The chart below summarizes our findings for three dozen current security suites, highlighting overall scores and category scores of 4.0 stars or better. It's easy to see that some products earned high scores in all or nearly all the categories, while others got just a few high scores.
The one area I think Neil gave himself (and the tech support of these companies) huge amounts of completely unnecessary pain, and colored his results as well, is how determined he was that these tools should be able to do their initial install on an already virused system.
That's asking too much, and no one should turn to an antivirus/security app after an infection to rescue them from it. If you are trying to recover from an infection you should use a dedicated self-booting repair tool, or something similar.-mouser (February 13, 2014, 11:31 AM)
I'm running Bitdefender AV Plus on almost everything I have using Windows right now and I'm happy with the performance and protection level it provides.-40hz (February 13, 2014, 08:59 AM)
I don't know the validity of these comments, but they might be worth looking at before buying.-longrun (February 13, 2014, 02:01 PM)
Neil actually did go review Outpost after this initial roundup, here: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2430088,00.asp-mouser (February 13, 2014, 09:45 AM)
A, being a fan of Small and Light, that was nice! But see the note about behavior vs signatures. What if you got that to behave with a second AV program without them fighting each other? Could the combined power of the two approaches synergistically become "more than the sum of the parts"?-TaoPhoenix (February 15, 2014, 11:14 AM)
From my standpoint, Eset has the best, most utilitarian and powerful user system, as far as user options and interface.-mouser (February 15, 2014, 06:41 PM)
The options and alerts are excellent -- and they still have some firewall features that for some reason few have copied -- like when an alert pops up you can choose to ignore it for the current session (or once, or create a rule).
There really needs to be a distinction between truly flexible controllable firewalls like Eset, Outpost, and Comodo, which are in a different class than the others, that just silently do their job and offer you little information or control -- and little help if something is being silently blocked which shouldn't be. It does alert me when anything tries to connect in or out which I like to know.
HOWEVER, I have recently dumped Eset despite being a paying customer. I have confirmed that their firewall makes my computer unstable and causes programs to occasionally hang and require a reboot to terminate.
For the last week I've been trialing AVG internet security. I tried a dozen others but AVG was the one that I found least offensive. I might try outpost again, as I always liked Outpost, but right now AVG is doing pretty well by me.
Also - it looks like the free version of Agnitum's suite is at 7.1.1 while the paid version is at 9.0. I don't know if the version numbers between the free suite and the paid suite necessarily correspond with each other (ie., does that mean that the free version uses the same basic technology as the 7.x version of the paid suite used?), but that's my assumption at this point unless someone corrects me.-mwb1100 (February 15, 2014, 10:02 PM)
A, being a fan of Small and Light, that was nice! But see the note about behavior vs signatures. What if you got that to behave with a second AV program without them fighting each other? Could the combined power of the two approaches synergistically become "more than the sum of the parts"?-TaoPhoenix (February 15, 2014, 11:14 AM)
Hard to say, but the AV players are aware of it. As a result, many of the big AV products (that are signature based) also include a heuristic/suspicious behavior scanning feature. Many people leave it off. And it's not necessarily turned on by default.-40hz (February 15, 2014, 03:00 PM)
A, being a fan of Small and Light, that was nice! But see the note about behavior vs signatures. What if you got that to behave with a second AV program without them fighting each other? Could the combined power of the two approaches synergistically become "more than the sum of the parts"?-TaoPhoenix (February 15, 2014, 11:14 AM)
Hard to say, but the AV players are aware of it. As a result, many of the big AV products (that are signature based) also include a heuristic/suspicious behavior scanning feature. Many people leave it off. And it's not necessarily turned on by default.-40hz (February 15, 2014, 03:00 PM)
40hz, question:
Why did you go with Bitdefender AV over MSE?-superboyac (February 17, 2014, 05:35 PM)
40hz, question:
Why did you go with Bitdefender AV over MSE?-superboyac (February 17, 2014, 05:35 PM)
AVG Internet Security 2014 Free Download with 1 Year Trial Serial Key
AVG Internet Security 2014 is normally priced at $54.99 for a 1 year 1 PC serial number/license key. And it comes with a 30 days trial version like other security software. If you don’t like the usual 30 days trial then here is an promotion offer to download a trial version of AVG Internet Security 2014 with an in-built serial key for 1 year (364 days) at no cost. It doesn’t say how long this offer will stay free, so get it while it last!
This free 1 year trial is actually intended for Huawei dongle users but it works for everyone lol. And in terms of features and protections, there are no differences between a trial and a paid license — you get all the same features, updates, and protection.
I generally don't have much need for local firewall (or related features) on my home PCs. The firewall, along with antispam and privacy controls, are handled by my gateway for the entire network. So on the local machines I just run Bitdefender + the Windows built-in firewall and call it a day.-40hz (February 18, 2014, 11:00 AM)
Thanks!! I'm going to give it a shot, if it's good enough for 40, it's good enough for me! And that explanation gets saved to my notes.40hz, question:
Why did you go with Bitdefender AV over MSE?-superboyac (February 17, 2014, 05:35 PM)
@SB - it's very light on its feet and the free edition protects better the MSE IMO. My GF had a few niggling things get through MSE a short time ago that didn't get spotted until her weekly MBAM scan. Happened about three times. Since I put the freebie Bitdefender on her PC MBAM comes up completely clean.
I like Bitdefender. It's been around forever and earns consistent high detection scores in tests. I especially like their small business and enterprise products. They've always worked well for me in a client setting. YMMV.
Note: I've used (at one time or another) AV solutions from:
Avast
AVG
Avira
Bitdefender
CA
ESET
F-Protect
Kapersky
McAfee
Norton
Symantec
Of the above, I would still consider using Kapersky. And possibly AVG since it seems to really be at home with Windows 8 (which is coming whether we want it or not). Even has a pretty 'Win8-look' to its dashboard. The clients I have that use AVG are happy with it, even if I think it's feature set is bulking up alarmingly with each new release. (Note. AVG's customer service can sometimes be a little hard to deal with - so keep good track of your license keys and customer ID in case you do need to talk to them.)
Most of the other products I thought were great at one time. Or at least I did until they mucked them up with feature bloat. I'll also +1 w/Mouser on ESET. Their NOD32 antivirus was one of the absolute best products available - until they broke it.
I generally don't have much need for local firewall (or related features) on my home PCs. The firewall, along with antispam and privacy controls, are handled by my gateway for the entire network. So on the local machines I just run Bitdefender + the Windows built-in firewall and call it a day. I also keep a copy of the free versions of SuperAntispyware and MBAM on each machine for additional on-demand checking - and a bootable Kapersky USB key and restoration images in case some mega-disaster ever strikes.
Outside of that, keeping Windows religiously updated, and my other software regularly updated (mostly :-[ ) constitutes my Windows security regimen.
(see attachment in previous post (https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=37239.msg349472#msg349472)) "That's the way America does it! That's the way 40hz does it! And it's worked pretty well so far..."
------------------------------
UPDATE:
Note: one of my cronies just pointed me to this (http://www.techmynd.com/download-avg-antivirus-pro-avg-internet-security-2014-one-year-licence/). It has info and links that allow you to legally obtain a fully functional "one-year trial" copy of AVG Internet Security 2014. Can't vouch for it since I didn't try to install it - but the download links on the webpage still appear (as of today 2/18/2014) to be working. A similar offer appeared on the Most i Want website recently. See it here (http://www.mostiwant.com/blog/avg-internet-security-free-download-trial-serial-key/?ModPagespeed=noscript).AVG Internet Security 2014 Free Download with 1 Year Trial Serial Key
AVG Internet Security 2014 is normally priced at $54.99 for a 1 year 1 PC serial number/license key. And it comes with a 30 days trial version like other security software. If you don’t like the usual 30 days trial then here is an promotion offer to download a trial version of AVG Internet Security 2014 with an in-built serial key for 1 year (364 days) at no cost. It doesn’t say how long this offer will stay free, so get it while it last!
This free 1 year trial is actually intended for Huawei dongle users but it works for everyone lol. And in terms of features and protections, there are no differences between a trial and a paid license — you get all the same features, updates, and protection.-40hz (February 18, 2014, 11:00 AM)
...
For the last week I've been trialing AVG internet security. I tried a dozen others but AVG was the one that I found least offensive. I might try outpost again, as I always liked Outpost, but right now AVG is doing pretty well by me.
I did not install the optional stuff like web browsing guards, identity guards, etc. -- and thankfully those are optional installs. Those seem too likely to cause problems and slowdowns to me.
AVG does *not* offer the kind of fine granularity control of the powerful firewalls like Eset and Outpost, but it does offer more control and transparency than some of the truly minimal ones. But my patience for micro-managing firewall access control rules has diminished over the years, so that's not bothering me as much as it would have in the past.
In terms of basic antivirus and firewall, i'm not unhappy with AVG, and the system performance and stability seem really excellent, which is my main concern these days.-mouser (February 15, 2014, 06:41 PM)
There's been some positive statements about Bitdefender in this thread... I have an old, unused key for BitDefender AntiVirus Pro 2011 (3 PCs, 1 year). I have no idea how well it'll work today, but I think there's a decent chance that it will still work with a 2011 install (I can provide direct download links to the 2011 installer from bitdefender.com's servers). I have no idea how their upgrade policy works, but I suppose there's a small chance that you'd be able to get a 2011 install upgraded to 2014 for minimal charge or maybe even free.-mwb1100 (February 19, 2014, 01:57 AM)
Usually how keys for security software works is...-Innuendo (February 19, 2014, 10:47 PM)
AVG Internet Security 2014 Free Download with 1 Year Trial Serial Key
This free 1 year trial is actually intended for Huawei dongle users but it works for everyone lol. And in terms of features and protections, there are no differences between a trial and a paid license — you get all the same features, updates, and protection.-various (February 18, 2014, 07:57 PM)
The best security suites is the one that controls even the Kernel.
I am referring to Windows XP. I was told that Windows XP will be unprotected against Kernel attacks after April, I mean after its end of support.
Is there any program that controls even the Kernel?-Giampy (February 21, 2014, 03:55 AM)
The best security suites is the one that controls even the Kernel.
I am referring to Windows XP. I was told that Windows XP will be unprotected against Kernel attacks after April, I mean after its end of support.
Is there any program that controls even the Kernel?-Giampy (February 21, 2014, 03:55 AM)
But I also knew each of those machines was properly set-up and updated - and was "squeaky clean" system-wise before I installed BitDefender so somebody else's mileage could well vary.
8)-40hz (February 13, 2014, 02:46 PM)
After uninstalling it and re-installing Avast! things seem to be back to normal. So, yes, my mileage varied, though it's a bit of a mystery to me what exactly was going on.-dr_andus (February 23, 2014, 05:04 PM)
Unfortunately, my adventure with AVG 2014 was of short life. After 2 weeks of everything functioning correctly, I suddenly started getting BSODs (Win 8.1 x64). Culprit was AVG 2014, and everything has been normal since I removed it. Pity, I liked the AV and firewall.-Attronarch (March 01, 2014, 05:19 PM)
Stiftung Warentest have tested security suites:(Note that all were tested on Windows 7)
https://www.test.de/Internetsicherheits-Software-Wirksame-Programme-gegen-Cyberangriffe-4684917-0/
(German language; pay to view article)-tomos (April 22, 2014, 08:38 AM)
Windows XP was first released in 2001. Why stay with a 12-year old OS? When XP just came out if someone asked you advice on how to stay with Windows 95, what would you tell them? And there was only a 6 year span between those OSes!
Modernize, please. You don't have to go whole hog and upgrade to Windows 8.x, but at least move to Windows 7. If you have half-way decent specs in your PC with a decent graphics card you'll enjoy better performance than you did with XP. Once Microsoft officially drops support, you're going to start seeing your favorite programs dropping support as well & some will release new versions that won't even be able to install on XP any longer.
But to stay on the topic of this thread, which is security, even with the latest patches Windows XP is not as secure as the OSes that have come after it.-Innuendo (February 21, 2014, 07:27 AM)
AVG!? - Heh surely you jest!?
No thanks. Long story short, they recommended white listing windows folder and signing all apps so that their heuristics wouldn't tag/kill/quarantine false positives.
The kicker.. their heuristics db/engine would "forget" that files xyz were safe and on later updates would tag/kill/quarantine files that were submitted to their engineers (they assured wouldn't get tagged by future updates). 5 Years of that BS was enough (stuck on contract).
AVG - Consumer version and enterprise version.-Cloq (April 22, 2014, 09:26 PM)