've been wanting to upgrade my security to keep my work and information safe. Any recommendations?
I recommend Eset NOD32 Smart Security (This package comes with a great firewall).
http://www.eset.com/us/download/home/detail/family/5/ (NOD32 Smart Security)
it may cost a little bit more then some other paid antivirus packages but I basicly swear by it.
Over here in New Zealand all the main big business's use NOD32 including the Universities and Polytech's. It is one of the least resource hungry antivirus's as well (it runs almost unnoticeably, you may notice a performance increase swapping over to it on your computer). It never moans at you to update etc and most general issues are fixed with the click of a button.
The main thing I like about NOD32 is that it works on preventing bugs from even reaching your computer where a lot of antivirus's work on detecting and deleting them as they arrive on your machine.
I strongly suggest staying away from Symantec (Norton), I have had nothing but bad experiences with this companies software. Norton is also well known for being a real resource hog in comparison to most other paid antivirus's (It may slow your computer down).
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As for free antivirus's I would personally stick with Avast Home Edition and download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (A passive virus scanner) and run that every week or so
http://www.filehippo.com/download_malwarebytes_anti_malware/ (Malwarebytes Anti-Malware)
This free program is truly impressive at finding bugs and removing them. I have a lot of friends who can vouch for me on this. Ive seen this scanner remove over 1000 bugs from a computer in one scan session effortlessly.
Windows Essentials can be downloaded from Microsoft for free if your computers operating system has been deemed 'Genuine'. I have heard only good things about this antivirus.
Despite its popularity AVG is not my choice for a free antivirus.
I more or less agree. Can't speak for NOD32, but I use Avast Home and Malwarebytes personally. I also use script blockers as my primary defense against malware. Basically, most websites use various sub-programs called scripts, and most malicious software gets installed via scripts. By blocking all scripts and only allowing the ones you trust, you're doing more to prevent viruses than any AV could do. However, this does have the side effect of breaking a lot of sites, and involves a fair bit of trial and error to hit a balance of functionality and security. The other thing I do is always double check the URL before typing any sort of sensitive information to make sure I'm on the correct site and not a look-a-like, double check for secure connections (HTTPS), and pretty much never type URLs directly, as a misspelled URL can cause all sorts of mess (like taking you to those look-a-like sites, or be a direct connection to some malware). I use DuckDuckGo to get where I need to on the web since they don't track.
I really just keep Avast for a "just in case" type of thing, and because my computer has the resources to spare. The last virus Avast picked up was over a year ago, via it's network shield. Haven't had a virus in a good long while.
I really just keep Avast for a "just in case" type of thing, and because my computer has the resources to spare. The last virus Avast picked up was over a year ago, via it's network shield. Haven't had a virus in a good long while.
I tried Avast for a good 10 months and have not encountered a virus during the entire timespan that I used it. I decided to ditch it since it was just needlessly eating up resources. In a similar sense, I keep Malwarebytes on hand. And recently, I have been trying out a couple of new programs that someone introduced me to...SuperAntiSpyware and Combofix. They found a couple of little pests that were easy to remove.
I'm thinking about giving Malwarebytes Anti-Rootkit a try as well.
Other than that, I don't see any point in a full-fledged antivirus suite, especially payed options. I personally think it's a waste of money. Just my two cents. @OP If you don't feel comfortable without a AV to guide you, then I would just recommend that you keep Avast. Use this in conjunction with cleaners such as Malwarebytes and/or SuperAntiSpyware.
I more or less agree. Can't speak for NOD32
NOD32 is about the only antivirus I know of that integrates itself into the operating system itself, this is how it runs almost invisibly, this also makes the antivirus difficult to shut down from the outside, (During virus attacks in the past antivirus's such as Norton 360 and even Avast have turned off and rendered my computer almost defenceless), NOD32 has never once shut down on me. NOD32 has award winning virus detection and an impressive track record so stated in this article.
I will admit reviews have fallen in the past couple of years from Esets NOD32 but from what I understand this is due to lack of updated features. Where a lot of antivirus programs drastically improve with time NOD32 has not quite as much. In my opinion it hasnt really needed to. Its advanced settings are a little bit on the complicated side to.
As for script blocking, this antivirus program scans websites and is always warning me of potential attacks from some of the most surprising places.
This antivirus also has threat sense technology which gives it the potential to discover new unidentified bugs.
The firewall, (probably one of my favourite features) if configured to interactive mode blocks everything on entry or departure and notifies you with details of what it is, what threat level it is and where its trying to go and prompts you for action. It then depending on what settings you configure learns from this and never prompts you again with the same question. These rules are then stored in a database of which you can modify and delete as you see fit. You would be surprised what information actually travels in and out of your machine with out your knowledge.
For even better protection in this matter you can set a password to this prompt and your antivirus's settings making it more difficult for hackers to access your computer with out this password. I have experienced people trying to hack into my machine before. Went to bed and came back from Polytech the next day to find my password changed and a nice big insulting note in the password hint. True story, still trying to work out how it happened? Seemed to have happened well I was on Battle.net of all places playing Starcraft but that is another story.
Since using NOD32 Smart Security in conjunction with Malwarebytes I have NEVER had a issue with bugs or hackers with almost zero maintenance. After sometimes months of using my computer to browse the internet randomly I occasionally run Malwarebytes to find maybe 1 or 2 minor questionable files on my computer system at most.
I have done the same on other computers I maintain on the occasion for friends using Avast Home Edition and other such as McAfee and have found a lot more.
I guess it is down to how important you perceive your personal files and whether you think it is worth investing money into better protection. Safe to say NOD32 will certainly provide far better protection then Avast Home Edition.
When it comes down to it, it does not matter how good of a antivirus program you may have, the best defence for your computer will always be yourself.
i like using spybot
nothing beats common sense
Agree, if anything I'd just say use common sense and just use Windows Defender (Security Essentials) unless you're seriously paranoid or something. Though I'm using Kaspersky right now simply because I got it for free with my Hero so why not?
Kaspersky is also a great antivirus so I have heard, rivals NOD32 and I hear from people who have used it that it is really good.. I have not had a chance to use it yet though myself.
If I was unable to use NOD32 I would be using Kaspersky
Thanks for all the advice guys, after doing some additional research I will end up using ESET NOD32, Most of my peers at school recommend it as well. Thanks everyone! Also too, how do I apply script blockers to my browser and or computer, can't have too much security.
AVG. Uses 18 Megabytes of RAM. I approve this message.
avast. good detection, nice amount of features, not horrible, and if you need a free AV, it's the best.
as far as paid, i hear MBAM pro is really good, but i don't pay for things
I tend to use a combination Malwarebytes, Spybot, and Avast.
I like Spybot because it has it's immunization feature which blocks known malicious sites. Spybot's malware clean up works pretty much the same as Malwarebytes but somewhat slower. So I tend to immunize with Spybot and then do a quick scan with Malwarebytes. And then I'll use Avast with it every now and then just to get a deeper scan and make sure things are nice. Avast also has it's boot scan, which I think is pretty neat.