Antivirus / Security Suite Suggestions

[Denholm]

Agree with you about eset, the later versions (from 6) have an issue where they will randomly kill all network connections, and not even disabling the firewall will get it going again (you have to issue some netsh commands)

Never encountered that issue with ESET Smart Security 6. I've simply noticed during the program's subsequent versions it started becoming more resource intensive and obtrusive. I used to be able to stop ESET's services and processes if I wanted to. Now it's not that easy. It also hasn't been appearing in reviews for having great scanning, detection, and removal ratings. Therefore, I'd say it's safe to say the program isn't as robust and powerful as it once was.

I still like ESET, However, I don't feel recommending it to inquiring customers is such a great idea if it's not a great tool with minimum resource impact.

[Bizman]

some people occasionally ask me which is the best [antivirus].

We're in the same boat. My advice has crystallized to something like: "The best antivirus is any program/brand you can understand. The most important safety component is between the keyboard and the back rest."

That said, I heavily dislike All-in-One monsters like Norton360, nagging about everything as "critical". Cookies don't for the most part spy and backups aren't crucial if you only use browser based services such as banking or tubing. If a customer likes some brand, I'd recommend him to get the simplest version of that one, doing only the antivirus thing. For home users, the free versions may counteract their job as advertising the paid programs, because in their simplicity they suit best for the computer illiterate.

[Denholm]

Quite true. Great way of bringing across a point.

[Vulcan]

Never encountered that issue with ESET Smart Security 6. I've simply noticed during the program's subsequent versions it started becoming more resource intensive and obtrusive.

that is common across most AV products. The threat landscape has changed, old school was purely signature based, then we added heuristics, then we added behavioral, next step is moving towards reputational. Some are also slowly adding enterprise management features (which historically made mcafee and symantec 'fatter') plus client enforcement capabilities (firewall, web filtering, app whitelisting etc).

[bj229r]

I use only Malware Bytes, small footprint, seems to catch any naughty bits that try to get in

[Bizman]

I use only Malware Bytes, small footprint, seems to catch any naughty bits that try to get in

Actually MalwareBytes isn't an antivirus program, although it can find and delete many trojans. I suppose you're having the paid version, which is on all the time. The on-demand only free version is a good cleaning tool, but if you only rely on that, the naughty bits may have done who knows what before you run a scan.

[bj229r]

yeah, I got the pro version a couple years ago

[Bizman]

So you seem to be pretty safe concerning crapware. The three newest versions of Windows also have Defender installed, in Windows 8 it actually is the same as the free Microsoft Security Essentials. In that case you might have the whole field covered. A check with an online scanner every now and then wouldn't hurt, though, just for getting another doctor's opinion. Eset Online scanner has proved quite capable in finding all sorts of nasties lately, download link for the browser independent version included. If you run it, checking the advanced features for ticking the unwanted couple would be a good option at least the first time for a thorough scan.