Free antivirus software article

closed

it's marketing.


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4737561

HabitAddict

I just want to say thank you to Becca and the Consumer Team for putting the article together, which is very clear and well-researched. I think the headings, the images, the colourful "five steps" of computer protection, along with the links and logos for protection software add up to make a very professional presentation. :beer:

However, I would disagree with the following point under Basic anti-adware/spyware measures: -

Delete programs you don't use


Use the add/delete function on your Control Panel to get rid of any programs you don't need any more - they may be corrupted.

This could lead to the belief that unused software will automatically corrupt itself, or be corrupted, due to lack of use.

If suitable computer protection software is installed and kept up to date as recommended in the article, there is little risk of software (whether used or not) being corrupted by another - usually malicious - program.

If you are using reliable software from a trustworthy source as recommended in the article, there is little risk of software corrupting itself (whether used or not).

:think: If your computer is properly protected, I don't think you should be afraid to open a program just because you haven't used it in a while. Hence my disagreement with the above point.

davidmcc3

I suppose the original article is a reasonable attempt to cover the subject, but it hasn't had good technical input - all the writers are generalists, and appeared to have relied on research only. It needs to have knowledgeable technical input.

If you are serious about protecting your computers, just having anti-virus is almost pointless. You need to have an integrated Internet Security package.

People may think £30 to £60 a year is a lot of money, but how valuable is the information (words, images, audio, video) on your computer? Some recent infections will destroy your data. If you are infected, how much will it cost to have the infections eradicated?

If you're serious about keeping your computers free of infections, don't rely on any free product - a paid-for subscription which regularly checks for updates (by which I mean several times a day) will be worth every penny.

I'm also curious to know why F-Secure has not been mentioned in the lists of possible products. They're a Finnish company and have been in the security business for 25 years. Their Internet Security package for £40 covers 3 PCs (so many homes have more than one) ... and the annual renewal cost is less than £30.

The F-Secure 'footprint' on your PC will be less noticeable than McAfee and others. It checks for updates every couple of hours. It has a 'banking protection' module which automatically kicks in when you go online to your bank (and some e-commerce sites).

As a small business who's lifeblood is the data we have (we are copywriters and website builders), we take protection very seriously, and have had only minor problems in 8 years.

We use F-Secure ... but also use Malwarebytes, and have secured our wired and wireless routers with non-standard passwords.

Finally, backups. As I've said above, don't rely on free resources if your data is precious. In particular, don't rely on DropBox and the like which automatically sync with files on your PC - these services are designed to allow you access to your files from several locations ... or to share them with others - they are NOT backups.

If you have a corruption (or other problem with a file), the online version will be sync'd and contain the same error. If you want to go back to a previous version, there won't be one.

Look for a backup solution which will retain older versions of your files ... that way there is a previous version to go back to. This can either be local with an external hard drive (with a synchronisation application such as ViceVersa or SyncBack, or online using a proper backup service (such as Carbonite). Again, as we rely on our data's integrity, we have both.

Is all this overkill? No. We can't afford to lose our data, or spend may hours recovering from problems. We also don't just throw money at it ...
each part of our IT systems is carefully researched and costed - we don't want to pay too much, and we don't want stuff we can't depend on.

Having berated the original article's authors, what qualifies me to write this? Apart from running our own technology-reliant business, I've had 25 years running IT systems ... from SMEs to global finance companies, from humble support analyst to IT Director.

davidmcc3

yoy wrote: »

Hi

thanks for the posts.

Quite a few free anti-virus softwares are recommended in the article.

When I have looked at AVG and Avast , the free software, does not include protection for secured Banking and payments etc.

Catch 22

So which Anti-Virus software are available that includes ' secure Banking and Payments '

Thanks

yoy

Have a look at F-Secure Internet Security.

espresso

davidmcc3 wrote: »

I suppose the original article is a reasonable attempt to cover the subject, but it hasn't had good technical input - all the writers are generalists, and appeared to have relied on research only. It needs to have knowledgeable technical input.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Having berated the original article's authors, what qualifies me to write this? Apart from running our own technology-reliant business, I've had 25 years running IT systems ... from SMEs to global finance companies, from humble support analyst to IT Director.

Trumpet player?

d70cw6

Anyone mentioned Adblock (and Adblock Plus) - probably the best way to protect yourself from not only potential virus', but also makes the web browsing experience far more enjoyable.

No more adverts from the web

fenlander_uk

I've cleaned up a couple of machines recently for friends who were infected by ads on the BT/Yahoo webmail page. IMO an effective ad-blocker is one of the single most effective anti-malware precautions you can take.

bod1467

davidmcc3 wrote: »

<Extolling the virtues of an "Internet Security" suite>

davidmcc3 wrote: »

<Extolling the virtues of an "Internet Security" suite>

Do I smell tinned, reformed meat?

Doc_N

bod1467 wrote: »

Do I smell tinned, reformed meat?

I think you do. Click the appropriate button.

abibee

A good one according to a lot of people over at another security forum is Qihoo 360 Internet Security, a Chinese AV with hundreds of millions of Chinese customers, but recently released an English version. By all accounts it's very good protection, in conjunction with Comodo Firewall especially. I tried it a wee while ago and was impressed, it has 3 antivirus modules, but still manages to be light.

http://www.360safe.com/

Their mobile security software's pretty good too apparently.