Battle Which antivirus program is the best solution for protecting against fake online stores and credit card fraud? I'd appreciate some recommendations.

[Marko :)]

Great point, "notify you when the damage is already done", and then for the fee $$, they'll help clean up the mess?! It's almost like an infostealer, if you realize you have one on your PC, it's too late, the damage (info sent) has already been done.

As much as sometimes security companies help you protect your devices and network, part of their services is straight up conning of their customers.

This is why I advise everyone against paying for antivirus suites and instead use free protection modules which in a lot of cases beat paid products anyway.

 

[Jonny Quest]

As much as sometimes security companies help you protect your devices and network, part of their services is straight up conning of their customers.

This is why I advise everyone against paying for antivirus suites and instead use free protection modules which in a lot of cases beat paid products anyway.

I used to help out on the Bitdefender forum (Scott) and was a part of the Mod and Admin DM thread and mentioned about 2 1/2 years ago, that a person could be just as secure as Bitdefender by using Windows Defender in hardened mode, using WFC, uBlock, and TrafficLight...crickets, were the responses, LOL. So I do get what can be done paid (even some free) AV Suite free

 

[Sorrento]

As much as sometimes security companies help you protect your devices and network, part of their services is straight up conning of their customers.

This is why I advise everyone against paying for antivirus suites and instead use free protection modules which in a lot of cases beat paid products anyway.

I know you have said this frequently (a million times) I reject your well meaning advice though

 

[Jonny Quest]

I know you have said this frequently (a million times) I reject your well meaning advice though

And that's where I tend to be on what I use and why. No offense to you, @Marko :) but to each their own, for their own reasons

 

[Marko :)]

I respect everyone's opinion. If someone believes products from one company are better than using multiple tools from multiple vendors is better, great! I just haven't experienced the same throughout the years in this tech world.

I used to be huge Avast fan and avid hater of Microsoft Security Essentials/Windows Defender back in the days. And truth to be told, it did suck back then with pretty much every other antivirus offering a better protection. My views started to change when Avast started converting their products from antivirus to adware (possibly spyware); same happened with other companies.
I remember stuffing my PC with so many security tools you couldn't count them on fingers of two hands. Then I realized: "wait... all of this just wastes resources, let's see how many times each tool activated and provided me protection". The answer for all of them was—not even once. I started to remove one by one to see if I could surf without getting infected and I passed the test. Not only did I realize how slow my PC was because of these security tools, but it also turned out that reading all the security (dis)information in media only made me paranoid and insecure.

I hope every single one of you will enlightenment as I did.

 

[Szellem]

I respect everyone's opinion. If someone believes products from one company are better than using multiple tools from multiple vendors is better, great! I just haven't experienced the same throughout the years in this tech world.

I used to be huge Avast fan and avid hater of Microsoft Security Essentials/Windows Defender back in the days. And truth to be told, it did suck back then with pretty much every other antivirus offering a better protection. My views started to change when Avast started converting their products from antivirus to adware (possibly spyware); same happened with other companies.
I remember stuffing my PC with so many security tools you couldn't count them on fingers of two hands. Then I realized: "wait... all of this just wastes resources, let's see how many times each tool activated and provided me protection". The answer for all of them was—not even once. I started to remove one by one to see if I could surf without getting infected and I passed the test. Not only did I realize how slow my PC was because of these security tools, but it also turned out that reading all the security (dis)information in media only made me paranoid and insecure.

I hope every single one of you will enlightenment as I did.

I agree with you on one thing: security programs (antivirus software) have gotten way too bloated these days. Almost all of them have turned into bloated behemoths. That’s not a good trend. Some tools are useful and actually enhance protection, while others are just resource and wallet drainers. Get rid of them.