Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: stickpig on May 07, 2010, 09:10:16 PM
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Suggestions on the best free AV software. I'm on the road and need something for my laptop.
Thanks in advance
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You'll get plenty of different answers. I myself use Avast antivirus and have had zero issues. Of course, in the 25 years that I've had a computer I've never had a virus - and I didn't even use an anti-virus for the last 3 or so years.
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Firefox + NoScript will take care of a lot of issues. However, as ImADot said, Avast is decent.
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I like avast.
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Thanks for the replies
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Avast, if you must use something free.
Otherwise I'd use ESET for a paid antivirus.
The best antivirus is oneself, for no AV software will stop everything.
Good luck.
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Threatfire and good browsing habits will go a long ways.
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Granted I didn't use it for very long, threatfire really annoyed me. I gained the impression it was a registry monitor that constantly asked you if registry modifications should be approved or reversed.
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Avast after testing almost every freeware a/v program available last summer...Avast worked great...the latest version is very very good...wife-ack likes to download stuff off blogs and Avast has stopped everything so far.
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Denholm thats one of the things it does. Why is that annoying? Only happens when your installing new software and not always then.
It also watch's for rootkits, and programs looking to change other programs settings.
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I heard on Laportes podcast (he says it almost every day) that ESET NOD 32 (not free but I think there is a 30-day evaluation) has never had an infection 'in the wild.' It seems to catch everything if you have it set right anyway.
I like how he says 'No Open Doors with NOD 32.' :aok
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Ive been using Microsoft Security Essentials and havent had a problem so far. It has found a few viruses and got rid of them no problem. As long as you monitor your computer on a regular basis, and dont download stupid stuff, you should be just fine with a free AV software.
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Denholm thats one of the things it does. Why is that annoying? Only happens when your installing new software and not always then.
It also watch's for rootkits, and programs looking to change other programs settings.
Back when I used it I would frequently test software since I was using it for 3D design. Got one of those pop ups nearly every two minutes as I was working. Finally gave up and got myself NOD32.
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No antivirus will keep you safe. Best is to use something else than windows for browsing the internet and keep just a clean gaming machine separately on windows.
Latest discovery finds exploits that bypass all known antiviruses, including Nod32:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/07/argument_switch_av_bypass/
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I'll put my money on Avast
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No antivirus will keep you safe. Best is to use something else than windows for browsing the internet and keep just a clean gaming machine separately on windows.
Latest discovery finds exploits that bypass all known antiviruses, including Nod32:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/07/argument_switch_av_bypass/
Should have read the entire piece Ripley:
Still, the exploit has its limitations. It requires a large amount of code to be loaded onto the targeted machine, making it impractical for shellcode-based attacks or attacks that rely on speed and stealth. It can also be carried out only when an attacker already has the ability to run a binary on the targeted PC.
Still, the technique might be combined with an exploit of another piece of software, say, a vulnerable version of Adobe Reader or Oracle's Java Virtual Machine to install malware without arousing the suspicion of the any AV software the victim was using.
Still boils down to common sense...as with all malware on the net...you have to do something to get infected...don't download junk you are not 100% sure about.
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In all reality, the only reason I use ESET Smart Security is for its firewall. Here at college, you never know what network bugs are crawling around from computers using LimeWire and Kazaa.
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Should have read the entire piece Ripley:
Still boils down to common sense...as with all malware on the net...you have to do something to get infected...don't download junk you are not 100% sure about.
Should have read and understood the essential: Any pdf, flash ad / movie, java app can have this exploit embedded. So basically you're either restricted to text only browsing or you ditch windows online if you want security.
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No it doesn't say any pdf, flash ad / movie...it specifically gives 2 examples of applications that it could be inserted into so that the code can execute in the background while the program installation process writes to the system, not plugins or extraneous files that do not have write access or the ability to run a binary...movies, pdf files and flash files do not write to the system.
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Well, here I thought NOD 32 has settings to prevent that sort of thing. Maybe I will look more into it later.
What about using a virtualization product to install a sub-OS and cruise from there? Is it possible to be infected while doing that?
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Depends on your setup. The virtual machine will obviously become infected, yet since virtual machines are usually isolated, they won't affect the host.
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No it doesn't say any pdf, flash ad / movie...it specifically gives 2 examples of applications that it could be inserted into so that the code can execute in the background while the program installation process writes to the system, not plugins or extraneous files that do not have write access or the ability to run a binary...movies, pdf files and flash files do not write to the system.
I guess you're not aware of flash weakneses that allow execution of arbitrary code.. Or dozen other zero day exploits in the wild.
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No antivirus will keep you safe. Best is to use something else than windows for browsing the internet and keep just a clean gaming machine separately on windows.
Latest discovery finds exploits that bypass all known antiviruses, including Nod32:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/07/argument_switch_av_bypass/
It doesn't mention NOD32. :confused:
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I guess you're not aware of flash weakneses that allow execution of arbitrary code.. Or dozen other zero day exploits in the wild.
Yes I am and most are either plugged, or blocked by anti-virus/anti-spyware programs...I guess you're not aware that flash files do not write to the system, they are simply viewed using a plug-in or extension. Considering the fact that the exploit you posted requires write access to the binary level, meaning it has to access the system level files, and the fact that it is a large file load, it would be useless to embed it into a flash file...maybe piggy backed into a flash plug-in or flash creator installer, but not the flash media files.
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I'll put my money on Avast
Avast is good but for 19.95 I'd go with Eset Nod32.
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Yes I am and most are either plugged, or blocked by anti-virus/anti-spyware programs...I guess you're not aware that flash files do not write to the system, they are simply viewed using a plug-in or extension. Considering the fact that the exploit you posted requires write access to the binary level, meaning it has to access the system level files, and the fact that it is a large file load, it would be useless to embed it into a flash file...maybe piggy backed into a flash plug-in or flash creator installer, but not the flash media files.
LOL! If a flash app lets attacker execute code on system ram, attacker can then use this method to subvert the AV. An application is nothing but a bunch of code in memory.
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It doesn't mention NOD32. :confused:
It does, it's on the list of vulnerable apps.
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LOL! If a flash app lets attacker execute code on system ram, attacker can then use this method to subvert the AV. An application is nothing but a bunch of code in memory.
Yeah...mmmhmmm...yup. :joystick: