What is the best Anti-Malware/Anti-virus software?

[IR76]

I am looking into getting a premium subscription to an Anti-malware software and I wanted to know what's best and why based on your experiences, please? From tier-rating videos on YouTube, I am seeing high ratings of Kaspersky (I'm not bothered about their affiliations with Russia because their data is processed in Switzerland now). 

[Dedayog]

3 minutes ago, IR76 said:

I am looking into getting a premium subscription to an Anti-malware software and I wanted to know what's best and why based on your experiences, please? From tier-rating videos on YouTube, I am seeing high ratings of Kaspersky (I'm not bothered about their affiliations with Russia because their data is processed in Switzerland now). 

Malware Bytes, if you're going to pay.  I have the bundle, but I like supporting them.  They do a great job and don't get bloated like Norton and McAfee.

 

That coupled with Windows Defender works well.

[Helpful Tech Witch]

Dont. 

Windows defender and a half ounce of common sense is literally all you need.
 

[Shimejii]

They are useless. You do not need them, all you need is windows defender, and if you want the other safety-net malwarebytes free.

 

This isnt 2013 anymore, Anti-virus stuff has pretty much lost all value. Dont go on sketchy sites, dont download stuff that you know you shouldnt. Avoid clicking sketchy ads, and voila. 

[IR76]

4 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

Malware Bytes, if you're going to pay.  I have the bundle, but I like supporting them.  They do a great job and don't get bloated like Norton and McAfee.

 

That coupled with Windows Defender works well.

Malwarebytes is my second top pick I'm considering, thank you for your opinion. 

[Dedayog]

3 minutes ago, Shimejii said:

They are useless. You do not need them, all you need is windows defender, and if you want the other safety-net malwarebytes free.

 

This isnt 2013 anymore, Anti-virus stuff has pretty much lost all value. Dont go on sketchy sites, dont download stuff that you know you shouldnt. Avoid clicking sketchy ads, and voila. 

How the hell are we going to get the really nasty shit then if we can't go to the sketchy sites?!

 

/s

 

Honestly though, it's like arguing against condoms by saying abstinence.    We're GOING to go to the bad places or click shit we shouldn't.  So how do we protect ourselves then?

 

And really, who doesn't go to the bad sites?  Isn't that what the internet is for?

[IR76]

4 minutes ago, Helpful Tech Witch said:

Dont. 

Windows defender and a half ounce of common sense is literally all you need.
 

I disagree because even if you are tech-minded, depending on what you do involving computers (especially if you use one 24/7) you are most likely to run into something eventually. Also, it would be great for my family members' devices since they are not tech-minded. I do agree with you a bit in fairness since I've been using Avg free and it's been fine. 

[Shimejii]

Just now, Dedayog said:

How the hell are we going to get the really nasty shit then if we can't go to the sketchy sites?!

 

/s

 

Honestly though, it's like arguing against condoms by saying abstinence.    We're GOING to go to the bad places or click shit we shouldn't.  So how do we protect ourselves then?

 

And really, who doesn't go to the bad sites?  Isn't that what the internet is for?

for the most part just having an ad blocker and pop up blocker mitigates most of it. If you are going to those sites, anti-virus and malware stuff wont help at all. 

 

Most people dont go to the sites. If you are dumb enough to go to those sites and not have ad block, well then there really isnt much people can fix. Common sense is needed, and if you lack it then nobody can help.

 

When you download something from those sites its even worse, again when you arent thinking and you just think "Whats the worst that can happen" and you have all your bank login information on the computer with login info. 

 

If you want to go to those sites, dont do it on the  main machine.

[IR76]

2 minutes ago, Shimejii said:

for the most part just having an ad blocker and pop up blocker mitigates most of it. If you are going to those sites, anti-virus and malware stuff wont help at all. 

 

Most people dont go to the sites. If you are dumb enough to go to those sites and not have ad block, well then there really isnt much people can fix. Common sense is needed, and if you lack it then nobody can help.

 

When you download something from those sites its even worse, again when you arent thinking and you just think "Whats the worst that can happen" and you have all your bank login information on the computer with login info. 

 

If you want to go to those sites, dont do it on the  main machine.

The only reason I partly agree is if you are tech minded you are relatively safe but I still believe it gives a significant peace of mind given how much I work around computers and it is worth it if you have family members who are not tech-minded and don't know basic online safety. 

[Shimejii]

5 minutes ago, IR76 said:

The only reason I partly agree is if you are tech minded you are relatively safe but I still believe it gives a significant peace of mind given how much I work around computers and it is worth it if you have family members who are not tech-minded and don't know basic online safety. 

Just get an ad-blocker on their browser. You will have to migrate them to firefox since chrome will be disabling much of what makes adblockers useful in January. 

 

You will not run into something eventually. Again most of the sites people use there are 0 risks involved. Those programs wont help save their devices, often times its been shown time and time again they do not do anything but occasionally false flag something. 

 

Peace of mind is instilling basic online safety. Again and again until they understand it. They wont understand how to use the programs to begin with if they lack any sort of basic online safety, there will be no peace of mind. If they are truly that clueless, no anti-virus or malware will save them. Ad blockers mitigate most of it, anything beyond that is just training internet safety. 

[TetraSky]

I have been getting BitDefender trials for the past however many years. I just keep recreating a new account with a throwaway email and it resets the trial. Unlike other security softwares, Bitdefender's Trial is entirely Account based and not Installation based. No need to uninstall anything, just click "Switch account", log in the new one and suddenly you have 60, 90 or even 180 days before needing to update it again.

[IR76]

2 minutes ago, TetraSky said:

I have been getting BitDefender trials for the past however many years. I just keep recreating a new account with a throwaway email and it resets the trial. Unlike other security softwares, Bitdefender's Trial is entirely Account based and not Installation based. No need to uninstall anything, just click "Switch account", log in the new one and suddenly you have 60, 90 or even 180 days before needing to update it again.

Ha that's a clever trick. What makes Bitdefender good in your opinion? 

[IR76]

8 minutes ago, Shimejii said:

Just get an ad-blocker on their browser. You will have to migrate them to firefox since chrome will be disabling much of what makes adblockers useful in January. 

 

You will not run into something eventually. Again most of the sites people use there are 0 risks involved. Those programs wont help save their devices, often times its been shown time and time again they do not do anything but occasionally false flag something. 

 

Peace of mind is instilling basic online safety. Again and again until they understand it. They wont understand how to use the programs to begin with if they lack any sort of basic online safety, there will be no peace of mind. If they are truly that clueless, no anti-virus or malware will save them. Ad blockers mitigate most of it, anything beyond that is just training internet safety. 

Given how there is a whole Job Sector in Cybersecurity I do still stand by my point. I think you and I will probably just go in a loop but thank you for your stance and I do partly agree with it. 

[Helpful Tech Witch]

27 minutes ago, IR76 said:

I disagree because even if you are tech-minded, depending on what you do involving computers (especially if you use one 24/7) you are most likely to run into something eventually. Also, it would be great for my family members' devices since they are not tech-minded. I do agree with you a bit in fairness since I've been using Avg free and it's been fine. 

If you run into something, you screwed up somewhere. You need no av at all if you use good web practices.

However, windows defender isnt its 2015 self anymore, its a very competent av with very low system impact.

[Kilrah]

Same, stay with Windows defender, it's about as good as paid solutions. Nothing's perfect, if you change you'll just have different holes. Might catch something WD wouldn't have, but might also not catch something that WD would have.

[TetraSky]

15 minutes ago, IR76 said:

Ha that's a clever trick. What makes Bitdefender good in your opinion? 

Honestly, I primarily just like the firewall and the online threat prevention system they have.

While Windows' built-in firewall is certainly something that exists, there simply is not enough control over it without needing to fiddle a lot with it. It's not user friendly.
Malwarebyte is fine and all, but the free version+Windows Defender is more of a "I'm probably already infected, lets scan my PC to know what's up" thing than a proactive one that continually scans in the background for every web pages you access. No matter how "cautious" you are online, shit happens.
I've had more than a few websites that were previously clean suddenly start spewing alarms about potential infection vectors on them.

[Agall]

37 minutes ago, Dedayog said:

How the hell are we going to get the really nasty shit then if we can't go to the sketchy sites?!

 

/s

 

Honestly though, it's like arguing against condoms by saying abstinence.    We're GOING to go to the bad places or click shit we shouldn't.  So how do we protect ourselves then?

 

And really, who doesn't go to the bad sites?  Isn't that what the internet is for?

The performance loss from protection isn't worth the experience, especially on a 'gaming pc'

 

Just like with antivirus, you can still get viruses while protected, aka, herpes  

[IR76]

10 minutes ago, Helpful Tech Witch said:

If you run into something, you screwed up somewhere. You need no av at all if you use good web practices.

However, windows defender isnt its 2015 self anymore, its a very competent av with very low system impact.

I disagree because even if you have good web practices, the usual places you visit that may have been clean before could get infected at some point and then infect your system. I do agree Windows Defender has gotten better but I like to use it side by side and with my PC specs, I don't have any performance impact issues. 

[IR76]

12 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

Same, stay with Windows defender, it's about as good as paid solutions. Nothing's perfect, if you change you'll just have different holes. Might catch something WD wouldn't have, but might also not catch something that WD would have.

I see your point but other AVs can cover more holes than Windows Defender overall. 

[IR76]

9 minutes ago, Agall said:

The performance loss from protection isn't worth the experience, especially on a 'gaming pc'

 

Just like with antivirus, you can still get viruses while protected, aka, herpes  

Performance I have no issues with my specs with an AV and yes you can still get malware but you are less likely to with an AV and you are less likely to have your system broken from malware. 

[Agall]

4 minutes ago, IR76 said:

Performance I have no issues with my specs with an AV and yes you can still get malware but you are less likely to with an AV and you are less likely to have your system broken from malware. 

Then I'd look at either Malwarebytes, Webroot, or Trend Micro, being the products I'm familiar with. For the most part, they're more 'peace of mind' than actual security, like having a lock on your door. Designed to keep unsophisticated attackers/malware out but can be easily circumvented by someone with enough willpower or skill. Best policy is still abstinence, the probability of you getting malware if you're a smart and savvy internet user is practically 0.

 

Antivirus isn't going to protect you from installing a RAT from an email or malicious site, seen it first hand several times. Still requires the user to be smart with their internet use.

[Kilrah]

14 minutes ago, IR76 said:

I see your point but other AVs can cover more holes than Windows Defender overall. 

Not by much. Is it worth the expense for 1%-ish? To each their own.

 

https://www.av-comparatives.org/tests/real-world-protection-test-july-october-2023/

[IR76]

2 minutes ago, Agall said:

Then I'd look at either Malwarebytes, Webroot, or Trend Micro, being the products I'm familiar with. For the most part, they're more 'peace of mind' than actual security, like having a lock on your door. Designed to keep unsophisticated attackers/malware out but can be easily circumvented by someone with enough willpower or skill. Best policy is still abstinence, the probability of you getting malware if you're a smart and savvy internet user is practically 0.

 

Antivirus isn't going to protect you from installing a RAT from an email or malicious site, seen it first hand several times. Still requires the user to be smart with their internet use.

I agree if it's a specific attack then maybe but I disagree a good AV won't stop a trojan because I've seen Kaspersky block trojans and various other malware. 

[IR76]

2 minutes ago, Kilrah said:

Not by much. Is it worth the expense for 1%-ish? To each their own.

 

https://www.av-comparatives.org/tests/real-world-protection-test-july-october-2023/

Thank you for the website I'll look more closely into it but I do believe its worth it and It depends on what malware each AV can handle and how well. 

[Agall]

7 minutes ago, IR76 said:

I agree if it's a specific attack then maybe but I disagree a good AV won't stop a trojan because I've seen Kaspersky block trojans and various other malware. 

Sure, it can block some if not most. That's assuming you're getting trojans at all, depending on how you browse.

 

In the way I treat browsing, I'm unlikely to ever encounter a scenario where I'd need an AV, but I'd also be able to detect/remove malware if possible. I also configure my system to be expendable, so worst case scenario, I do a fresh install. A lot less likely compared to me 10 years ago, but I'm also now fully capable of detecting and removing it.