Author Topic: Anti-malware software for Windows 7  (Read 2953 times)

Offline TDeacon

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Anti-malware software for Windows 7
« on: January 30, 2017, 09:30:39 PM »
Do we still recommend ESET Nod32 for Windows 7 installations (Windows 7 Professional 64bit)?   I was using Symantec for Windows XP, and it failed me (also, I know Skuzzy hates Symantec). 

I plan to use Windows 7 side for Windows games, Photoshop, and professional web browsing (to support software development on Visual Studio).  Everything else including recreational browsing and email will be from Linux side. I have a hardware firewall, use NoScript, and would probably enable software firewalls on both Win7 and Linux as well. 

Thanks in advance,
MH
« Last Edit: January 30, 2017, 09:43:56 PM by TDeacon »

Offline Skuzzy

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Re: Anti-malware software for Windows 7
« Reply #1 on: January 31, 2017, 06:09:20 AM »
ESET is still the best gamer anti-virus program around.  The least intrusive.
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Offline Kenne

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Re: Anti-malware software for Windows 7
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2017, 10:12:51 AM »
ESET
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Offline TDeacon

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Re: Anti-malware software for Windows 7
« Reply #3 on: January 31, 2017, 12:19:25 PM »
Thanks! 

They apparently have several versions (https://www.eset.com/us/home/for-windows/).  Can any of them be used to check malware on a USB memory stick (prior to said malware transfering itself to the Windows PC)?  I sometimes need to be able to transfer files back and forth between the Windows and Linux OSs. 

Mark H. 

Offline usvi

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Re: Anti-malware software for Windows 7
« Reply #4 on: January 31, 2017, 01:03:11 PM »
ESET

 :aok

Can any of them be used to check malware on a USB memory stick (prior to said malware transfering itself to the Windows PC)?

I have the ESET NOD32 ANTIVIRUS version, yes you can scan external sources.
« Last Edit: January 31, 2017, 01:06:47 PM by usvi »
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Offline Vulcan

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Re: Anti-malware software for Windows 7
« Reply #5 on: January 31, 2017, 03:24:58 PM »
FWIW feedback I have been getting is ESET is failing.

The sad news is most consumer AV is rubbish right now, all the good stuff is exclusively enterprise. What you should be looking for is signature-less protection (unless your hardware firewall can do Advanced Threat Protection/Sandboxing).

If you want something really good then this is probably the best out there right now: https://www.malwaremanaged.com/     (Cylance based, but cylance does not provide a consumer/SMB version). I would recommend it be used in conjunction with Windows built in AV as cylance uses no signatures, so Win AV is good just to keep the old stuff out.

Alternatively I've been trialing Malware Bytes full version and it seems alright.


Offline Randy1

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Re: Anti-malware software for Windows 7
« Reply #6 on: February 01, 2017, 06:29:35 AM »
I use the windows defender albeit the best defense against malware is yourself.

Offline 100Coogn

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Re: Anti-malware software for Windows 7
« Reply #7 on: February 01, 2017, 07:04:12 AM »
I use the windows defender albeit the best defense against malware is yourself.

Same here.  :aok

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Offline Chalenge

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Re: Anti-malware software for Windows 7
« Reply #8 on: February 01, 2017, 10:16:45 AM »
Gibson Research is saying that Windows Defender is the better way to go, and to use Edge as your browser. ALL other browsers are suffering from a major vulnerability at the moment.
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Offline TDeacon

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Re: Anti-malware software for Windows 7
« Reply #9 on: February 01, 2017, 01:01:07 PM »
Looks like we have 2 camps here. 

WRT Windows Defender, don't forget that my OP refers to a Windows 7 installation.  According to Wikipedia, WD is just anti-spyware in Windows 7, and is in any case disabled if one uses Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows 7.  So if one wanted the official MS solution, wouldn't Microsoft Security Essentials for Win7 make more sense?  (Either alone, or in conjunction with Vulcan's idea). 

MH

Offline Vulcan

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Re: Anti-malware software for Windows 7
« Reply #10 on: February 01, 2017, 02:21:18 PM »
Gibson Research is saying that Windows Defender is the better way to go, and to use Edge as your browser. ALL other browsers are suffering from a major vulnerability at the moment.

LOL that is the biggest pile of smelly brown stuff I have heard in a long time.

Windows Defender is mop up duties only, when malware is well and truly known. If you use MSE or Windows Defender alone then you are truly screwed.

I work in the IT security sector for a vendor that provides network level security (SMB through to enterprise). We don't really do a client solution (i.e. desktop, laptop server etc) - a lot of clients ask me what is good so I always keep an eye on such products.

As part of my role I participate in internal testing. That includes our ability to pickup malware. With products like MSE it could be anything up to TWO MONTHS before it identified malware samples we had detected on our systems.

Offline 100Coogn

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Re: Anti-malware software for Windows 7
« Reply #11 on: February 01, 2017, 02:37:34 PM »
Looks like we have 2 camps here. 

WRT Windows Defender, don't forget that my OP refers to a Windows 7 installation.  According to Wikipedia, WD is just anti-spyware in Windows 7, and is in any case disabled if one uses Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows 7.  So if one wanted the official MS solution, wouldn't Microsoft Security Essentials for Win7 make more sense?  (Either alone, or in conjunction with Vulcan's idea). 

MH

Sorry TDeacon, I didn't catch the Windows 7 part... (Even though you have it in the Title)  :bolt:

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Offline Pudgie

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Re: Anti-malware software for Windows 7
« Reply #12 on: February 01, 2017, 02:48:05 PM »
FWIW feedback I have been getting is ESET is failing.

The sad news is most consumer AV is rubbish right now, all the good stuff is exclusively enterprise. What you should be looking for is signature-less protection (unless your hardware firewall can do Advanced Threat Protection/Sandboxing).

If you want something really good then this is probably the best out there right now: https://www.malwaremanaged.com/     (Cylance based, but cylance does not provide a consumer/SMB version). I would recommend it be used in conjunction with Windows built in AV as cylance uses no signatures, so Win AV is good just to keep the old stuff out.

Alternatively I've been trialing Malware Bytes full version and it seems alright.



I looked at your link........this interests me.

Can you elaborate on this some more?

PM me if you deem necessary..................

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Offline TDeacon

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Re: Anti-malware software for Windows 7
« Reply #13 on: February 01, 2017, 05:12:30 PM »
Quote
If you want something really good then this is probably the best out there right now: https://www.malwaremanaged.com/   

Interesting, but the "request pricing" link looks ominous WRT a single-user home system...

MH

Offline Vulcan

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Re: Anti-malware software for Windows 7
« Reply #14 on: February 01, 2017, 07:50:52 PM »
I looked at your link........this interests me.

Can you elaborate on this some more?

PM me if you deem necessary..................

 :salute

AFAIK they run a managed service using Cylance. Cyclance doesn't come in SMB or home form (I think the minimum license is 250 nodes). Quite possibly may not be the right product for home, but for a small business of 5-10 users. If you're a small business and you've had crypto-ware issues this is a great option.

The only reason I mention products like Cylance is that these are the features you should be looking for going forward. Products like Cylance and Carbon Black are the new benchmarks for AV. I had Cylance running for a year and it picked up EVERY SINGLE MALWARE SAMPLE I was playing with while McAfee and MSE were clueless for weeks.

Trend Micro has some similar tech I think but afaik it doesn't exist in the home user platform. Webroot might be another to look at.

For the layman, typical AV tech relies heavily on signatures. Signatures are derived from the malware itself. So you have to know about a virus to protect against it. These days a new piece of malware is release every second on average. Say it takes an antivirus vender 24 hours (very optimistic) to find this new malware, then write a signature and test it. That is around 48 hrs from malware release to a signature being available). That means you are typically exposed ~160000 malware apps at any time.

The AV products use behaviour testing and 'AI' to look for new malware. So no signatures required (though I like to have signature based AV to quickly clean out old well known malware stuff that pops up occasionally).

Right now the AV market is a bit of a train wreck.

edit: after all that I had a look around at stuff again, for SMB/Home I would look at Webroot.
« Last Edit: February 01, 2017, 08:08:46 PM by Vulcan »