Advice Request Choose a new AV

[Zartarra]

Hello fellow MT'ers

I have for the moment a license for Sophos Home Pro but it is almost time to renew it. I got an offer from Sophos to renew it for €66 for 2 years.

Since version 3.3.0 I have an issue with ADguard and the new improvement are rather disappointed. Their support is still great but maybe it is time to go for an other AV-solution.

My possible new choices are:

• Avast or AVG IS
• F-secure Safe or Total
• BitDefender
• Windows Defender

or stick with Sophos.

The last couple of weeks I have tested all the mentioned AV-suites. I only had 2 issues with Bitdefender (very slow updates and bug in GUI).

I combined all the AV-test (AV-test, AVLab, SE LABS, MRG and AV-Comp) results from the last 2 years and my own tests. The totals are:

Bitdefender	95,72%
AVG	93,66%
AVAST	93,66%
F-Secure	93,33%
Sophos Home Premium	93,31%
Windows Defender	89,08%

I tested 240 samples (exe's, vbs, js, dll, docs, xls, ps).

AVG IS	95,61% (blocked by ML: 5,20%)
Bitdefender IS	92,88% (blocked by ML: 0%)
F-Secure	92,35% (blocked by ML: 3.75%)
Sophos	82,61% (blocked by ML: 2,08%)
Windows Defender	82,28% (blocked by ML: 2,67%)

So I am curious about your opinion and your choice?

Thanks

 

[ForgottenSeer 85179]

Defender is called Microsoft Defender instead of Windows Defender since some time already

I vote for Defender because of less attack surface, internal integrated and works best with other Windows security features.

 

[Kongo]

I voted for F-Secure but just because I can't vote for two. I think Microsoft Defender would be just fine, I might try it soon too. The only reason why I don't rely on built in security is the fact, that I just have the Windows Home version without some useful features/modules.

 

[davisd]

I got an offer from Sophos to renew it for €66 for 2 years.

Normally after a SHP Trial ends, the first price is 49.95eur for 1 year and 89.95eur for a 2 year.

Here's the deal if you think on keep using.

24.97eur for a 1 year, or a 44.97eur for a 2 year

Sophos Home Shop

buy.home.sophos.com

 

[CyberDevil]

I think that if you have enough RAM, then Bitdefender is a great choice for protection that does not require any attention from the user. On the other hand, Avast has quite a lot of interesting settings and a sandbox, I would choose it from the listed products, and the level of protection of Avast, if properly configured, it should be higher than that of F-Secure or Sophos. I also like Norton for its reputation-based firewall, but it's not on your list.

 

[Gandalf_The_Grey]

First before buying anything do a full trial to see how that software behaves on your system and works for you.
Microsoft Defender coupled with Andy's tools (Configure Defender and Simple Windows Hardening) is a great option.
I find it just a tad too heavy on older systems and prefer F-Secure SAFE (with Simple Windows Hardening on my system) for its lightness and Mikko Hypponen
Bitdefender is a hit or miss depending on your system, so definitely do a trail first.
I just don't like Avast (or AVG) anymore, so no real opinion on them.
Was an Avast user when it still looked like this:

 

[EndangeredPootis]

Do the same test with Windows Defender but use ConfigureDefender and set in High Protection Level and Cloud Check Time Limit to 50 seconds (in order to enable BAFS), its generally enough if you harden your system and use common sense.

 

[Nagisa]

I don't see any reason to install an AV on my system really. My threat model has never been the types of malware that what antiviruses are made for.

 

[FireHammer]

I voted for Bitdefender, as I have BTS on my system without any problems with AdGuard Desktop or AdGuard VPN.
Good Hunting!
My Windows version is Pro with the latest updates.
And I have chosen to harden my system with Simple Windows Hardening(default settings).

 

[Oxygen]

After being infected with Malware when I was younger I took it as a chance to learn and use Common Sense and that's been enough for me. I've tried various products over the years and found that they only bring more issues. Some people are going to swear by the products they use and that's fine. I think we should teach people to use Common Sense rather than relying on something that's not going to detect everything malicious.

Out of everything on that list I would pick Microsoft Defender paired with Common Sense.

 

[gery79]

out of what you asked for i would go with bdefender as it has a very strong vrbd and firewall but i would also suggest either Kaspersky or Eset or the good old ZoneAlarm

 

[Criadores]

Lately I have been using promotional Fsecure Safe, but for many years I have used Bitdefender. Because it is lighter, faster and easier to handle.
I would choose to buy Bitdefender. But I voted for Fsecur

 

[plat]

Since the ones you have listed are all capable, why not give each one a trial spin for a few days or a week? It shouldn't cost you anything. Nowadays, I go by performance issues (or lack thereof) since I use 2 tiny hardening programs with Defender plus I'm not risky and clickity-click prone. The second something messes with the performance/slows it down, I look for replacement/s.

Isn't 66 euros for a 2 year extension of Sophos a little steep? davisd in post #4 has a more sane-looking cost. Does anyone know offhand if SerialCart has any decent Sophos deals?

PS: why not use the free version of AVG plus a hardening program like H_C?

 

[ForgottenSeer 85179]

PS: why not use the free version of AVG plus a hardening program like H_C?

a AV isn't needed with SRP at first place.
In combination, Microsoft Defender is good and works best with Windows.

 

[plat]

Since AVG free doesn't have a Firewall of its own, I was thinking of the H_C Firewall Hardening module. I should have put this in the above post.

But yes, Defender is most amenable to any of several really nice hardening programs--like H_C, for one.

 

[forgottenuser79643]

Microsoft Defender does a good job, though I personally am charmed by F-Secure and Sophos. Out of the options I voted Sophos, in the end, just for the simple reason of "Why fix it, if it ain't broken" philosophy. If you got time before the renewal discount expires, do a trial run with F-Secure and the built-in Microsoft Defender and see for yourself whether its worth switching.

I use Emsisoft, but that is not an IS suite product and detections with in-house engine alongside it are quite similar to that of Bitdefender. There is also Eset if you are open to look at other options.

 

[CyberPanther]

I would suggest to maintain with Sophos Premium.
I voted for F-secure as it is light and its BB Deep Guard is powerful.
As you can manage your devices from my F-secure.
Best of luck.

 

[valvaris]

Using a laptop and Microsoft Defender would be my first choice but since I own a new Laptop the Memory usage is thru the roof with over 2 GB - So I switched to Bitdefender Engine / Netgear Armor - And ever since super smooth experience.

 

[F 4 E]

I also vote for F-Secure. I use Safe, as it's all I need.

It is quick and easy to set up, and always gets good reviews.

It's also light on my systems.

I got my last version from @SerialCart on this website.

 

[ZeePriest]

BItdefender total security is what you'll need. I'm very happy with it after 2 months of use.