Best Antivirus 2018

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ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
We get this question fairly often and a forum search would have shown you lots of suggestions.

It depends on what sort of a user you are. If you're a general user; emails, safe web browsing etc. then Windows Defender built in to Windows 10 is your best option.

Be very wary of anti-virus product comparisons, the general measure seems to be 'how many items of malware can each detect' with higher numbers being considered better. When you look at what 'malware' is detected you often find that huge number are relatively harmless cookies, pups, and the like. High detection numbers don't equate to better security.

Detection isn't a complete solution in any case, it can't protect you against zero-day attacks for example. A more rounded solution is to prevent malware from exploiting vulnerabilities if it does get past your anti-virus. Ensuring that all Windows Updates are installed as soon as they become available is a very important part of that. Windows Defender (in Windows 10) contains some extensive exploit protection settings (which should all be turned on) to prevent malware causing damage if it does get inside. The ideal protection against zero-day (and all other) attacks is to use a sandbox so that malware is contained and can't 'infect' the real machine. Microsoft Edge (built in to Windows 10) already sandboxes all web content, as does Chrome.

In short, Windows 10 is as secure as most users need, making a third-party security product less necessary than before. Certainly, on home systems there is no need to pay for additional security these days, it's just money down the drain.
 
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Tony1044

Prolific Poster
It also always surprises me that people will ask this but never question whether their ISP supplied router is up to the task.

When was it last updated? What's it's firewall doing...or not. What ports are open by default for the ISP to be able to use to "manage" it...
 

Tony1044

Prolific Poster
To counter Spyware, viruses, phishing attacks and many more harmful threats, we often download various antivirus software. This software takes a huge amount of system resources, at the same time it’s complex for a user to effectively work on them. It is always advised to opt a complete security suite that integrates antivirus, anti-ransomware firewall and every single feature you need to keep your system secure.

With an Inbuilt VPN feature, [link removed] scored exceptionally great on various antivirus tests. Integrated with so many bonus features, Bitdefender has a multi-layered ransomware protection with full parental control to have a look at your children’s activities.

With regards to a VPN, where does the traffic route? What's the logging at the end point? What about DNS leaking?

Firewalls are great but they're one layer of a comprehensive security profile and are utterly useless if no one ever bothers to check the logs.

Quick question - how many people here a) know you can enable logging of Windows Defender Firewall? b) Know the logging isn't enabled by default and c) Has anyone here ever checked them? Same with your hub/router

On my boundary firewall, I block traffic to and from various countries - you'd be amazed at the proliferation of attempted attacks from the likes of Russia or China.
 
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