Best security and antivirus softwares? Comparisons made!

neves said:

That test is from from April this year. Latest update for WD Platform was released in December (it's not just Definitions/Security Intelligence Updates - which are released on a daily basis - the WD Platform is updated as well on a monthly basis).

There's more recent tests from Av-test.org: Test antivirus software for Windows 11 - October 2023 - with the following performance stats:

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I never knew Microsoft had fanboi's

kelper said:

I never knew Microsoft had fanboi's

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Defender is up there near the top with the rest of most AVs. Performance is only slightly degraded compared to the fastest ones, but it is so small that it is not even relevant. It is not the only one with slightly lower score. Malware detection rate is on par or above industry average.

CSharpDev said:

What do you use for FireWall tho? Do you use the built-in Windows Firewall, or do you use something like PFSense or Comodo Premium?

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Doesn't PFSense/OPNSense require a dedicated machine or running under a VM?

kelper said:

I never knew Microsoft had fanboi's

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If anything, I'm a fan of facts, truth and reality (while dealing with serious matters - cause for entertainment i also enjoy fantasy). Present reality - that is (since past states are redundant - while dealing with the current state of things). Which is quite obvious in my posting history (far from the type who praises Microsoft on every corner - even among the few who recommend Linux for older systems - that being the logical choice). For example:


And then there's the - in your face type of irony - since in March this year i actually agreed "with your current statement. That's mainly because - back then that was actually the truth (that version of WD still had some serious issues). And yet, felt compelled to give up on that AV - the reason for that being "drums rolling..." Performance issues! Was using Bitdefender at that time and there was some serious performance bug with its service. Couldn't even watch a Movie - cause the system started lagging like crazy - while the service was heavily stressing the CPU, like so...



After i uninstalled it - the system was running smooth as butter again. Didn't go through the extra effort of removing WD (gets disabled automatically while installing a different AV) while installing BD - and thus, after removing BD - i simply used what i already had installed - and fortunately the issues i had with it before were fixed (again, running smooth as butter). Didn't see the need to bother with another AV (if it ain't broke don't fix it - so to speak) - but all it takes is one bugged version (or some other WD related issues) - and i'm sure to try something else. Since i'm also a fan of "stuff that actually works".

Almighty1 said:

Doesn't PFSense/OPNSense require a dedicated machine or running under a VM?

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What's wrong with that?

My Acer is running faster with Avast, compared to Defender or Kaspersky.

Webroot is light and fast. It works in a different way to other anti-malware suites. I shop around for licenses as resellers offer much better prices.
Five devices Mac/PC for $22. 12.3MB on disk, under 30MB in RAM while scanning.

Note that any comparaisons of effective A/V systems have 3 basic flaws.
Not everybody uses their computers in the same way.
Most of these comparisons are done usually weeks previous to the date you are reading the reviws
A new problem could occur AT ANY TIME so even more reason not to trust comparative reviews.

(Another copuple of issues -- Newer versions of Windows -- especially those using insider builds are quite frequent - and there's no guarantee that 3rd party stuff will either work or be effective -- and Ms regularly updates WD - often several times a week so is 99.9997% more likely to find protection than 3rd party vendors - especially on home / domestic nachines.)

If for peace of mind you want to install 3rd party A/V stuff then do it - but as a security or technical solution -- forget it -- a Chocolate teapot has about the same use. Corporate and some SME's have different issues - but for HOME installations there really is no technical value in installing any other A/V protection -- WD works as good as it gets on Windows 11.

Cheerts
jimbo

jimbo45 said:

Note that any comparaisons of effective A/V systems have 3 basic flaws.
Not everybody uses their computers in the same way.
Most of these comparisons are done usually weeks previous to the date you are reading the reviws
A new problem could occur AT ANY TIME so even more reason not to trust comparative reviews.

(Another copuple of issues -- Newer versions of Windows -- especially those using insider builds are quite frequent - and there's no guarantee that 3rd party stuff will either work or be effective -- and Ms regularly updates WD - often several times a week so is 99.9997% more likely to find protection than 3rd party vendors - especially on home / domestic nachines.)

If for peace of mind you want to install 3rd party A/V stuff then do it - but as a security or technical solution -- forget it -- a Chocolate teapot has about the same use. Corporate and some SME's have different issues - but for HOME installations there really is no technical value in installing any other A/V protection -- WD works as good as it gets on Windows 11.

Cheerts
jimbo

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Disagree, Kaspersky is top-notch primarily because it comes with its own firewall that has REALLY good rules set up by default

MS is just as likely to screw up as the top AV vendors and probably more so since it keeps tinkering with the core.

I always run as Standard user, unless i have an Admin task to do in my Computers Admin Account

For years used Avast Free Antivirus up til 2018, then i was like thats it, switching all systems to Windows Security/Malwarebytes Premium
(Having much less issues with Software conflicts these days) System performance if slowed down a bit with File Copying, it is not noticeable to me at all, so a few extra minutes, not an issue with me.

I typically doing something on my Desktop system sometimes even over night if got a upload to do for Onedrive backup or something

Overall very happy though with all my systems performance in the Household here

CSharpDev said:

Disagree, Kaspersky is top-notch primarily because it comes with its own firewall that has REALLY good rules set up by default

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But can we trust Russian software?

Eugene Kaspersky has to do anything Putin tells him to. Maybe he will sabotage big companies, maybe he will go for us too. If Kaspersky disobeys, Putin will just seize all his assets. And then defenestrate him. Kaspersky is not the only malware suite to have a firewall!

kelper said:

Eugene Kaspersky has to do anything Putin tells him to. Maybe he will sabotage big companies, maybe he will go for us too. If Kaspersky disobeys, Putin will just seize all his assets. And then defenestrate him. Kaspersky is not the only malware suite to have a firewall!

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Source: You

OK...

Kaspersky data processing servers are located in Switzerland, and it has a new one in North America itself.

Next, take note that there are also "eyes" countries, and they work with companies.


Meanwhile, even operating systems (like Windows) and various apps (like Edge) do the same, and not just for computers but also for smart phones, etc. Even cars don't provide privacy:


Given that, if you want to avoid these issues, then you will need systems with the highest level of privacy and security, plus VPN, etc., as well as use only old phones, old cars, cash only, etc. If you want or need things like online banking and purchasing, then you will face a lot of difficulties.

If you have a lot of time available (and most people don't), then you can do something in between, like use an open-source operating system and tweak and modify things so that the system will work the way you want it. And if you want to have new features, add new hardware, play new games, etc., then you will need additional time to figure things out.

Otherwise, just use Windows and the security program that offers the best protection and usability plus the lowest systems impact. Keep in mind that better protection and usability mean more features, and those make the security program heavier.

AV-Comparatives and others will give you ratings on all three aspects, but the one that may change for you is systems impact. Depending on your hardware and software, a security program might be heavy or light. To find out, you'll need to install the latest free and trial version, then run a benchmark program like that from Novabench several times to record system performance. After that, you can do things like load the browser and many pages, browse folders with combinations of files (big and small, a lot and few), and run various apps to see if the system "feels" heavier or not. From there, you'll have to completely uninstall the AV, install your next choice, and do the same. The AV with the highest score wins.

In my case, here are the Novabench scores for my two-week old system using free versions of AVs (I want to avoid buying security programs):

Kaspersky - 2494
Windows Security - 2467
Windows Security with Core Isolation, etc - 2218

Results for Avast, AVG, and Bitdefender were between Kaspersky and Windows Security.

Given that, I decided to use Kaspersky, although Avast has more features (like a firewall). YMMV.

Lastly, some more points:

About relying on common sense and using only "safe" software or visiting only "safe" sites, more malware don't require user interaction, some attack embedded software directly, and more are now found in legitimate sites (they can even be hidden in ads or parts of webpages) and software.

About arguing that you haven't been infected yet, for all you know, your system already is, and malware has been operating quietly stealing your data.

About arguing that you can just recover from backups, that doesn't prevent data theft.

In several cases, when you use default-deny or software that stops programs from running through your decision or because of its own AI, then you might end up blocking necessary but uninfected apps, leading to system malfunction. The same goes for things like third-party firewalls. (If you decide to use those, be ready to experiment or worse. In my case, I gave up and just use the firewall in the router, the firewall in Windows, and Firewall App Blocker to add anything manually to the Windows firewall.)

If you try to harden your system or tweak various things in apps, you might create more problems that you will have to figure out to solve.

Paid software with promos look cheap for the first year; watch out for the first year. Also, if you need to buy for several devices, then you might end up paying the equivalent of one hard drive per year.

Turn off as much telemetry as you can for AVs, as well as non-important notifications. Turn off anything like game mode if you can.

Several advise not to bother with HTTPs scanning because they pose a privacy risk and may slow down browsing. It's suggested to turn that off in the AV and just use a browser security addon. (Also, ad blockers like uBlock Origin can help.)

Consider installing secondary scanners to do further scans of the system if needed. Don't turn off any real-time protection features because they will compete with any AV you installed.

Take not that various free versions of AV lack features, like no browser security, anti-ransomware, etc. The free versions of those AVs I consider the most complete and may or may not have a heavy impact on systems are Bitdefender, Avast, AVG (same company as Avast), and Kaspersky. The first is set-and-forget but may be heavy. For the second and third, I had to turn on game and silent mode to remove notifications; also, apps like Firewall App Blocker can block ads in the avastui.exe file or something like that. For the fourth, there used to be annoying notifications but I haven't seen them lately (you have to turn several off in your web account).

That Kaspersky has a data centre in Switzerland proves nothing. It may be controlled by the Kremlin. In any case, I won't be buying and goods from Russia.

I've been using Kaspersky software for my AV solution for 20 years and don't really care where it's developed. I find it to be an excellent product and security solution. I've never had an issue with KAV or KIS in all these years and I have no reason to switch. I currently have it installed on 3 desktops and 2 laptops in my home and recommend it to anyone who asks for my assistance with their systems. BTW - I also use MBAM Pro (on demand scanning, not resident) and Spyware Blaster alongside KIS.

Having said that, these days there are many good options - including Defender! But when all is said and done, regardless of what software is used as a primary AV, nothing - NOTHING - is more important than common sense and smart computing!!

monkeylove said:

Even cars don't provide privacy:

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LoL, there are smart phones and also smart houses, both having privacy issues hahah

kelper said:

I never knew Microsoft had fanboi's

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aka. white horse knights praising MS in a baptist militant style lol

allan said:

I've been using Kaspersky software for my AV solution for 20 years and don't really care where it's developed. I find it to be an excellent product and security solution. I've never had an issue with KAV or KIS in all these years and I have no reason to switch. I currently have it installed on 3 desktops and 2 laptops in my home and recommend it to anyone who asks for my assistance with their systems. BTW - I also use MBAM Pro (on demand scanning, not resident) and Spyware Blaster alongside KIS.

Having said that, these days there are many good options - including Defender! But when all is said and done, regardless of what software is used as a primary AV, nothing - NOTHING - is more important than common sense and smart computing!!

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You wave the US flag in your avatar, yet you use a Russian AV software! Please uninstall and use Defender or amother AV.