What Antivirus Do the Staff Use Right Now?

[illumination]

Now before i say this, understand it is not directed at any member here..

When it comes to forums and staff, just because one is staff, does not necessarily mean they are experts. Been in plenty of forums, where some of the staff are knowledgeable, but far from being an expert.

With this out of the way, most "experts" using windows will be able, and probably do use nothing but bare security, as they know how to be safe.

 

[Cats-4_Owners-2]

None.

Malware1, do you mean you use no third party AVs, or do you use absolutely no antivirus whatsoever?

UAC always notify on all installations
On all Windows 7 SP1 installations I use Emsisoft Internet Security Pack with MBAM & HMP on demand.
On all Windows 8.1 installations I use Eset Smart Security 7 with MBAM & HMP on demand.
HTTPS Everywhere,LastPass in both Chrome & Firefox
ABD + in Firefox
uBlock in chrome

exterminator20, have you found (specifically) Emsisoft for 7 & ESET for 8.1 to be most compatible in your personal experience?
Update: @BoraMurdar (I backtracked to check) using ESET with Windows 7, on the flip side, is it anything more than personal preference? Thanks!

Now before i say this, understand it is not directed at any member here..

When it comes to forums and staff, just because one is staff, does not necessarily mean they are experts. Been in plenty of forums, where some of the staff are knowledgeable, but far from being an expert.

With this out of the way, most "experts" using windows will be able, and probably do use nothing but bare security, as they know how to be safe.

Agreed. My good friend, illumination, is one whom (imho) may rank among the expert "non-staff" members who know how to be secure.

 

[Chromatinfish 123]

the videos I have seen about ransomware show encryption taking place without UAC alerting at all. I did see Appguard stop the encryption from even starting. I am a novice at security so take it with a grain of salt

UAC notifies only when an exe is launched at the first time, Appguard notifies when the malicious file is launched.

 

[Kate_L]

Hitman Pro Alert + 360 IS (all engines enabled in real time)

 

[nissimezra]

Malware1, do you mean you use no third party AVs, or do you use absolutely no antivirus whatsoever?

exterminator20, have you found (specifically) Emsisoft for 7 & ESET for 8.1 to be most compatible in your personal experience?
Update: @BoraMurdar (I backtracked to check) using ESET with Windows 7, on the flip side, is it anything more than personal preference? Thanks!

Agreed. My good friend, illumination, is one whom (imho) may rank among the expert "non-staff" members who know how to be secure.

he probably meant no anti-virus whatsoever
I lived without anti virus for years before MSE and i'm still alive, yes I got infected once a year or so. but i had cleaning software handy. sometime you dont have the resources to run AV. if you run 5 years ago 256 mb of ram and you run AV you will endup with AV without OS.
and of course without online banking

 

[Malware1]

Malware1, do you mean you use no third party AVs, or do you use absolutely no antivirus whatsoever?

exterminator20, have you found (specifically) Emsisoft for 7 & ESET for 8.1 to be most compatible in your personal experience?
Update: @BoraMurdar (I backtracked to check) using ESET with Windows 7, on the flip side, is it anything more than personal preference? Thanks!

Agreed. My good friend, illumination, is one whom (imho) may rank among the expert "non-staff" members who know how to be secure.

I dont use any AVs, but I think I will install Dr.Web again and disable the realtime protection.

 

[nissimezra]

I dont use any AVs.

yep
thats the best way to learn how deal with malware
It's a very good experience, the pc just run smoother. (maybe not with I5 OR I7 Though)

 

[Nico@FMA]

I am no staff either, However i am fully Symantec EP + the whole package.
Super light, water tight amen.

 

[nissimezra]

I am no staff either, However i am fully Symantec EP + the whole package.
Super light, water tight amen.

light on strong hardware! try using it on pentium 4

 

[Nico@FMA]

light on strong hardware! try using it on pentium 4

20mb while in resident mode, 30mb while doing a full scan.
Ask @Umbra Polaris he tell you.
Anyway back on topic again.

 

[BoraMurdar]

Cats-4_Owners-2
Correction, Windows 8.1 (not Windows 7)
Personal preference, yes, I just like the philosophy behind ESET, fast detection, fast removal, easy on resources (faster scans than Windows Defender, faster removal, faster load of executables in Windows Explorer, and with it's firewall set on interactive I have a feeling of having control)
But also, I don't mind if I just have Windows 8.1 build in security features...

 

[Littlebits]

On my Windows 7 desktop I use Avast Free (custom installed) ads block by Windows Firewall, WinPatrol Plus and HostsMan with MVPS host blocking lists. On my Windows 8 laptop I just use Windows default security features no extras.

UAC on default settings on both.

Other AV's that I will recommend are MSE, Avira Free, AVG Free and Panda Cloud Free.
I don't recommend using new products that are not well established, paid products or products that use multiple AV engines.

Enjoy!!

 

[MDTechVideos]

As per the request of the OP I am using:

Windows 8.1 with Smartscreen enabled. Default settings with UAC (Notify only when apps try to change settings with computer)
Windows Update is set to check for updates but notify me before installing (I have my reasons). As for av's I am using Comodo IS with tweaked settings (Antivirus set to on-access, auto-sandbox set to Untrusted. I forget how the factory settings came but I have HIPS disabled and have the behavior blocker set to Untrusted as well). When I browse "questionable" sites I use Comdo's sandboxed browser. I used to use Sandboxie before Invencia acquired it.

Since I have a lifetime license for Malwarebytes I use that as a layer of protection as well. I have almost all default settings (except under "Detection and Prevention" where I have PUP's and PUM's clasified as malware). I have 8 GB of RAM and an i5 processor which is the only reason I allow MBAM to run in real-time.

(The following is entirely my opinion) Performance and computer responsiveness are of great concern to me. If a product is bogging down the system I toss it and find another one to work with. You should never sacrifice more than a fair share of memory usage to your security product. Also I will never ever ever recommend shareware security programs for home/consumer use. I understand they have to make their money but some of the cost I see are ridiculous (at-least to me). The wide variety of free products on the market have only improved over the last 3-5 years and are very competitive with their paid counterparts. The bells and whistles of disk and registry cleaners do not equate a $60 + (44 € +) price for one year (regardless of the amount of licenses offered for multiple devices). With solid free tools already on the market why would you need to bundle it with your (free) security software? Just does not add up to me.

Also the last sentence that Littlebits wrote I would agree with in it's entirety.

 

[Cowpipe]

I would caution against trying to establish what AV the staff are using and copying that setup. As someone pointed out above, not every staff member is a security expert and not every security expert has the same opinion or needs, hence everybody will be using different protection.

I personally just use a firewall for protection (not a real-time AV) and certain hardware level defences. For security, since I use a small system I manually monitor it. On Windows I use an extensive set of group policies to harden my system, along with jailing and a kernel driver which notifies me of and allows me to filter suspicious API calls (this is an early C program I made years ago when learning about rootkits which I expanded and repurposed for security last year). Flash, java, silverlight etc are isolated from my browsers. Since having this setup I've not been subject to any successful hacks or virus infections (there have been attempts, though unsuccessful).

The other computers in my house use Avast

 

[FreddyFreeloader]

I dont use any AVs, but I think I will install Dr.Web again and disable the realtime protection.

The tests I ran on Dr. Web were impressive, esp it's self-protection, firewall caught lots of bad guys. As bullet proof as a Russian battle tank.

 

[Deleted member 178]

So strange MrExplorer....I ve had the same conclusion on Wilders.Experts are using one of the most vulnerable AV.

reason 1 : it is built-in Win8 and works at kernel level and has one of the most accurate malware database (based on prevalence)
reason 2 : we dont need another AV , since just with our knowledge/habits, we can avoid most malwares.

personally i use my favorite anti-exec combo on both my laptops: Appguard + ExeRadarPro (backed up by Shadow Defender if i wanna test some dodgy sofwares/sites)

i also use Symantec EP mostly for its industrial advanced firewall and IPS, not saying that the AV engine is light, but i let it enabled just because it is packed within (i dont really need it ^^)

i have a license for MBAM Premium but i barely use it ....

 

[jackuars]

Am not a part of the staff, but I don't use any antivirus

Just Sandboxie for me Windows Defender is built-in although I may not call it an antivirus because of it's extremely low detection and bottom placed in independent lab results.

I also use WinPatrol.

And just like other members have posted, it's absolutely a waste to pay for a shareware antivirus for home use.

And also you need to stop switching antiviruses once you see a product scores higher in the latest testresults. This is quite common routine that I see nowadays.

 

[Deleted member 178]

I don't use any antivirus, Just Sandboxie for me

hope you tweak it properly

 

[Cats-4_Owners-2]

I would caution against trying to establish what AV the staff are using and copying that setup. As someone pointed out above, not every staff member is a security expert and not every security expert has the same opinion or needs, hence everybody will be using different protection.

I personally just use a firewall for protection (not a real-time AV) and certain hardware level defences. For security, since I use a small system I manually monitor it. On Windows I use an extensive set of group policies to harden my system, along with jailing and a kernel driver which notifies me of and allows me to filter suspicious API calls (this is an early C program I made years ago when learning about rootkits which I expanded and repurposed for security last year). Flash, java, silverlight etc are isolated from my browsers. Since having this setup I've not been subject to any successful hacks or virus infections (there have been attempts, though unsuccessful).

The other computers in my house use Avast

Cowpipe, reading your words tweak my thoughts while warning many (as myself) through teaching vigilance toward thwarting becoming preyed upon by hackers, and thus expand views on the realities of safety; and yet as you'd mentioned your household computers, I found myself recalling the drawings by your daughter. In the event some may have missed these, hers was an endearing hommage to a father in the act of reducing the #s of malware in the world!
Before forming a question, just now, my thoughts were answered by ".. an early C program I made years ago when learning about rootkits which I expanded and repurposed for security..".
Well, I'll be..

hope you tweak it properly

I would gladly read "Umbra's U-Block Guide to sandbox tweaking" if there is one!

 

[Cowpipe]

Cowpipe, reading your words tweak my thoughts while warning many (as myself) through teaching vigilance toward thwarting becoming preyed upon by hackers, and thus expand views on the realities of safety; and yet as you'd mentioned your household computers, I found myself recalling the drawings by your daughter. In the event some may have missed these, hers was an endearing hommage to a father in the act of reducing the #s of malware in the world!
Before forming a question, just now, my thoughts were answered by ".. an early C program I made years ago when learning about rootkits which I expanded and repurposed for security..".
Well, I'll be..

Alas Cats-, the problem with being ex blackhat is that some people do manage to find me and attempt to compromise my computer even now. I've had everything from 'sophisticated' phishing attacks (targeting me with flash exploits to try to get access to my webcam and microphone [both hardware disconnected]) to people trying more sophisticated attacks, usually with malware which I either don't run or is caught by my vigilance (*cough* and my firewall ~ never to be underestimated) .