What Anti-Virus Software Causes The Least Harm?

[Hooch Tan]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/kill' target='_blank'>http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/kill</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"The solution to all this is to not be caught with your virtual pants around your ankles, and lucky for us, antivirus vendors have stepped up their game with increasingly robust all-in-one security suites. In fact, unlike other technology categories, the field of AV continues to expand rather than consolidate, with an overwhelming number of apps promising protection and unique features."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1272485973.usr20447.jpg" style="border: 0px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>Regardless of what software package you choose, I honestly think that anti-virus software, and in general, Internet security software, is a necessary evil.&nbsp; I would like to think that I am pretty savvy.&nbsp; I am fairly diligent about updating my software, what websites I visit and keep abreast of the various scams out there.&nbsp; However, I am not arrogant enough to think that I am impervious to all the threats out there.&nbsp; I can only protect against what I do know, and admittedly, that is only so much.&nbsp; So I have a fail safe in running anti-viral software on all my computers.&nbsp; It is no guarantee, but it helps, just in case I come home drunk one night and decide to cruise the darker parts of the web.&nbsp; All that being said, my current favorite is Microsoft Security Essentials.&nbsp; What is yours?</p>

[whydidnt]

Agree, MS Security Essentials. It's priced right, doesn't seem to put too much of a load on the system, and updates unobtrusively in the background. I won't be surprised if McAfee, Norton and the rest are out of business in a few years.

[crimsonsky]

Yep - agree about Microsoft Security Essentials. It gets out of your way and just does it's job without making your PC slow to a crawl & bothering you with constant notifications. MS finally got it right in this.

But I doubt the big vendors will disappear any time soon. They'll adapt. And most "regular" users have probably never heard of MSE. They use whatever came loaded on their PCs and most likely don't even bother renewing after trial period expires!

[cmchavez]

Sunbelt Software Vipre Antivirus & Firewall; easy on the pocket book (around $80 to protect up to 5 systems under the same annual license) and is not a resource hog at all. If you haven't tried it out, you really need to; I would not trust any of my home systems or files with anything else (I even replaced my corporate desktop AV software with this and I'm one of the IT admins!).

[Michael Knutson]

As a former corporate antivirus guy, I've gone the free route for windows (and mac) home computers. In years past, McAfee (Network Associates for a time) allowed each user with a corporate license to also have a 'home' copy of VirusScan Enterprise. We managed them all together - a happy story. Well, they eventually dropped that policy, and all hell broke loose. Users automatically assumed that whatever was installed on a new computer was 'good enough,' and never needed to be touched again, as described above. Many would actually get indignant when asked if they ever updated signatures, scan engine versions, what have you. In the "good old days" it was all done for them, at home exactly as was done in the office.

Our recommendation evolved (or devolved) to "run something/anything, and manage it properly!"

With the newest generations of "suite" products, things may have actually gotten worse, and we've seen multiple conflicting products installed, products stepping all over each other, and we still can't even get all users off of Windows NT and some still running OS/2, let alone off of XP.

So, AVG Free for XP and Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows7. iAntivirus is decent on a Mac. Light foorprint, minimally invasive, and all offer auto updating of core components. McAfee, Symantec and Trend are fine in the enterprise, but for (mostly unsophisticated) home users, not so hot. IMHO of course!

[Jason Dunn]

However, I am not arrogant enough to think that I am impervious to all the threats out there.

Hehe. I guess that would be me. :D I don't run AV software on any system I own. I install Microsoft Security Essentials on the computers of friend/family, but don't use it myself. The vast majority of virus/spyware infections, to my knowledge, come from socially engineered angles; they trick people into clicking here, installing this, etc. The days of the "open your browser to a certain Web page and you get a virus" are more or less over - and as long as you're not surfing the seedy side of the Web, you should be safe.

I fully realize that someday I may be forced to eat my words, but it's been almost a decade now I haven't run AV software on my systems and have yet to be hit by a virus or spyware. I run a Web-based scan every few months just to make sure everything is going OK.

[djdj]

I install Microsoft Security Essentials these days for myself and others, but turn off the real-time scanning for myself. I have NEVER had even one virus on any of my computers, so real-time protection certainly doesn't feel like something I need.

[randalllewis]

I guess I am in the middle of an experiment of sorts. I have Norton AV 2010 on my HP desktop because it came with the computer. I know that normally that means a 3 month trial or something like that, but this model came with a very generous 15 month subscription. I had read many times that Norton had reallyed cleaned up its act beginning with the 09 version and I have to say that I have had no negative experiences with the software. It just works. It pops up a box in the corner of the screen now and then to tell me it is running a scan or downloading new definitions. I have noticed no slowing of my system.

On our family computer, I installed Microsoft Security Essentials. I like it a lot as well. It just works. Unlike Norton, I don't get little reminders that it is doing anything.

On my laptop, I installed Kaspersky AV based on the recommendation of a colleague. I could put up with the truely ugly interface, but the program really bogged down my poor laptop.

Each of these was installed about the same time. Kaspersky is gone already, replaced with MSE.

I'll keep Norton as long as the subscription runs, but I'm guessing MSE will be the AV of choice on all my systems. I think I am as careful as Jason claims to be, but I also think I am a careful driver and wouldn't drive without insurance.

[Hooch Tan]

Hehe. I guess that would be me. :D I don't run AV software on any system I own. I install Microsoft Security Essentials on the computers of friend/family, but don't use it myself. The vast majority of virus/spyware infections, to my knowledge, come from socially engineered angles; they trick people into clicking here, installing this, etc.

Wow, that's living on the edge! I hope you never catch one, but I have to disagree about drive-by web installations. I've heard of cases where it has happened, though a large part of it is not viruses specifically, but malware and zombie software, where the real money is.

I haven't been infected for ages and ages either, long enough to not remember what it was, but I guess in dealing with everyone else's infections has me paranoid.

[Reid Kistler]

Have read several columnists over past year that claim they do NOT use any anti-malware apps (or, at least, any with Active Scanning) - but have read more that assert that these are an Absolute Necessity - and usually with the advice to run MULTIPLE applications, settling upon one for Active status & using the others for On Demand scanning....

Have had to clean malware off a LOT of systems, and although would agree that it often got there through neglect by the owner, that does not always appear to be the case.
We had a multiple system infection at a small software firm that occurred mere hours after an AV Signature Update from Norton; also, multiple users at our church have had their systems infected & then sent out infected e-mails: the original user may have been lax, but subsequent infectees were merely opening mail from what they ASSUMED was a safe source - arguably only one degree removed from Dumb Decision, but how much wisdom can we expect from the Average User???

For a long time we were devoted Norton users, but have flip-flopped between ZoneAlarm Security Suite and SystemSuite for past several years - although finally gave up on ZA recently due to incompatibility between it and Firefox & Opera (although still suspect that Some Third App was involved, the user forums were full of complaints).

We are now running SystemSuite 10, which currently uses the Sunbelt engine, on our main machines, with Avast! running on a couple of secondary personal systems. SS10 is loaded on Win 7 64, a Win 7 32, and a Vista 32 system, and seems to be running fine on all three.
Avast! is running on a XP & a 2000 Pro system - and I still have a copy of AVG running under Windows 98. Our two mules do not run an Active Scan, but instead rely upon on-demand apps, as they are usually checking a non-native HD for problems.....

[Jason Dunn]

I hope you never catch one, but I have to disagree about drive-by web installations.

I'm not saying it's impossible, I too have heard about it happening, but I've also heard about people getting killed by falling human waste from a plane. :) Anything is possible, but how likely is it? Running a modern, patched OS with modern, patched browsers - I use Firefox and Chrome, mostly - makes me feel fairly secure. If I was running Windows XP, I'd be much more paranoid.

I haven't been infected for ages and ages either, long enough to not remember what it was, but I guess in dealing with everyone else's infections has me paranoid.

Yeah, it's the other people I worry about too - thing is, I hardly ever deal with flash drives from other people. I do get documents via email, so that is one vector where I could get attacked, but 98% of them come from big corporations that have AV protection, so I tend not to worry much.

I've cleaned up virus and spyware problems off other computers many times over the years, and in every single instance, it's been user error that has gotten the system infected - and it's always been Windows XP. Vista did a lot for system security. I've never come across a true browser-based exploit in my life (that I could recognize at least).

[Jason Dunn]

...but have read more that assert that these are an Absolute Necessity - and usually with the advice to run MULTIPLE applications, settling upon one for Active status & using the others for On Demand scanning...

That's funny, I've always read/thought the exact opposite: having more than one AV program on your system is a recipe for disaster because the two apps will often butt heads. Definitely not something I'd ever recommend to someone.

Anyway, I want to stress that I recommend AV software on every system of friends/family I have influence over - I'm only saying that for myself, I don't see the need to have it.