Anti-virus protection - suggestions, alternatives to AVG etc

[aernethril]

I did ask a year ago, but as there was no response and as AVG has become a total nightmare and I'm not paying for such a bloated and unwieldly product which keeps pestering me for more info and to do all kinds of things I don't want to do - well, does anyone have any suggestions on what else is out there that is either free and good or is not too expensive and good?

I've currently got AVG sitting with an ! over the taskbar icon saying there is an error and when I click on it, there is no error at all - it just wants me to upgrade to find out what else I can find out about AVG- at a cost.

Appalling practice.

So, any suggestions would be muchly appreciated.

[otherego]

Hi, aerne.

I honestly don't think there's a simple answer. Angrydragon recently suggested Ad Aware's offering:

http://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Computing-Advice-Technology-Chat/Avast-Oddities/td-p/5032130   (2nd post - one of these days I promise to find out how to link straight to the relevant bit of a web page).

It's worth doing a little online research. Bear in mind that there are lots and lots of antiviruses, and that some of the opinions one encounters might be subjective. This looked quite useful:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2388652,00.asp

Gizmo's has a bit of an article:

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-anti-virus-software.htm

and it's probably worth looking at the professional comparers, although I suspect they might concentrate on paid-for offerings. Two examples:

https://www.av-comparatives.org/

https://www.av-test.org/en/compare-manufacturer-results/

I still lean towards Avast for my increasingly limited Windows computing. It's not without its irritations - I suppose they're all keen to get us to buy their paid versions - and one wonders how Avast's recent acquisition of AVG will affect both "brands".

For serious computing, and for any online purchasing etc, I now stick to Linux (mostly Linux Mint.) No guarantees, of course, but I feel so much safer.

It's also easier to use than Windows, stable and updated constantly (to the extent of being downright annoying at times - but at least restarts are very rarely needed, and touch wood, post update dramas seem rather rarer than in the Windows world - in my own experience, at least.)

Avoids all that worrying about antivirus software - long may that continue.

[evoman3957]

Only thing I can really say on the subject, is that I used to have the free versions of both Malwarebytes & AVG; now I have the fully paid up "Pro" versions of both. I have just seen the grief that getting hacked, or infected, can produce and if the money prevents the grief ; then it's worth it in my book. A friend of mine got his computer infected with a rootkit and it was almost impossible to get rid of, so in his case the computer went into the bin. It depends what you've got on your computer and what you use it for, in terms of importance & security; but it should be noted that Malwarebytes doesn't scan for rootkits and I would not be surprised if quite a few others don't either........AVG does....and you really don't want to get infected by one of those.

[0-anthony-0]

What OS are you running? and if it's Windows 7 or above isn't Microsoft Security Essentials genuine?

If a system is beyond repair only the hard drive needs changing or wiping at worst to have the computer ready for work again. No need to bin it.

Root kits, I know nothing.

I used to scan my systems with a command in a Terminal and you have reminded me I haven't done it for a while and so it needs doing.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RKhunter

[evoman3957]

I'm running windows 10.....I've no doubt that Microsoft have their own security, but I've just got a thing about people who try to do everything ( jacks of all trades ) and end up doing everything averagely well. With security, I prefer a dedicated service; who concentrate on that alone...........as for rootkits.

https://support.avg.com/SupportArticleView?l=en_US&urlName=What-is-rootkit

[0-anthony-0]

Yeah! the only really alternative to the charade is a Linux system and Mint is the usual suggestion to a newcomer. I use ubuntu MATE

If I got a rootkit I would just reinstall the system. It's easy and it always takes less than 2 hours. I back up any important data as it's created.

I've not needed anti-virus for 6 years or more. Great.

[otherego]

Despite wireless hassles I'm encountering with a new kernel, I still endorse the Linux alternative enthusiastically. Not perfect, but still a no-contest IMHO.

Rootkits are evil sods, aren't they? The trouble is (if I've understood right), a competently written rootkit is pretty much undetectable - indeed, I think even the best antiviruses/anti rootkit software can only cope with those in "user space" or whatever it's called. Those at kernel level - and worst, those which infect hardware/firmware - are probably effectively undetectable unless they cause other visible problems.

Thankfully, those seem to be relatively rare. Let's face it, a rootkit hiding in the BIOS chip could effectively be a throwaway - always assuming one discovered it was there. One that got into the hard drive's firmware could at least be ditched with the hard drive.

I think it's difficult to get hardware rootkits on board without physical access to the computer, although I remember a fairly recent Register article said that one of the big security software firms reckoned it was theoretically possible.

With respect to Windows machines and antiviruses - I get the impression that general "safe computing" habits are more important than the antivirus these days.

Now that MS is sneaking goodness-knows-what onto W7 and W8.1 machines with its oh-so-convenient all-in-one updates, it'll be interesting to see how many people stop updating their Windows computers in case W10-style "telemetry" is installed.

Think I'll stick to Linux for now, thanks very much!

(With Avast on the Windows machines for odd cautious experiments - really should try LavaSoft's AdAware some time.)

[aernethril]

Thank you, all, for the help and advice.

I'll have to do some research but at least I've got some good starting points.

Pain the potsit, the whole darn thing.

[angrydrag0n]

---

@evoman3957 wrote:

Only thing I can really say on the subject, is that I used to have the free versions of both Malwarebytes & AVG; now I have the fully paid up "Pro" versions of both. I have just seen the grief that getting hacked, or infected, can produce and if the money prevents the grief ; then it's worth it in my book. A friend of mine got his computer infected with a rootkit and it was almost impossible to get rid of, so in his case the computer went into the bin. It depends what you've got on your computer and what you use it for, in terms of importance & security; but it should be noted that Malwarebytes doesn't scan for rootkits and I would not be surprised if quite a few others don't either........AVG does....and you really don't want to get infected by one of those.

---

Sorry to pick up on this older post but just noticed it and went off in a panic to check it out as I've recently ditched AVG on this laptop:

My freeversion of malwarebytes gives the option of scanning for rootkits - hope this isn't too large.

[evoman3957]

Don't quote me on this ( you may need to check it out for yourself ) but when doing lots of reseach, on anti virus, I read that Malwarebytes don't scan for rootkits.......this was because it is a very deep and thorough scan ( delving into the bowels of a computer ) and therefore causing potential slowing and problems with the computer's operations; while the scan is taking place.  Whereas the scan had been achieved / perfected by AVG.......Malwarebytes had not yet done so and therefore didn't incorporate that particular scan into it's scanning package. It has the option to tick the box ( as shown in your pic. ) because they hope to be able to do it in the future, but right now; ticking it will not mean it will be carried out.  On AVG, it is possible to scan for rootkits ONLY and I did this operation, only yesterday, while altering my scanning schedules.  If it's possible to run the same operation on Malwarebytes, it would give you a definitive answer; as to whether they now do it or not.

[evoman3957]

Just found this, I kind of get the impression that it's saying they can do it; but would rather not.......that's why it's not selected by default.

https://support.malwarebytes.com/customer/portal/articles/1834842-why-is-scan-for-rootkit-off-by-def...

[otherego]

At least it looks as if the Malwarebytes rootkit scan might actually work. (At least, it probably works as well as anything similar.)

I see they have a standalone rootkit scanner in beta. I wonder how thorough that is?

As far as I can see, the free versions of Avast and Avira (and, presumably, other offerings) are able to scan for rootkits. Just check your settings...

It's a difficult one for the people who write security software. Take a look at this list of what's on offer:

https://www.raymond.cc/blog/10-antirootkits-tested-to-detect-and-remove-a-hidden-rootkit/

Goodness knows how anyone checks for firmware rootkits. Thank goodness they're rare. It does look as if anything which doesn't need a restart in order to launch its scan is only capable of finding user-space rootkits, but not those kernel nasties that load on boot.

I've not tried an Avast, AVG or Avira rootkit scan in ages, and honestly can't remember whether they rebooted to scan. They've probably changed since my last experience with them.

[otherego]

A couple more:

https://www.avast.com/c-rootkit

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-rootkit-scanner-remover.htm

The first is from the AV provider, so would presumably not mention any shortcomings,