I own 2-viruses.com, and, partly, I promote the site myself. Thus I am exposed to lots of bullshit advices, misconceptions in security market. And there will be no affiliate links in this post, thank you for your attention.
First, stop looking for best security product. The status “best” is temporal at most. It also depends on your own needs for support, speed, level of protection and configuration of your PC. The key is having something that works and knowing its limitations. That way one can cover the unprotected holes with different software.
I use ESET’s Smart security as first line of defense. Having good antivirus is important, and ESET is known to provide quite good protection over the years. But Smart Security provides firewall functions as well. We started using it in 2006 or 2005, I believe. I have not used Kaspersky for a while, but it was long time ago. It is still good, though. As there are lots of other good tools.
Free antivirus choices work well too. I have installed AVAST, Microsoft Security Essentials on different PC’s with quite good results, though most of Security/Internet Suites are paid. MSE is great as it does not asks for email. You could use PCTools Antivirus as well.
However, there are antiviruses, that have holes in free versions. For example, AVG lacks rootkit protection, but has a strong community that promotes it. It will remain a popular choice.
So, you have chosen antivirus, but there is a need for second opinion tool that targets fresher parasites and does not interfere with antivirus. There are couple categories of such tools. For example, Threatfire uses behavioral detection, which helps against new parasites.
Another class of second-opinion tools are Anti-malware tools. This term is misleading, though. Anti-virus tools protect from broadest spectrum of parasites. Typical Anti-malware tools protect from parasites that are not viruses (that is, modify other executable content). Though the term Malware includes viruses as well. The problem is that while viruses are geared towards spreading around, malware is geared towards you: either steal or extort your personal information, get paid for advertisements that are shown to you.
Which anti-malware to choose? Personally, I run Spyware Doctor, and it is the tool I install most often for this purpose. I install free version from pack.google.com on all PC’s except mine usually, even if it is older and limited one. My friends and family like free software 🙂 Another free choices would by Spybot S&D, Spyware Terminator, etc.
Commercial anti-malware choices would be the Spyware Doctor, Spyhunter (though highly expensive), Malwarebytes anti-malware, Superantispyware. Although last 2 are marketed as free tools, they are not. Both of them are commercial tools without any real time protection in free version. The free versions are great for malware removal, though. I have free versions of both installed for testing purposes, but I am not planning on buying full versions of these.
For me SuperAntiSpyware is somewhat misleading, as it’s free version starts at system startup and is running all the time. But it does not actively protect the PC, which might be missed by many users. My free version of Malwarebytes started at system startup as well, however exited soon after. I am unsure if this unnecessary startup was removed in fresh version.
There are also toolbars, like SiteAdvisor or MyWot. They might provide some insight for safer browsing, but they will not protect from infected domains that fast. SiteAdvisor is more suitable for this, as it actually scans the websites for malware rather than being community opinion based.
To wrap it up, get Internet Security suite from any of major antivirus vendors. If you want to save some money, get free antivirus, and get firewall separately. Then you will need a second-opinion tools like threatfire and a good anti-malware with real time protection. And some self-control not to click on every advertisement on the net 🙂
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