Serious Discussion TuxTalk - Eset Smart Security Premium Thread

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ESET Smart Security Premium is an advanced cybersecurity suite developed by ESET, designed to provide comprehensive protection for personal and professional digital environments. As of 2025, ESET Smart Security Premium has evolved into ESET HOME Security Premium, retaining all its core features while introducing new enhancements[1].

🔐​

Here’s a breakdown of its main features:

🛡️​

  • Antivirus & Antispyware: Real-time protection against malware, ransomware, and spyware.
  • Ransomware Shield: Multi-layered defense to prevent file encryption by malicious software.
  • Firewall: Monitors network traffic and blocks unauthorized access.
  • Brute Force Attack Protection: Detects and blocks repeated login attempts.
  • ESET LiveGuard: Cloud-based protection against zero-day threats.
  • Artificial Intelligence & Threat Detection: Uses AI and machine learning to identify emerging threats.
  • ESET SysInspector: Advanced diagnostic tool for system analysis.

🔒​

  • Password Manager: Securely stores and manages passwords.
  • Secure Data (Encryption): Encrypts sensitive files and folders.
  • Anti-Phishing: Blocks fraudulent websites and phishing attempts.
  • Safe Banking & Browsing: Protects online transactions and browsing sessions.
  • Webcam Protection: Prevents unauthorized access to your webcam.
  • Metadata Cleanup: Removes metadata from files to protect privacy.

🌐​

  • Unlimited VPN (available in Ultimate plan): Encrypts internet traffic and hides IP addresses.
  • Smart Home Protection: Monitors smart devices for vulnerabilities.
  • Network Inspector: Scans your home network for security issues.
  • Parental Controls: Filters and monitors children's online activity.
  • Anti-Theft Tools: Helps locate lost or stolen devices using GPS and remote access.
  • Gamer Mode: Minimizes interruptions during gaming sessions.

💻​

  • Compatible with Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, and Windows ARM devices[1].

💰​

  • Starts at \$59.99/year for basic coverage.
  • Discounts available for multi-year plans (e.g., 15% off for 2 years).
  • Higher-tier plans like ESET HOME Security Ultimate include additional features like identity protection and unlimited VPN[2].

✅​

  • High malware detection rate (up to 99.8%)[3].
  • Minimal system impact, suitable for low-spec devices.
  • Advanced settings for power users.
  • Clean and user-friendly interface.

⚠️​

  • Parental controls may be limited in functionality.
  • Higher cost per device compared to some competitors.
  • No dark web monitoring in the Premium plan (available in Ultimate)[4].
 
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Virtually dumped ESET, complex to set-up for the average user (where most uses wont know how the setting they choose will do as regards protection) although NOD32 was one of the first AV's I used & used for many years, I wont be buying another ESET licence, to me seem they feel they can walk on water & sitting pretty - Still on my wife's laptop but gone soon - Just my 10p worth + they just are not as good as they once were & still expensive., sitting on laurels?

Edit: Anti Theft a pain in the posterior, browser extension causes more problems than it ever solves - Some of my feeling are based on the factor is the cost of the product in comparison to others as good that can bought at a fifth or less of ESET.
 
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Sorrento said:
Virtually dumped ESET, complex to set-up for the average user (where most uses wont know how the setting they choose will do as regards protection) although NOD32 was one of the first AV's I used & used for many years, I wont be buying another ESET licence, to me seem they feel they can walk on water & sitting pretty - Still on my wife's laptop but gone soon - Just my 10p worth + they just are not as good as they once were & still expensive., sitting on laurels?

Edit: Anti Theft a pain in the posterior, browser extension causes more problems than it ever solves - Some of my feeling are based on the factor is the cost of the product in comparison to others as good that can bought at a fifth or less of ESET.
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Which version did you use ? The extensions are not an issue. And protection wise when they implemented LiveGuard is top notch now ( but need the premium versions to have this function )
 
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I've used them all, the one of my wife's is Premium which I used extensively on this PC, the extension can be an issue if you elect to cut down on some aspects of browser protection (memory) you lose lots, as I've said I've used the product for over 20 years & only this last few years have become less happy with the product & more so with the implementation of features of it - If users are happy with & pay a premium for it that's personal choice, but I now have reservations I have not had in the past to the point its off my list now. These are however my personal choices.

Protection of almost all AV's now are top notch, now its up to the UI, how it runs on your systems, issues it may cause, cost, privacy, upsell etc that can affect choices?
 
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As a absolute final comment: 15 or so or less years ago the philosophy of ESET was working very well (and maybe still is for them) But Defender was all but useless, McAfee was a joke as was he, F-Secure was an revered & expensive AV & often out of my reach, Mbam (Malwarebytes) was almost a requirement to run along a AV, Norton was Symantec, signatures were the AV system, AI was not around & more: Now things have changed, ESET seems to have stayed the same? Is my thinking wrong here?
 
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Khushal said:
bazaar is often incorrect
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The reason a platform like MalwareBazaar can be "often wrong" is that it aggregates information from many different security vendors. These vendors rely heavily on heuristic and behavioral analysis to classify malware. Since competing malware families like Lumma and Aurora are designed to do very similar things, these heuristic-based systems can easily get them confused, leading to conflicting and seemingly incorrect labels on the same file.
 
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Divergent said:
The reason a platform like MalwareBazaar can be "often wrong" is that it aggregates information from many different security vendors. These vendors rely heavily on heuristic and behavioral analysis to classify malware. Since competing malware families like Lumma and Aurora are designed to do very similar things, these heuristic-based systems can easily get them confused, leading to conflicting and seemingly incorrect labels on the same file.
Click to expand...
I am aware of that in this case ahnlab was responsible for the wrong classification
 
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Sorrento said:
As a absolute final comment: 15 or so or less years ago the philosophy of ESET was working very well (and maybe still is for them) But Defender was all but useless, McAfee was a joke as was he, F-Secure was an revered & expensive AV & often out of my reach, Mbam (Malwarebytes) was almost a requirement to run along a AV, Norton was Symantec, signatures were the AV system, AI was not around & more: Now things have changed, ESET seems to have stayed the same? Is my thinking wrong here?
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I was also against Eset for a while , but they are really evolving. Yes they are more expensive, but in return :

No Nagging popups
No Fake error messages ( like in Norton )
A lot of options to tweak ( which i prefer )
 
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Sorrento said:
As a absolute final comment: 15 or so or less years ago the philosophy of ESET was working very well (and maybe still is for them) But Defender was all but useless, McAfee was a joke as was he, F-Secure was an revered & expensive AV & often out of my reach, Mbam (Malwarebytes) was almost a requirement to run along a AV, Norton was Symantec, signatures were the AV system, AI was not around & more: Now things have changed, ESET seems to have stayed the same? Is my thinking wrong here?
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The discussed product here is Premium Security which has the LiveGuard emulation.

The products with LiveGuard haven’t really remained the same, LiveGuard is a rather expensive for Eset protection to maintain.

Products without LiveGuard, yes. They’ve mostly stayed the same.
 
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Trident said:
The discussed product here is Premium Security which has the LiveGuard emulation.

The products with LiveGuard haven’t really remained the same, LiveGuard is a rather expensive for Eset protection to maintain.

Products without LiveGuard, yes. They’ve mostly stayed the same.
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liveguard is the only reason I have eset on my machine it's nice that every unknown executable is first going through cloud emulation
But yeah it's definitely expansive and zonealarm has similar feature for cheaper but it's heavy on my machine compared to zonealarm
 
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Vitali Ortzi said:
liveguard is the only reason I have eset on my machine it's nice that every unknown executable is first going through cloud emulation
But yeah it's definitely expansive and zonealarm has similar feature for cheaper but it's heavy on my machine compared to zonealarm
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Stability and no nagging with upselling and that rubbish is also worth something for me.
 
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