Question Which AV are you using and why did you choose this one ??

[roger_m]

fwiw I cranked up the Norton VM the other day, ran the updates, etc, when it finished I still had v22.. -- the license is good into April 2025.

That's strange. In theory if you download the latest installer, you should get the new product.

 

[rashmi]

So what do you use and what made you decide to use this AV ?

I use COMODO Firewall with proactive security and auto-containment settings to block unknown files and programs. I don't use antivirus or other real-time protection. COMODO Firewall is lightweight and offers powerful defense. It also has tools like KillSwitch and AutoRun Analyzer for quick system checks for malware or suspicious activities. You can use manual containment for safe browsing in a sandboxed environment. Virtual Desktop is available for secure online banking or shopping. Containment is useful for running, installing, and viewing programs.

 

[simmerskool]

That's strange. In theory if you download the latest installer, you should get the new product.

I ran live update. I wanted to see what it would do but was sorta expecting it to update to v24 (IIRC the version)
EDIT I got an email from them, not sure how long ago, saying new version is coming...

 

[Shadowra]

Did you made any special settings with HIPS or other parts of the software ?
Can you share if so ?

No, because I like everything to be automatic and I use CyberLock behind Eset

 

[Mndgs]

Bitdefender Total Security on 4 devices. Simple, I like Autopilot function. Just good reliable protection

 

[TuxTalk]

The amount of paranoid people here is crazy! For a community discussing security, one would think people are being reasonable with their security choices but this is just beyond my imagination. People here act like they are the main target of hackers and not the billionaires and companies. In fact, I'd even dare to say many here protect themselves like they are criminals browsing the dark web daily.

You really only need three things to keep your PC protected.
1. reputable and the latest version of web browser with ad blocker installed
2. Windows Defender with SmartScreen enabled
3. Windows Update enabled with the latest security updates installed

You can also set DNS server with malware-blocking capability. But everything else is just waste of money and unnecessary.
For anyone thinking this is nonsense, just ask yourself, how many times did my antivirus software alert me since I bought it?

What if defender failed and didn't warn/ alert you ?

 

[ErzCrz]

Changes often but usually Microsoft Defender, CyberLock, DefenderUI & WFC or Comodo Internet Security (CS Containment Tweak) or Microsoft Defender, CyberLock, DefenderUI and CF.

I did previously use Emsisoft which I liked a lot, did what it did without issue apart from occasional slows during updates. I was going to buy it last month but got refunded in case I got it as a gift or other security product for my 50th but I didn't get anything like that.

Being in the UK I did look at Sophos but affected network intensive activities like streaming or gaming and £50 a year is top end of what I'd pay. I also looked at ESET and F-Secure both costing a little less.

We'll see what impulses I have in the sales next week but there is a lot to be said for hardened system using @Andy Ful 's tools.

I do like the rollback with KAV though not using it and Comodo's Reset container but a decent image backup and or cloud is your best for infected system recovery no matter what product you use.

 

[zidong]

If you are ordinary user, paying for antivirus is waste of money. If you are the target antivirus won't save you. 3rd party antivirus software gives you a false sense of security and makes you more prone to mistakes.

I tend to trust them more than antivirus companies.

Tavis Ormandy:
I get asked constantly what av to use. You're missing the point; av creates more problems than it solves, and we're overdue an av slammer.

Justin Schuh:
Antivirus software is "my single biggest impediment to shipping a secure browser."

Robert O'Callahan:
AV vendors are terrible, and that you should uninstall your antivirus software immediately—unless you use Microsoft's Windows Defender, which is apparently okay.

Justin Schuh:
AV products poison the software ecosystem because their invasive and poorly-implemented code makes it difficult for browser vendors and other developers to improve their own security.

 

[NovaFang]

Kaspersky Premium. Not impacted by ban, so took the rational decision of continued holding of security product, hopefully till the end of license period.

 

[Marko :)]

What if defender failed and didn't warn/ alert you ?

I could ask you exactly the same question—what if your 3rd party antivirus failed and didn't warn/alert you?

Nothing offers 100% protection. Your expensive 3rd party antivirus software can easily miss a threat as my free Defender. This is why you should always look at all the ways malware can infect your PC and "patch the holes".

First line of defense—your brain. You have it, I have it, we all have it; so use it! If something looks fishy, it's fishy. Don't download torrents and files from suspicious sites; ALWAYS read comments. If you're and sailing the high seas, download only from reputable websites and look at seeder number. Pirates don't tend to seed malware. Some people have e-mail client; disable automatic loading of images and never download or open suspicious attachments, coming from unknown sender. If you don't expect any mail and files, then do not open. If you expect the mail from Nigerian prince, then go ahead and open it. But chances are, you don't know any royals who need the money.

Let's move on... 98% of the time when you're using PC, you're in your web browser of choice. It's easily the most used piece of software on all PCs connected to the internet. Hence, this is what I like to call "second line of defense" (first one being brain, remember?); because it really is. Firefox and Chrome, both use Google Safe Browsing which provides more than great protection against malicious site and even files. Edge uses SmartScreen instead of Google Safe Browsing which is really, really good as well. If you like, you could also install an additional extension like Bitdefender TrafficLight and have Bitdefender's top notch web protection for free. You're still suspicious? Consider using malware-blocking DNS like Quad9 which will prevent access to malicious sites on network level. I hope I don't have to mention ad blocker as this is the first thing you install after installing a web browser.
Now the only thing you need is to keep your web browser up-to-date.

And finally, the third line of defense. That's the antivirus software and all modules it has. Its job is to block the malware in case web browser didn't manage to stop it. Defender along SmartScreen provides an extra layer of protection and has bunch of different modules which will protect you free of charge. Not to mention, Defender knows best around your OS and won't cause you any issues unlike 3rd party antivirus which integrates deep, but not at the level Defender does.

You saw a lot of clips how Defender misses a threat, an exploit disables it completely? Don't worry! This isn't a real-world test. If you have well protected first and second line of defense, there's hardly a chance something like that will come to the third line. Beside, those exploits people are so scared... let's say, you have higher chances to die in the next few hours than to get that kind of exploit. Exploit would have to pass DNS, filtering extension, Google/Microsoft's protection and ad blocker.

 

[TuxTalk]

I work in Security and please dont let met get started how many fails defender have or had with detection in a company network. I dont trust MS as a Security vendor, let them stay with making OS and leave the security to companies who are more experienced.

But im not going in discussion here, no use. And this thread is not made for this kind of discussions !

 

[cofer123]

Currently running a mix of ESET and Kaspersky. These are the only two vendors I bother with after several decades of trying everything out. ESET is noticeable lighter, but that's not to say Kaspersky is bloated in any way.

I moved away from ESET earlier this year after getting fed up with their bugs and went back to Kaspersky. Zero problems or worries about an update breaking something since.

The problem is, I believe Kaspersky handled that UltraAV thing in such a bad way that I've lost some confidence on them, so I ended up going back to ESET a couple of months ago. I don't have to say that in this short time frame they've already disrupted my workflow with bad updates and a false positive, so now I'm facing a dilema.

I also like how Kaspersky and Bitdefender offer their full protection features on their basic product. K. Standard is as competent and complete as K. Premium, with the difference being features not directly related to security that you can decide if they are worth it or not. ESET marketing team handles this very poorly, locking a feature like LiveGuard behind their more expensive solution. Which is understandable since they require backend infrastructure to run LiveGuard, but then why did they also recently lock Folder Guard behind their premium product when it's simply an easy to use interface for HIPS, which is available on cheaper products? It makes no logical sense other than they being greedy.

There is also the issue with pricing. ESET is currently exactly twice the cost of Kaspersky in my country. I require a 10 devices license since I run it on my equipment and I also manage my parents', so it gets really expensive.

After uninstalling ESET, the WiFi connection stopped working. Macrium Reflect saved me.

I have no experience with ESET support myself. But I have heard from many users that Marcos always rules out the possibility that the ESET software could be the cause when describing errors in the ESET forum. Even if the error has already been reported by several users. Only after a long discussion did Marcos confirm that it was an ESET error.

However, I have used NOD32 on several computers for a long time without any problems. It really runs very easily. But when I see how ESET hides NOD32 on its website, I suspect that they will soon let this version die.

This tends to happen. Plenty of examples here and on their forums of ESET occasionally breaking things with regular module or version updates. Their first reaction is to deny, and it takes some convincing for them to acknowledge the issue. This is not new. It has been going on for well over a decade. It's just how they operate, but at least you get to talk to support staff which cannot be said for most vendors.

Regarding their support, I've only ever needed to use it once. They have offices with support staff in my country but their automated responses when opening tickets come in a different language. Their answers also appear to be machine translated. I had a simple billing question for them and it took them 3 days to reply. Meanwhile, when I contacted Kaspersky for a refund, which also has offices in my country (I bought a license a day before a huge sale began), I simply opened up a live chat with them and got everything sorted out in like 10~15 minutes.

 

[Antarctica]

I work in Security and please dont let met get started how many fails defender have or had with detection in a company network. I dont trust MS as a Security vendor, let them stay with making OS and leave the security to companies who are more experienced.

But im not going in discussion here, no use. And this thread is not made for this kind of discussions !

Amen to that. And anyway AV is like cars or Smartphones, to each his own.

 

[Marko :)]

I work in Security and please dont let met get started how many fails defender have or had with detection in a company network. I dont trust MS as a Security vendor, let them stay with making OS and leave the security to companies who are more experienced.

Don't get me wrong, but as a person that works in security, you should know that corporate environment is totally different than home environment and has totally different needs. I'm talking about us, normal, home users, not business users. Corporate users need hardware firewall. Do you really need it at home? Corporate users also need total control of network filtering? Do you really need this at home as well? Of course not.

Businesses are the main target of hackers, not us, average Joe. If you lose some data, that's nothing. But if company loses data, entire operation comes to stop and depending how bad it is, they may close their doors.

You do realize that Defender we use on our systems is nothing like Defender used in corporate environment? Business version of Defender has a lot more protection modules and it's extremely customizable; it might even offer features other 3rd party solutions can't.

By the way... the company I work for uses TrendMicro. I literally found .txt file ransomware left on a network share. So no; just because you pay, doesn't mean you're getting better level of protection. Remember CrowdStrike? PCs that used Microsoft's solution weren't affect. I wonder why...

 

[Captain Awesome]

just because you pay, doesn't mean you're getting better level of protection.

Totally agreed with you..

 

[RoboMan]

I use Kaspersky Standard. No bloatware, no crap, straight to the point. All the important modules like Application Control are present. Not a signel issue with compatibility, Windows Update, dtivers, whatsoever. I see many Defender's fanatics claiming Defender is the only true answer since it's built in, while everything else is garbage and brings compatbility issues . Last time I had a buggish experience was 2015 BitDefender. Then BitDefender updated and I never had any issues. Then I used ESET and Norton for quite some time and never experienced slowdowns, compatibility issues or bugs. Now I use Kaspersky and my system runs as smooth as silk.

Spoiler: FUN FACT

I did experience issues with Microsoft Defender, such as slow file transfer, delay in opening applications, and several known bugs such as the threat history, quarantine bugs, Controlled Access Folder, and many more.

 

[anirbandutta01]

I have installed different products on my each machine

K7 Total Security - MAT
VIPRE Advanced Security
Bitdefender Internet Security
ESET Home Security Essential

Exactly same except VIPRE. Also using K7 Regular edition & Want to use Kaspersky Standard or Plus but confused as I've heard many bad thing & ban about Kaspersky.

I use Kaspersky Standard. No bloatware, no crap, straight to the point. All the important modules like Application Control are present. Not a signel issue with compatibility, Windows Update, dtivers, whatsoever. I see many Defender's fanatics claiming Defender is the only true answer since it's built in, while everything else is garbage and brings compatbility issues . Last time I had a buggish experience was 2015 BitDefender. Then BitDefender updated and I never had any issues. Then I used ESET and Norton for quite some time and never experienced slowdowns, compatibility issues or bugs. Now I use Kaspersky and my system runs as smooth as silk.

Spoiler: FUN FACT

I did experience issues with Microsoft Defender, such as slow file transfer, delay in opening applications, and several known bugs such as the threat history, quarantine bugs, Controlled Access Folder, and many more.

I want to use Kaspersky Standard or Plus but confused as I've heard many bad thing & ban about Kaspersky.

Currently I'm using ESET Home Security Essential ( Used K7, Bitdefender ) but also I want to use Kaspersky Standard or Plus but confused as I've heard many bad thing & ban about Kaspersky. Anyone please clear my confusion if you're using Kaspersky.

 

[harlan4096]

If You are not in the USA, You can use Kaspersky normally, as always...

 

[Betonf]

Eset here.

 

[anirbandutta01]

If You are not in the USA, You can use Kaspersky normally, as always...

Ohh. I'm from India & Kaspersky support is very good in our country.