My internet provider, TimeWarner, provides free security software from a company called CA Technologies. I’ve had a boatload of issues with it recently, including my daughter’s iTouch not synching with the new update and just 2 days ago all internet activity was blocked. Uninstalling it solved the issue, but now I’m looking for a Plan B because I want virus protection.
I don’t mind paying for the service. My most important criteria is that it stays updated so that I don’t have to jack around trying to find workarounds for things like synching my iTunes.
So, given that, what security software do you recommend?
Another vote for Microsoft Security Essentials. I’ve never had to futz with it to get other things to work and it takes care of itself. Running it on Xp, Vista, and Win7.
The CA security suit is crap, IMO.
Most reviews I’ve seen say that the free software is just as good as the paid packages (often better). Most of the time, the paid versions offer only convenience. For example, automatic scheduled updates vs. remembering to update every week or so.
While I don’t use it, I always recommend ESET NOD32 if you are going to pay for something. Again, I use mostly the same things recommended here on my work computer, and I use all Linux at home, but we don’t have a lot of security issues (I honestly can’t remember the last time one of our computers had a virus/spyware/something, but I fix a lot of laptops and desktops with all kinds of shit on them). Free software is great if you want to work with it. If not, NOD32 does the job for a fee, and is relatively simple to use. My parents, for example, have very basic computer skills, but they can use it. It saved them from spending double that for a CD antivirus at Walmart or whichever store they may have gone to that would be out of date before they even installed. My dad is they type of guy that is going to pay for it either way, so he might as well use the better option.
I’ve been relying on MSE for years, but just a few weeks ago it failed me. One of those fake AV programs installed itself through a compromised web page I visited with up-to-date Firefox. I quickly rebooted into safe mode, where MSE couldn’t find any trace of an infection. Malwarebytes and Avira found and removed a number of things, but I still had browser hijacks.
Luckily I do regular backups, so instead wasting my weekend chasing down elusive viruses, I [del]nuked it from orbit[/del] reformatted and reinstalled windows.
Now, I haven’t changed the security software I’m using much, but I changed all of my passwords and started using noscript.
Though as a contrarian: a) that convenience can be nice, and b) the developers are providing a service, I’m happy to compensate for them.
Aside from that, I don’t have much of a dog in this show. I got away from ZoneAlarm because it was causing the computer to fail to connect. AVG pro, and I was just using the Windows firewall; my home computer caught a virus from some site my daughter went to (damage limited because she doesn’t have admin rights, but it was a rootkit that was trying to download trojans etc). I’ve now got Online Armor for the firewall. Both AVG and Online Armor have free versions.
Periodically I’ll run MalwareBytes against the computer to supplement the AVG daily scan. No further problems since I did a big cleanup last month (with the help of someone on the MalwareBytes forum).
For what it’s worth, AVG and MalwareBytes both missed the actual rootkit. They caught the trojans it was downloading every time my daughter logged on.
CA let all kinds of viruses through when I had it and then had the stones to “auto-renew” me after I cancelled.
A buddy in IT recommended Kaspersky and I think it’s the best money I ever spent. It updates frequently and has saved the day more than once. $60 may not be cheap, but when you think of that being spread out over a year and keeping your computer safe, it’s worth it.
I’ll add my recommendations for MalwareBytes, MSE and SUPERantispyware. I also use AVG and/or Avast! free versions on just about every computer I’ve owned or worked on in the last decade. They’re free, updated daily and reliable.
I avoid Norton and McAfee as bloated piles of suck that eat up system resources. I’ve used the full version of Kaspersky but that was on a system with massive amounts of power for the tasks it was used for, so slow downs weren’t much of an issue. The CA suite is trash.
If you mean for keeping spam out of your mailbox, Gmail does an excellent job. Plus with Gmail you can change ISPs and keep your same mail account, and access it from any web browser including iPhones and such.