AntiVirus options 2015:

[Bikerdude]

I'm supposed to be the guy who knows about these things, but I'm behind the curve because I have been using the same vendor for the last few years.

 

Said vender is Kaspersky, but as of version's 2014/15 the performance of the application has nose-dived. I'm running a top-teir system with an SSD, and I noticed some apps (eg DR) and also any archives opened from Windows explorer would take sometimes minutes to load/open. I spent a good 3-6 months with Kaspersky tech support trying to get to the bottom of the issue, but lost all interest when I seemed to be doing all the grunt work and Kaspersky not offering much if any light at the end of the tunnel.

 

So my question to fellow computer engineers or PC enthusiasts is what AV app do you use or would recommend, thus far I have tried the following -

• Norton - this may have been a symptom of the trial version but I found it full of internal ads and popups - which meant I never really tested the app before nuking its ass.
• Mcafee - The client is lightweight but its capabilities seem to have been artificially stunted (its missing some core capabilities that should be present in in a trial ver.) and you can't download/install it without registering a f***ing account - another non starter.
• Sophos - I will have to test this one again, but on my MacPro with 2x quad core xeon's I observed a noticeable slowdown.
• Eset NOD32 - I have heard of it and it seems to be a good contender, but haven't tried it yet.

Norton/McaFee AV isnt known for being efficient and secondary consideration is the parent companies are based or owned by American companies. Sophos is I believe UK, but I haven't had much exposure beyond use in an enterprise environment.

[Vae]

Hi Biker, I recommend Avast Anti-virus and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.

[stumpy]

i have Eset NOD32, it updates its virus database 4 times a day, protects against spyware and viruses, tells you when you need to do a windows update, blocks access to certain sites if they are on a blacklist, and I think it may scan the system when its idle. theres also a 32bit and 64bit versions of the program. it also warns of bad emails. its updates and scans go on in the background and you don't really notice them until you get a popup saying its updated or its found something bad.

[Bikerdude]

Hi Biker, I recommend Avast Anti-virus and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.

I should have said I am looking for paid AV apps, free AV apps are ok in a pinch but arent up to the standard of paid AV s/w.

i have Eset NOD32, it updates its virus database 4 times a day, protects against spyware and viruses, tells you when you need to do a windows update, blocks access to certain sites if they are on a blacklist, and I think it may scan the system when its idle. theres also a 32bit and 64bit versions of the program. it also warns of bad emails. its updates and scans go on in the background and you don't really notice them until you get a popup saying its updated or its found something bad.

What are you full system specs..? When opening applications or file archives is there a delay, if so how much? When brtowsing websites did you get a delay in sites opening and if so, again by how much..?

[chakkman]

I should have said I am looking for paid AV apps, free AV apps are ok in a pinch but arent up to the standard of paid AV s/w.

According to some tests i read, Avast is not so much worse regarding detection than payware. Your choice of course. Shame Kaspersky doesn't perform well for you, from what i always read it's pretty much ace of the antivirus programs.

[Vae]

Right now, I would say that Avast is the best free anti-virus...yet, if you want a premium solution, I would go with Bitdefender.

[freyk]

As a systemadmin for commercial organizations, i saw several antivus applications in action.

Also the apps mentioned in the first post.

For the first line in defence i use eset (good configuable and light). Beside that a good configured firewall, Firefox/chromium with adblock, software installation blockers, system/app updates,manual checks.

 

And for last and a clear mind > Think and act, as a castleguard and a thief.

Edited January 18, 2015 by freyk

[Anderson]

I used Kaspersky in the past but it was always known for being intensive on the PC. Especially the old versions.

Now it's better.

But still, lately, not much trust in Russian made programes of the kind.

 

At the moment using Norton 360, seems better than the trial version and a worthy replacement.

 

I believe that payware Anti-virus programmes tend to be better.

 

After a few infections I tried Microsoft Security and Avast and they didn't see what Kaspersky saw, or what Norton detected.

 

 

But, make no mistake - never install 2 anti virus programmes. They say that they compete with each other so they may detect each other as harmful programmes.

[gnartsch]

I would recommend 'Avira Antivirus'.

Personally I am using the free version for a couple of years already and never had an infection.

(From time to time I installed one of the more popular ones, just to verify that it really is as good as it states.

And indeed, the other ones had nothing to complain on either.)

The nice thing about Avira is that it doesn't slow down the system.

And yet it blocks any crazy virus shit coming from the internet already while you are downloading it.

 

Edit: Found a recent top-ten AV review and I am pleased to read what is written there.

http://anti-virus-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

http://anti-virus-software-review.toptenreviews.com/avira-antivir-review.html

Edited January 18, 2015 by gnartsch

[Bikerdude]

Edit: Found a recent top-ten AV review and I am pleased to read what is written there.

http://anti-virus-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

ta., will have a look. The issue with a lot of these sites is they have been paid to do reviews, each site gives 10/10 for a different AV product - there dosent seem to be much consitancy between sites.

Beside that a good configured firewall, Firefox/chromium with adblock, software installation blockers, system/app updates,manual checks.

I've been running privacy centric plugins for a while, current got adblock, disconnect & privacey badger. And I have Windows firewall notifier installed, it provides notification on when apps try to make outgoing connections. WF has always been able to block these typs of connections, but there was no user friendly front end.

 

Back to this thread, thus far we have Eset NOD32 and Bitdefender.

[Paralytik]

Been paying for the ESET Smart Security suite (NOD32+firewall+more stuff-combo) for maybe 4-5 years, costs me around €30/year.
Lightweight, haven't noticed it at all actually. Haven't had any problems with anything software since I got it. Updates a lot as has been mentioned.

The firewall included is great, very easy to allow specific programs through (in my case it was StarCraft2 and some other games mostly).

Can't say anything bad about it. Cheap, fast and easy to customize.

[Lux]

I'm really liking Bitdefender so thats where my vote is. Very lightweight just running the antivirus, has blocked numerous search page links that are malicious. Copied a friends recovered hard drive over to my system temporarily and it yanked 5 trojans out that file copy (dumb user).

 

It never bothers really ever which I am totally for. You don't really ever know its even running unless it catches something. Very transparent. I can't speak to their "total security suite" but their AV is excellent, unintrusive, lightweight, and transparent.

[stumpy]

I've not noticed anytype of delay when using eset nod32, I just have the antviirus set to maximum protection.

on a quad core system.

I got it cause my internet service provider recommended it after the previous one I used got brought out by norton and I didn't want to switch to norton.

[motorsep]

DrWeb rules: http://www.drweb.com/

[Lydecker]

Kaspersky still going strong here. I haven't had any problems in the past or present with it. I usually don't update it on yearly basis, so I might have skipped some releases. Currently running 2015 and got nothing to report. I'm naturally so distrusting toward anything on the web that I can't even remember when Kasper last found something. I run occasional checks (like 2-4 per year) with software like Malwarebytes or Spybot.

 

The company I work for still runs System Center Endpoint Protection. Can't recommend. When it does find something, it's usually only the tip of an iceberg... I'm talking about a report of finding 12 trojans or something and when we scanned it with F-Secure, there was like 700+ reported malware. We do fresh install when it hits numbers like that, but the usual fix is scans with F-Secure, Malwarebytes and maybe ComboFix. ComboFix is a bit of a brute at times and can mess things up, so... be careful.