I'm happy with F-Secure, ESET & Emsisoft, I feel all those give some privacy & will happily use them & have recently - I also trust OS Armor & OVPN along with either - As mentioned Defender though I don't use it as a primary AV I would have no issues to-do so.
I'm relatively new to OVPN, fwiw, I connected with OVPN yesterday for about an hour, then disconnected, then opened another vpn service and it would not connect, so I tried to connect with OVPN again, and it would not connect either?? Standard fix, reboot, then abandoned OVPN and used vpn I'm more familiar with and it's working fine again. Makes me think the culprit was OVPN but no way to prove that. I will say OVPN is somewhat faster. But also when I first signed up for OVPN I selected 1 month only at higher cost to test it, and was surprised to see OVPN automatically then charged me for another month. I was not expecting that. I'm not a big fan of automatic billing.
Can't stress this enough. There's been too many "Fool me once" situations with Avast, AVG and Norton, and now that Norton OWNS them? Yeah, ##### that noise. That entire conglomerate will never touch one of my PCs again. I'd sooner use Kaspersky, and I will NEVER use Kaspersky.
From a trust perspective, there are a range of antivirus and antimalware software options that have a good reputation and are generally considered trustworthy. Some of the most well-regarded options include:
- Bitdefender: This company has been around for many years and is known for its high-quality antivirus and security products. They are also very transparent about their security practices and regularly publish information about potential vulnerabilities and how they are being addressed.
- Kaspersky: While this company has been the subject of some controversy in recent years due to allegations of ties to the Russian government, they are still considered by many to be one of the most effective antivirus and antimalware software options available. They have a strong track record of detecting and eliminating malware, and have taken steps to address concerns about their trustworthiness.
- Norton: Norton has been around for many years and has a reputation as one of the most reliable, effective antivirus software options. They are owned by Symantec, a larger security company that is also generally considered trustworthy.
As far as untrustworthy options, there are some companies that have a less-than-stellar reputation when it comes to privacy and security, including:
- Avast: This company has been criticized in recent years for collecting user data and selling it to third-party companies. They have taken steps to address these concerns, but some users may still be wary of using their products.
- McAfee: While McAfee was once a very popular antivirus software option, the company has been subject to numerous controversies over the years, including allegations of false positives and poor performance.
Overall, it's important to do your own research and read reviews from multiple sources before choosing an antivirus or antimalware software option. Look for companies with a strong track record of reliability and transparency when it comes to their security practices.
- Kaspersky: While this company has been the subject of some controversy in recent years due to allegations of ties to the Russian government, they are still considered by many to be one of the most effective antivirus and antimalware software options available. They have a strong track record of detecting and eliminating malware, and have taken steps to address concerns about their trustworthiness.
They've not done NEARLY enough to convince most people about their trustworthiness. Despite moving the company outside of Russia, there's still more than enough to tie them back to Putin.
- Norton: Norton has been around for many years and has a reputation as one of the most reliable, effective antivirus software options. They are owned by Symantec, a larger security company that is also generally considered trustworthy.
Uhhhhh, WHAT? The company that put a bitcoin miner in your AV? The company that makes it almost impossible to cancel subscriptions? Norton is one of the LEAST trustworthy companies out there. And speaking of...
As far as untrustworthy options, there are some companies that have a less-than-stellar reputation when it comes to privacy and security, including:
- Avast: This company has been criticized in recent years for collecting user data and selling it to third-party companies. They have taken steps to address these concerns, but some users may still be wary of using their products.
Owned. By. Norton. Enough said. Also "They have taken steps to address these concerns" Have they though? All they did was say "Oh, sorry guys, we won't do that again! Oopsie!"
From what I read, all AVs are intrusive by default, and free ones will be used for monetization. Given that, the best you can do is consider those that follow various privacy rules imposed by governments. Beyond that, assume that those that are part of "eyes" countries or similar may go against the same rules.
I would have said Emsisoft but their behavior blockers gives me more headaches than I want. I'd rather not have a security solution rather than deal with them having to whitelist this and that all the time for me.
F-Secure Antivirus only would be my choice. ESET is a no go as the built in HTTP scanner slows down my browsing a bit and if you turn it off you get a nice amber icon of the ESET icon as if something is wrong. I just want a good file scanner, nothing to touch my internet or VPN connection
I agree that F-Secure Antivirus is very good, but with the product lineup change, it has been discontinued and they are only accepting renewals. If you want an AV without a HTTP scanner, decent privacy policy, then I think it comes down to Microsoft Defender or Emsisoft.
From what I read, all AVs are intrusive by default, and free ones will be used for monetization. Given that, the best you can do is consider those that follow various privacy rules imposed by governments. Beyond that, assume that those that are part of "eyes" countries or similar may go against the same rules.
Uhhhhh, WHAT? The company that put a bitcoin miner in your AV? The company that makes it almost impossible to cancel subscriptions? Norton is one of the LEAST trustworthy companies out there. And speaking of...
You wrote it as if they had installed a miner that was running in the background without the user's permission. Questionable functionality is not a crime if it has an on and off button.
In your personal cabinet you can remove the means of payment and consider that you no longer have a subscription. Support also responds a day at a time. I reached out to them on Twitter and got my money back the next day. What's the problem?
You wrote it as if they had installed a miner that was running in the background without the user's permission. Questionable functionality is not a crime if it has an on and off button.
In your personal cabinet you can remove the means of payment and consider that you no longer have a subscription. Support also responds a day at a time. I reached out to them on Twitter and got my money back the next day. What's the problem?
The auto-renewal complaints have been circulating around the web for a decade. It is not only Norton, many major AVs try to get you to renew. There is an auto-renewal on and off button that is not secret.
If auto-renewal is on, subscription at the bottom of the product displays “Active” instead of the days remaining.
In addition, there are tons of support articles on how it can be switched off.
Upon typing norton.com/support I see 4 options. One of them is related to accounts/payment and the first article is about auto-renewal.
Clicking on the email address at the top of the Norton product brings few options with “Automatic Renewal” being one of the first few.
Emails and alerts are generated before the renewal takes place.
Coinminer component was removed long time ago. Users always had a choice on whether or not they want to use it.
As final words, all technology required for users to be relatively protected require real people to go to work and they get real salaries. There are real costs that have to be covered. By not using any questionable tactics to increase revenue(nags, data collection if free, attempts to renew at a higher price), a company can not stay on top of the threat landscape.
The auto-renewal complaints have been circulating around the web for a decade. It is not only Norton, many major AVs try to get you to renew. There is an auto-renewal on and off button that is not secret.
If auto-renewal is on, subscription at the bottom of the product displays “Active” instead of the days remaining.
In addition, there are tons of support articles on how it can be switched off.
Upon typing norton.com/support I see 4 options. One of them is related to accounts/payment and the first article is about auto-renewal.
Clicking on the email address at the top of the Norton product brings few options with “Automatic Renewal” being one of the first few.
Emails and alerts are generated before the renewal takes place.
Coinminer component was removed long time ago. Users always had a choice on whether or not they want to use it.
As final words, all technology required for users to be relatively protected require real people to go to work and they get real salaries. There are real costs that have to be covered. By not using any questionable tactics to increase revenue(nags, data collection if free, attempts to renew at a higher price), a company can not stay on top of the threat landscape.
In the main interface, just click on Active and you can immediately see up to which day you have a subscription (one click).
Immediately after logging in to the official site, the first thing you see is the auto-update deadline and a button to cancel it. (By the way, it turns out that they give you a free month for trying to cancel your subscription - not a bad hack).
You wrote that Norton is the most untrustworthy company because it is almost impossible to cancel a subscription, and yourself showed a button that you could click to cancel it. This is strange. (it was about the guy with the nickname "entropism", my mistake)
Also in my experience, very few antiviruses constantly show how many days you have left Eset starts alerting only 30 days before the end of the license, and I don't think it will do that if you have an active subscription.
You wrote that Norton is the most untrustworthy company because it is almost impossible to cancel a subscription, and yourself showed a button that you could click to cancel it. This is strange.
Somebody else has written that, definitely not me. You are talking to a person who since kid(should’ve been 13 back then) has been reading the Symantec threat research, was part of the Norton Brand Advocates programme (they used to send me gifts) and they even invited me to their Cupertino headquarters. Please read more carefully
Ah, I'm sorry, I really wasn't attentive. I just thought you were the person I wrote to initially, when you suddenly started showing me Norton's personal account, even though I know how to disable the subscription.
Ah, I'm sorry, I really wasn't attentive. I just thought you were the person I wrote to initially, when you suddenly started showing me Norton's personal account, even though I know how to disable the subscription.
I actually quoted your post and the rest was for other viewers
But I’m glad you chimed in after with that screenshot proving auto-renewal can very easily be switched off.
That's not totally correct. F-Secure Safe was renamed F-Secure Internet Security, and Total remains, but the entry level F-secure Antivirus has been discontinued.
