Anti-virus and Internet Security Software

[EngWiPy]

I used to use Kaspersky Internet Security/Total Security, but recently Best Buy has stopped selling it for some political reason. What are other software tools that are best in protecting computers from viruses and other cyber threats?

Thanks in advance

 

[jedishrfu]

The political reason is that Kaspersky is suspected of distributing Russian malware at the behest of the Russian government. Later the NSA and GCHQ were said to have hijacked it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaspersky_Anti-Virus

Criticisms and controversies[edit]
In March 2015, Bloomberg accused Kaspersky of having close ties to Russian military and intelligence officials.[15] Kaspersky slammed the claims in his blog, calling the coverage "sensationalist" and guilty of "exploiting paranoia" to "increase readership," but did not indicate whether these claims are true or not.[16]

In June 2015, United States National Security Agency and United Kingdom Government Communications Headquarters said NSA and GCHQ agents broke Kaspersky antivirus software so that they could spy on people, leaks indicate.[17]

 

[EngWiPy]

Yes, I know. Now what are the best alternatives?

 

[jedishrfu]

Yes, I know. Now what are the best alternatives?

I wanted to make it clear that its wasn't some political reason but a more serious reason so that folks think twice before using it.

TechRadar has some recommendations for 2018:

https://www.techradar.com/best/best-antivirus

AVG was another contender but it too has suffered some controversies:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AVG_AntiVirus

Controversy[edit]
As of 2014, there are numerous reports dating back to 2012 that the AVG SafeGuard Toolbar installs itself without the consent of the user, as a side effect of installing other applications. The toolbar program appears to cause significant RAM issues and can be considered an intrusive potentially unwanted program (PUP). Once installed, the AVG toolbar is virtually impossible to remove. The toolbar uninstaller does not function, instead re-installing the add-on if manually removed. Consequently, many discussions and blog posts have described complex procedures for removal of the AVG toolbar, each with very mixed results.[14][15][16][17][18][19]

In September 2015, AVG announced that it would start tracking users for profit, analyzing their data for sale to the advertising industry. This measure received criticism from consumers, the press and security industry, as many users intended to use the software in order to protect themselves from spyware and would not expect the functions of spyware to be "hidden" in security software.[20]

In December 2015, the "AVG Web TuneUp" Google Chrome extension (automatically installed with AVG AntiVirus) was revealed to contain multiple critical security vulnerabilities.[21] Most notably, Chrome users' browsing history could be exposed to any website, cookies from any site the user has visited could be read by an attacker, and trivial cross-site scripting (XSS) issues could allow any website to execute arbitrary code (as another domain).

The XSS vulnerability allowed a user's mail from "mail.google.com" to be read by any website, or financial information to be read from the user's online banking site. The AVG team fixed this by only allowing "mysearch.avg.com" and "webtuneup.avg.com" to execute these scripts. Despite this remediation, attackers could leverage any of these attacks if an XSS vulnerability was found on the AVG sites. As of April 2016, Web TuneUp was still not available for download from the AVG website.

 

[EngWiPy]

I wanted to make it clear that its wasn't some political reason but a more serious reason so that folks think twice before using it.
...

Thanks for clarifying

 

[anorlunda]

Supply chain security (including software) is a big headache for manufacturers.

It may become a headache for all of us with the Internet of things. How do you know that smart light bulb you bought does not contain malware? Teddy Bears sold in Germany were found to be spying on people.

 

[jedishrfu]

The evil talking Teddy Ruxpin trope strikes again.

 

[Svein]

I used to use Kaspersky Internet Security/Total Security, but recently Best Buy has stopped selling it for some political reason. What are other software tools that are best in protecting computers from viruses and other cyber threats?

Windows has an adequate built-in virus scanner. I rely on that and on Malwarebytes.

 

[EngWiPy]

Windows has an adequate built-in virus scanner. I rely on that and on Malwarebytes.

Kaspersky has the ability to detect suspicious links, and block and attempt to install anything without authorization. I felt safe on the Internet using it. Does this anti-virus have the same capabilities?

 

[EngWiPy]

What about Norton? I used it before, and considering returning to it. Others on the top list are Bitdefender and McAfee. Which one is the best?

 

[verty]

To the OP:

I put McAfee on my parents' machine, it seemed to be fine. It contains something called McAfee WebAdvisor for which it says:

Identify suspicious links and avoid risky websites. Scan all downloads and ensure you never download a dangerous file.

Hopefully that's close to what you had before.

 

[Svein]

Does this anti-virus have the same capabilities?

At least the paid-for version of Malwarebytes has it.

 

[CWatters]

Kaspersky has the ability to detect suspicious links, and block and attempt to install anything without authorization. I felt safe on the Internet using it. Does this anti-virus have the same capabilities?

I think Norton does. Malwarebytes has free and fee versions but I think the free version doesn't have realtime protection.

 

[DaveC426913]

I have yet to try an anti-virus solution whose direct affect on the speed of my computer is not much worse than the possibility of being hit by Malware.

Norton and McAfee are awful.

Right now, I'm using BitDefender, and it seems to be OK.

 

[ChemAir]

I have yet to try an anti-virus solution whose direct affect on the speed of my computer is not much worse than the possibility of being hit by Malware.

Norton and McAfee are awful.

This is my experience as well. I'd add AVG to these two since that toolbar problem. All of them caused severe slowing down of my computer.

Windows has an adequate built-in virus scanner. I rely on that and on Malwarebytes.

I do the same, with the free Malwarebytes version as needed.

 

[Nik_2213]

I've a three-license Norton's, which seems to play nicely with Chrome and intercept potential malware okay.

Downside, it is NOT inexpensive and, IMHO, it does want a lot of clock-cycles and RAM.
Happens this PC has 32 GB and a CPU with four twin-cores, so Norton's overheads as a percentage of system capacity are acceptably low...
YMMV.

 

[phinds]

I use Norton in a 4-core i7 with an SSD "C" drive and a fast hard drive. I do not notice any appreciable slowdown. I have the 5-seat version and, as has been said, it's not cheap, but amortized over my desktop, my laptop, my wife's laptop, my son's laptop, and my daughter's laptop, it's actually quite reasonable, I think.

EDIT: good grief. It's now just $35 (for one year) on Amazon, so it's not expensive after all. I was sure I paid a fair amount more, but come to think of it, I got a 3-year subscription.

 

[symbolipoint]

I have yet to try an anti-virus solution whose direct affect on the speed of my computer is not much worse than the possibility of being hit by Malware.

Norton and McAfee are awful.

Right now, I'm using BitDefender, and it seems to be OK.

I have not found much impact; Norton Security on tower-form desktop of Windows 10; and on old laptop of Windows Vista.

 

[Tom.G]

block and attempt to install anything without authorization. I felt safe on the Internet using it.

I'm still successfully using a seven year-old version of ZoneAlarm. It blocks (or asks about) installations, internet access by programs, programs trying to run other programs, etc. It also does anti-virus scanning of every program that is invoked, and will scan the whole system (don't recall if that is periodic or on demand). They want yearly $ for the anti-virus subscription but just running the protection does the job for me without the anti-virus, which I found annoying.

 

[CWatters]

Slightly OT but...

Some years ago my wife's computer was infected with a virus which I think was called Roings that got in past Norton. It created pop up windows with adverts faster than you could actually read them so was totally pointless. Took me three days to figure out how to get rid of it. Had to use several different tools in just the right order or it would return on the next reboot.

Amazingly one advert was for a local kitchen company and we had actually been looking at one of their kitchens for our house. When I complained they just said "we have to advertise somehow". I was pleased to tell them it had just cost them an order.

 

[symbolipoint]

I used to use Kaspersky Internet Security/Total Security, but recently Best Buy has stopped selling it for some political reason. What are other software tools that are best in protecting computers from viruses and other cyber threats?

Thanks in advance

Get something that you can learn to use. Either, or at least if you feel you must, get something commercial for infection protection.

Slightly OT but...

Some years ago my wife's computer was infected with a virus which I think was called Roings that got in past Norton. It created pop up windows with adverts faster than you could actually read them so was totally pointless. Took me three days to figure out how to get rid of it. Had to use several different tools in just the right order or it would return on the next reboot.

Amazingly one advert was for a local kitchen company and we had actually been looking at one of their kitchens for our house. When I complained they just said "we have to advertise somehow". I was pleased to tell them it had just cost them an order.

That reminds me of a problem I had, many years ago, and from which the security and protection software company put in a big bunch of remote assistance talking me through the process to clean my computer of the infection.

My current protection software has saved me a few times during the last few years, preventing infection. (One of the well known commercial products - Nortons).

Do not go online with your computer until you have good security and protection software installed, even if you buy something commercial as the product.
(Unless you use Windows 10 and the included Windows Defender).

 

[harborsparrow]

If you are using Windows 10, the built-in Defender is good enough for most people for home use. It's all I've used for years now. It doesn't slow the machine down like some of the commercial packages do; some of them are worse than getting a virus.

 

[QuantumQuest]

If you are using Windows 10, the built-in Defender is good enough for most people for home use

I would say the same thing for Windows Defender for Windows 8.1 after a 3+ years experience.

 

[Wrichik Basu]

What about QuickHeal? I have been using it for the last 8 years or so, and it works fine. It has protected my PC from quite a number of viruses. I have the Internet Security variant, but you can buy Total Security as well. It comes with anti-keylogger, a safe banking browser that allows you to do online banking without any trackers, and a behaviour detection system that detects whether any process is doing something that is fishy. Parental controls are also present. There is also a USB drive auto run protection, that prevents virus infections due to auto run feature of some USB drives.

 

[davenn]

I have been using Malwarebytes Premium for a number of years now ... it costs me a subscription each year
and I have seen it capture dozens of trojan and other malware viruses.
The other good one I have used is AVG

 

[anorlunda]

I liked the free AVG too. But I always think about deer whistles.

I put a deer whistle on the bumper of my car. It supposedly makes sound at a pitch above human hearing that scares deer away. I never hit a deer with the whistle on. But I never hit a deer with the whistle off either. If I did hit a single deer (whistle on or whistle off) that is not conclusive proof. So, how do I know if the whistle works? The price of the whistle was only fifty cents. How much effort is justified to determine if my money was well spent?

By the way, I saw an ad for an improved whistle that repels both deer and lions. It only costs $2.

Reports say that the built-in virus and firewall in Windows today is pretty good. If I have a second anti virus installed on top of that, how do I determine how much protection I got from each? It seems that the only way to be sure is to uninstall the second anti virus for a year or so, then compare experience with and without it. But I'm not a researcher, so I'm not motivated to do that much work. That makes anti virus software like deer whistles.

 

[symbolipoint]

anorlunda

Some of us have gone without protection & security software and had some bad infection experiences. That was how we know why to use something. Kind of like trying to go a couple of years without an influenza vaccination; the likelihood of getting influenza is much increased and soon enough, maybe one or two years, you get the disease, and you learn, next time and the times after, get your yearly flu vaccination to avoid the problem. The difference is that an infection on the computer does not go away on its own but the flu eventually will, although the disease can cause other problems.

 

[JoyceEJones]

I used to use Kaspersky Internet Security/Total Security, but recently Best Buy has stopped selling it for some political reason. What are other software tools that are best in protecting computers from viruses and other cyber threats?

Thanks in advance

I'm using QuickHeal personally. The only reason is that it doesn't delete any file if it contains virus rather repairs it.

 

[Wrichik Basu]

I'm using QuickHeal personally. The only reason is that it doesn't delete any file if it contains virus rather repairs it.

Or if it can't, then it quarantines the file and sends a report to their database. However, you do have the option of controlling whether QuickHeal should repair the file or delete it when virus is found. It is set to repair for files and delete for archives by default.

 

[sachinkhanna48]

I'm using QuickHeal Antivirus personally. The only reason is that it doesn't delete any file if it contains virus rather repairs it.

Do avast or Avira do the same thing