Advice Request Is it Safe to use Avast Free Antivirus or Kaspersky Security Cloud Free?

[Wraith2020]

Lately I've been hearing and seeing numerous articles about how Avast is selling user data and how Kaspersky is being targeted for violating user privacy. I need a good free antivirus for my college laptop and both of them are my choices since Kaspersky has System Watcher and Avast has hardened mode. So is there REALLY any cause to be worried about? I do have some important documents stored on the laptop which I obviously don't want Avast or Kaspersky to upload to the cloud. But personally I feel that the the allegations are over-hyped. I need your opinions and suggestions guys. My third choice is ESET but then I'll have to shell out some cash for it. ATM my country's in LockDown and I don't want to spend money unless it's absolutely urgent.

 

[CyberPanther]

I would like to recommend to you Bitdefender Antivirus Free Edition.
You can download it from the following:
Bitdefender Antivirus Free - Download Free Antivirus Software

 

[LDogg]

Both are safe to use, find out from people, reviews and YouTube, make up your own mind my friend.

~LDogg

 

[EndangeredPootis]

The allegations Kaspersky get are indeed not true with no proof whatsoever, however, avast is straight up spying on you and selling your data to advertisers unless you configure it in its settings, I would go for Kaspersky.

 

[SerialCart]

Well this is a really difficult question to answer. the CEO of this company mentioned that they will completely stop this. But the reality is that you would never know if even other companies are doing this or not. For example the fact that this scandal was released about AVAST not Kaspersky, this does not mean that Kaspersky is not doing it -OR- doing this.

So in 2020 this is really difficult to answer the question: Which company will keep my privacy safe or will not sell my data!

I have had very good experiences (COMPLETELY PERSONAL), with F-Secure, AVIRA, ESET and Bitdefender... but again nothing is 100%...

In my opinion when it comes to security Avast is good, and if you like Avast go for it. Regarding privacy: try to search in the settings and turn all the reporting and analytical options off. If it does not have such settings go for an alternative.

And at the end as it has been discussed many times here in MT.com and elsewhere, nothing is 100% free, even Google services. If you are going for a free software and you are worried for your privacy, you should be more careful.

Al

 

[DDE_Server]

i think that the more suite which is privacy concerned is Emsisoft. however in your case i would chose kaspersky until something bad pop up about it "Believe me in today's era any thing bad is speedily discovered and spread .
Also as some members here told you above. Bitdefender is good option between the two with good protection

 

[silversurfer]

@Wraith2020
Just installing "SysHardener: default settings" beside Avast Free or Kaspersky Free, or advice him to purchase ESET IS for any doubt of privacy about both other AV.

 

[Divine_Barakah]

Well, since you stated that you want to use either the free version of Avast or Kaspersky why not just to stick with WD and pair it with CD. Regarding important documents, I suggest you sync them to a reputable cloud service. If WD is not an option for you, I would stick with Avast with Hardened mode enabled as it is the easiest and gives decent protection.

 

[stefanos]

Lately I've been hearing and seeing numerous articles about how Avast is selling user data and how Kaspersky is being targeted for violating user privacy. I need a good free antivirus for my college laptop and both of them are my choices since Kaspersky has System Watcher and Avast has hardened mode. So is there REALLY any cause to be worried about? I do have some important documents stored on the laptop which I obviously don't want Avast or Kaspersky to upload to the cloud. But personally I feel that the the allegations are over-hyped. I need your opinions and suggestions guys. My third choice is ESET but then I'll have to shell out some cash for it. ATM my country's in LockDown and I don't want to spend money unless it's absolutely urgent.

Both are completely safe. Even from paid suites. Add syshardener and you are super safe.

 

[Wraith2020]

Bitdefender Free is a good alternative but lately the signatures have fallen a bit behind the competition. If I use Avast I will disable all the telemetry. I know I shouldn't be discussing this here but I have an old license of Avast Premium obtained from an illegal source and valid upto 2040. Maybe I can give that a try and see.

 

[Divine_Barakah]

Lag behind the competition?

Bitdefender signatures have deteriorated recently but still they are great.

 

[Divine_Barakah]

I do not see the deterioration. On the contrary, I see the antivirus more and more robust. And not everything is signatures is an antivirus.

Bitdefender offers many protection components and their sigantures are top-notch but not as before. You can obtain a new malware sample and upload to VT and I bet if you see BD detecting them. I am not judging the product or anything. Anyway, BD would catch almost everything proactively if not detected by signatures.

 

[Vitali Ortzi]

both sell your data if thats what you ask XD

 

[blackice]

I do not see the deterioration. On the contrary, I see the antivirus more and more robust. And not everything is signatures is an antivirus.

If you look at the recent tests of BD in the Malware Hub on this site you can see they don’t detect zero days nearly as fast as ESET or Kaspersky by signature. The behavior blocker, while good, does still miss items the other vendors have blocked with faster signature updates. Their web protection is probably the best, which means most of this stuff wouldn’t end up on the system anyway.

And for the record I’m currently trialing BD on my main system, I have nothing against it.

 

[Divine_Barakah]

for me Bitdefender beats Eset in dangerous malware, especially ransomware

The most important thing is to use what you like. Great to see that you like BD (a great choice, indeed).

 

[bribon77]

All this that is said about Avast is relative, because sometimes we also do not know if an extension in our browser does not spy or the VPN. It is about trusting a company or not, can my data be sold as statistics? Yes, but not for malicious people to steal my bank cards or emails. I don't think Avast does that.

Although I have to say, I haven't used Avast in a thousand years.

 

[plat]

Both Kaspersky and Avast free appear to be very competent, according to comparatives studies.

Both companies want your business, really badly. So they're not going to put themselves back into a bad public spotlight with more disclosures, not now. Maybe there's sneaky methods but at some point you have to declare "speculation," back off and take it on faith. There are network monitors but that's up to you.

With any "free" antivirus, I add one or more truly free lightweight helpers like SysHardener or OSArmor plus a lot of OS hardening. If something affects the performance of the machine, it's off of here pronto. No exceptions. There's always at least one good alternative.

 

[DJ Panda]

I believe Windows Defender with something like UBlock Origin should provide at least enough protection for regular browsing activities. Otherwise there are other extentions to improve browser security like HTTPs Everywhere. I am not entirely up to date with Kaspersky but they have seemed to remain decent. I really enjoyed Avast but with their extreme data collection disappoints me. Emsisoft is the one product I had bought for a few years and it was flawless.

 

[DDE_Server]

I believe Windows Defender with something like UBlock Origin should provide at least enough protection for regular browsing activities. Otherwise there are other extentions to improve browser security like HTTPs Everywhere. I am not entirely up to date with Kaspersky but they have seemed to remain decent. I really enjoyed Avast but with their extreme data collection disappoints me. Emsisoft is the one product I had bought for a few years and it was flawless.

yes Emsisoft indeed is great solution.simple,light om system resource and powerful.No log or data collection.No bloatware Excellent customer support i have ever seen. Genius developers focus on what is important.they focus on improving stability and protection of their product instead of adding useless features.

 

[Vitali Ortzi]

Both Kaspersky and Avast free appear to be very competent, according to comparatives studies.

Both companies want your business, really badly. So they're not going to put themselves back into a bad public spotlight with more disclosures, not now. Maybe there's sneaky methods but at some point you have to declare "speculation," back off and take it on faith. There are network monitors but that's up to you.

With any "free" antivirus, I add one or more truly free lightweight helpers like SysHardener or OSArmor plus a lot of OS hardening. If something affects the performance of the machine, it's off of here pronto. No exceptions. There's always at least one good alternative.

didn't read avast but it is clearly the mention about and in sharing your data theater in Kaspersky free although not sure about the special EU version