Free Anti-Virus outperforms paid for AV software

dispossessed

I thought I would post this link to an article about Microsft Essentials on ZDNET as, after all, ultimately this website is all about saving dosh. To many of us this will not be news but I hope that it is still of interest nonetheless.

Trevor

23n1th

This example could be used to prove MSE is flawed as well using a different infrction, thats why VirusTotal uses multiple AV's when scanning. All it proves is no AV is infallible.

996ducati

As with any written article, who wrote it, who paid for it? What was their angle/agenda? Did they want to please the advertisers to the magazine?

You can slant (spin) an article to say anything.

See the Daily Mail for great examples :rotfl:

"5% of men think of other women" roughly translated to 95% of men don't, but that doesn't make a paper selling headline :-)

closed

it's a non article, one virus scanner found something another didn't at a certain point in time, one infection out of millions of possibilities. mse misses loads too.

MoveOver

Whatever software is used make regular Back ups. It helps to have a neighbour who will keep your backups in a safe place. You can keep their backups for them. Do remember to keep a note of the current Administrator password with the backups. Should you ever need to re-install from a Backup you will need to know the passwords. The Admin password will allow you access to all the other Users. Use at least two methods of Backup. At one time I used a well known brand of backup software but 6 months later I was unable to retrieve the Data. Was it because of the Software upgrade? Was it because of the poor quality of the cd/dvd disks? Now I use an external drive plus NortonGhost DVD backups. I also use a Flashdrive for all my documents, especially emails In or Out. Then I run an antivirus check and antirootkit check on the Flashdrive before copying the contents to my External Drive.

Change the password after every backup.I have over 40 different passwords. I use the words of a familiar song. Example : The Hills are alive with the sound of …... becomes THaawtso and this can be improved to TH2awts0? How many songs do you know the words to? The longer the password the better. Do not use the same password twice.

Do not connect your computer to the internet for longer than necessary. Some viral infections are capable of remotely starting your computer at any time. The hacker does not even need to turn on the screen, so the only clue would be the flashing LED lights on your Router. Remember that computers are VERY fast. A hacker only needs to connect for a second or two to install malware. So disconnect the cable from computer to router. If you turn off the router the ISP auto checks the line and will lower the speed of your connection. Then, on reconnection it may take up to 3 days for the ISP to raise your connection speed again. I turn off all computers when not in use. Over 24 years I have never had an On/Off switch wear out.

MS Windows 7 is very reliable and an excellent upgrade from Windows XP. However, I do not use it any longer for internet tasks. When I did I also ran Norton 2011 anti-virus, plus Ccleaner, plus Malware Bytes, plus Threatfire, plus Secunia PSI, plus auto install of Windows updates, plus File Hippo updates for all software and hardware drivers, plus Firefox with NoScript addon. The problem with Windows Firewalls is that it does not indicate when your PC is transmitting data over the Internet, which is one of the best ways to spot the presence of malware. Unfortunately many of the popular Firewalls do inform you every time that they want to transmit. You will get messages like this " Application 239450392hergekrlkewvoerito498t43gti34gi is attempting to use the Internet. Do you approve y/n?" Do you even know what this software does? I stopped using Comodo for this reason. That was more than 3 years ago and I am still getting Email Spam from them.

I was still hacked by criminals. After using Amazon for several months I decided to accept their offer of a credit card, After several abortive attempts to submit my application I gave up and exited the Internet Browser. I was immediately confronted by a series of dire warnings from Norton Anti-virus. 18 different Malware products had entered my computer. Key Loggers, Trojans, Worms, etc. I was forced to change all my credit cards, bank accounts, email addresses, utility passwords, Direct Debits, etc. I then formatted my Hard Drive and re-installed from Backups. Altogether three days (36 Hours) work. I only lost one vital document.

A week later I received the Amazon card that I had failed to request. I cut it up and returned it. Six months later I am still receiving monthly Account Invoices for a credit card that I did not ask for. Amazon have naturally declined to accept responsibility and have assured me that they NEVER allow malware onto their servers. They say the infections must have originated from elsewhere. Well, they would say that, wouldn't they?

I wrote to Norton suggesting that future versions of the Firewall and Anti-Virus should disconnect from the Internet Browser as soon as Malware is identified, instead of waiting until the User has switched off the Browser, to reveal warnings. I have received no reply.

So now I use a version of Linux for Internet work. And I use Firefox with NoScript add-on.

Think of a visit to the Internet as the same as a visit to the most notorious Red Light area in the World. Sooner or later you are going to be mugged or scammed or infected.