Computer security. what program to use?

[wierdman51]

My computer is running vista, and our security is out. i dont remember what security i was using before, and i dont remember it being good anyways. Escapist, what should i use? ive heard of a lot of anti virus softwares out there, Avast, AVG, Norton, etc, but i dont know what i should choose.

 

[Maxtro]

I'm using Microsoft Security Essentials.

It's free and I've never gotten an infection it hasn't been able to handle.

I do a scan of Malwarebytes every now and then to make sure I have nothing.

The best way to keep your computer secure is to know what you are doing.

 

[DannyJBeckett]

Well whatever you do, don't pick Norton. It's Naff.

I'm using Vista too, and as with the guy above, I'm using Microsoft Security Essentials at the moment. I only started using it recently, though, and relied on plain old Windows Defender. I didn't get a virus, but I just didn't feel secure, so I upgraded to MSE.

 

[SpaceBat]

There's a reason why certain security programs are free. MSE, Avast and every other free security program is awful. If you want the best security, there are three programs most people will recommend and these have always been generally chosen to be the best:

#1: Bitdefender
#2: Kaspersky
#3: McAfee

Don't go for Norton or Panda in general and don't go for MSE or Avast unless you don't want to spend any money on antivirus programs. The best security costs money, plain and simple. You should not generally need security programs as long as you browse carefully, but if you're going to get one, get the best. Download Malwarebytes along with the one you get and you should be ok.

 

[DigitalSushi]

I'm a big fan of Sophos, but its expensive, but I still think its the best out there and worth the money.

Other than that there's the good old reliable AVG from Grisoft, its free! YIPPEE!

Well whatever you do, don't pick Norton. It's Naff.

I'm using Vista too, and as with the guy above, I'm using Microsoft Security Essentials at the moment. I only started using it recently, though, and relied on plain old Windows Defender. I didn't get a virus, but I just didn't feel secure, so I upgraded to MSE.

I once used Norton because I had a free disk (a free disk that my Auntie paid 80 euro's for), to clear up a virus I caught, I then had to delete it because it was trying to take over my Laptop... which I found strange, an anti virus software that took over and slowed down my computer?, that's what a virus does! congrats Norton.

 

[evilneko]

There's a reason why certain security programs are free. MSE, Avast and every other free security program is awful.

This has very little basis in fact.

My suggestion in these cases is always to take advantage of trials. Antivirus A may bog Person A's system all to hell but run fine on Person B's system. I've had both good and bad experiences with most of the well-known antivirus products, and have seen first hand every single one of them seriously bog down a system. The only reliable way to determine what's best for you is to try a few.

If you want to check out the efficacy of various AV products, look at http://www.av-comparatives.org/ and http://www.av-test.org/certifications. (And do look at the individual PDFs on av-test to get the full story)

I also recommend against using a "suite" product that includes antivirus+firewall+HIPS+kitchen sink. Usually only one component is any good so it's just not worth the trouble. As well, you create a single point of failure when you roll everything into one: anything that does get missed would then be able to disable the entire thing, or in a more likely scenario, you or someone else turns it off--and the most-easily-reached option is almost invariably to disable the entire thing--and forgets to turn it back on again, leaving your system completely unprotected.

There is also the option to turn the normal anti-malware paradigm on its head and go for Executable Whitelisting. With this approach, you build a whitelist of programs on your computer and then deny by default any unknown executables from even running, much less doing any damage to your computer. The main advantage of this is it's not reliant on signatures to detect malware. It just checks executables against the whitelist and if it's not listed, blocks it from running. There are no good free options for this (there is WinSonar, but it is flawed and under certain conditions will allow unknown executables to run). Faronics AntiExecute IIRC is the cheapest at a mere 30$.