Battle Norton 360, Avast Free, Eset IS, MD

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Norton 360
Microsoft Defender
Avast Free
Eset Internet Security
F Secure SAFE

Nikos751

Level 20
Thread author
Verified
Malware Tester
Feb 1, 2013
969
Hello people,
I am not that updated on the AV industry performance anymore, so I need your opinions.

I am a CS student these years, and I 'm trying to find out what's more dev friendly, meaning that I need a bug free program, which does not interfere badly with my (unknown code for cloud systems, prone to fp's) code and compiling (time). I know safe computing habits and I have been using Eset & Defender for the last years, but now because of the emerging cyberwar
Preferred choices are, but not limited to, Windows 10 Defender, Norton 360, Avast Free, FSecure Safe & Eset IS.

The system is a Windows 10 laptop with 16Gb of RAM & Ryzen 4800H. I use Chrome on Enhanced Protection Mode, Admin Account (have some problems with standard so switched back), core isolation on, Adblock on Chrome with only ad - lists on & netcraft extension enabled whenever I need to shop/bank on a new page.
I use it on public or organization WiFi networks too, so I am not always behind my home's NAT firewall. Programming work is important, so if you are a developer, I would appreciate that you add this information on your reply.
 
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CyberDevil

Level 6
Verified
Well-known
Apr 4, 2021
252
Programming work is important, so if you are a developer, I would appreciate that you add this information on your reply.
Eset Smart Security Premium gave me some headaches because it sent half of my Node.js modules to the cloud for checking every time I installed something I needed for development, but with ordinary Eset Internet Security there shouldn't be any problems at all.

I will also say that now I use F-Secure as antivirus and Symantec Endpoind Protectin (just the firewall module - it's free), no problems at all too. Maybe you don't need a separate firewall at all, then F-Secure is the quietest option for a developer with the best protection out of the box.

I coding in React, working with backend on asp.net directly and in docker, as well as writing simple python programs for students. :)
 

Nikos751

Level 20
Thread author
Verified
Malware Tester
Feb 1, 2013
969
Eset Smart Security Premium gave me some headaches because it sent half of my Node.js modules to the cloud for checking every time I installed something I needed for development, but with ordinary Eset Internet Security there shouldn't be any problems at all.

I will also say that now I use F-Secure as antivirus and Symantec Endpoind Protectin (just the firewall module - it's free), no problems at all too. Maybe you don't need a separate firewall at all, then F-Secure is the quietest option for a developer with the best protection out of the box.

I coding in React, working with backend on asp.net directly and in docker, as well as writing simple python programs for students. :)
Thank you for your detailed reply! Do you mean ymantec Endpoind Protection unmanaged free?
 

CyberDevil

Level 6
Verified
Well-known
Apr 4, 2021
252
Thank you for your detailed reply! Do you mean ymantec Endpoind Protection unmanaged free?
Yes
130911.png
 

SeriousHoax

Level 47
Well-known
Mar 16, 2019
3,630
For the work that you do, ESET Internet Security would be the better option. It's the one with the least amount of false positives, light and fast. You can also set it to Ask mode so that it doesn't delete anything without asking you first.
Norton and F-Secure will likely block your unknown code if they find it suspicious. F-Secure also has issue with blocking things without notifying users. Happens the most for games, but in some cases softwares too.
ESET also has the option to exclude files by hash. It will make that particular for not detected anywhere in your system. It may come in handy based on your needs.
Extra advice: Looks like you're using the Adblock extension on Chrome. Remove that. Without going into details, Use uBlock Origin or Adguard extension instead. Everyone on the forum will agree with me on this one.
 

Nikos751

Level 20
Thread author
Verified
Malware Tester
Feb 1, 2013
969
For the work that you do, ESET Internet Security would be the better option. It's the one with the least amount of false positives, light and fast. You can also set it to Ask mode so that it doesn't delete anything without asking you first.
Norton and F-Secure will likely block your unknown code if they find it suspicious. F-Secure also has issue with blocking things without notifying users. Happens the most for games, but in some cases softwares too.
ESET also has the option to exclude files by hash. It will make that particular for not detected anywhere in your system. It may come in handy based on your needs.
Extra advice: Looks like you're using the Adblock extension on Chrome. Remove that. Without going into details, Use uBlock Origin or Adguard extension instead. Everyone on the forum will agree with me on this one.
Thank you very much. In fact I use Ublock Origin, I just didn’t intend to specify the adblock product.
 

CyberDevil

Level 6
Verified
Well-known
Apr 4, 2021
252
Thank you! Any specific settings, or defaults?
If I'm not mistaken, I only modified the settings on this tab:
172345.png

Overall, I think that as a developer, you will be pleased and have no problems to configure everything to your needs. :) But, there is a small disadvantage, if you install only the firewall module then you can not manage exceptions. However, after half year of usage I have only once failed to enter to a site with cracked software. )

Symantec endpoint does not offer web protection it is greyed out ,it used to be good.
I wouldn't be so sure about that. Maybe its web protection is not very good (but the F-Secure extension, if you take my config, solves this problem), but sometimes it blocks access to sites, as in the case I mentioned above.
 

kC77

Level 5
Verified
Well-known
Aug 16, 2021
230
out of these after doing recent tests against 1000 recent samples (unrealistic test but still......)
* this is only testing running .exe samples... not scripts or web protection etc*
against normal daily use they're probably all fine products.


  • Norton service crashed in 2 tests... machine infected
  • eset av machine was heavily infected... test pictures were cryptolocked
  • Windows defender default settings machine left infected
  • Windows defender hardened passed 100%
  • Avast free default settings passed 100%

avast / hardened defender or f-secure safe would be my choice
 
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devjit2020

Level 2
Apr 7, 2022
87
Based on your requirements I would suggest you to choose Avast Free Antivirus. It provides top notch protection and their behaviour shield is quite good too. In the past it used to have problems with Windows Update but I think it has been solved now. The second option would be ESET Internet Security. It's also very good on protection but needs to be tweaked a bit. The only thing it lacks is a behaviour blocker but you can complement it that with Kaspersky Anti Ransomware Tool that's free and is basically a standalone version of System Watcher with KSN. Another recommendation would be to disable scripts with SysHardener if you don't use scripts. These days they are the most probable cause of infection.
 

Nikos751

Level 20
Thread author
Verified
Malware Tester
Feb 1, 2013
969
Update:
I upgraded to Windows 11 and..

  • Eset IS sometimes causes me a problem with qbittorrent not establishing connection to the network, I decided to just uninstall it, don't want to configure the firewall for legitimate apps.
  • Avast Free not bad, but didn't like the ad-bloted UI and the fact that it uploads my code showing a big distracting notification
  • I am a little afraid of using Kaspersky these days, but I would not be that negative if someone could reassure me that there are no dangers or downgrades to protection levels lately
  • FSecure: It's a bit expensive for me to afford it
  • I actually like Norton 360, seems light. reliable as it's a big company behind it, and pretty quiet. And, I have a license for 1 year. What do you think?
Now, I wonder if Windows Defender is a more trouble free solution than Norton..
Will Norton cause compatibility problems with windows/drivers? Yesterday it asked me to reboot because ot could not shut down all required drivers.
On the other hand, as I remember 1 or 2 years ago, when I used Unreal Editor & Adobe suite, Windows Defender seems to slow down heavy programs loading time, and unknown programs/code running, especially with cloud scanning to high (Configure Defender).
About false positives I guess these two are the same. Not the best but ok.
Above all: I don't want compatibility problems and slowdowns.
 
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