What Is OzBargain's Favourite Internet Security / Antivirus?

Recent Bitdefender deal made me think of this question. For those who DO use antivirus products such as Norton or Bitdefender, what is your favourite brand/product?

If your choice is not in the poll, feel free to put it in a comment.

Poll Options

Comments

  • +1

    NOD32 best

  • If you are using Windoze Defender, I recommend you install Windows Firewall Control - https://www.binisoft.org/wfc . Windows Defender is like a hard to use console application, WFC is like a GUI program.

    I miss the days of good, dedicated Windows firewall applications; now we just have dumb firewalls with poor customization bundled with antiviral programs. Apple users have "Little Snitch".

  • +3

    Common sense and Windows Defender has been sufficient for over a decade, for myself.

  • Avira

  • -1

    The biggest virus in your computer is the anti virus software. this happened few years ago, but there's no guarantee these companies don't do it again. Windows defender is probably the "best" one because it already comes with Windows, your privacy won't get worse :).

    https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/avast-shuts-d…

    Edit: Avast and AVG belong to the same group (Avast acquired AVG)

  • malwarebytes and hittman, picked up some things defender missed

  • +2

    None, I live on the edge.

  • I only use my laptop for ozbargain so don't need anything… !

    • Scotty encryption antivirus

    • You will get a virus from reading any of JV's comments

  • +2

    What's more important than antivirus is user education, antivirus won't keep you safe from password phishing, credential stuffing, social engineering attacks, etc. If you keep yourself updated on that stuff your basic windows defender will look after the rest. Read through the basic education if you haven't done so: https://www.cyber.gov.au/protect-yourself/resources-protect-…

    Comodo Antivirus was good when I needed something free for business use https://antivirus.comodo.com/free-antivirus.php?af=7639. It also has free containerised browsers that should hopefully limit any damage from people clicking on things they shouldn't: https://www.comodo.com/home/browsers-toolbars/browser.php

    Bitwarden is good as well as a free open source encrypted password manager that syncs between a computer and your phone while keeping nothing on any servers.

    PS. I haven't used comodo products for a long time but it can update itself through a proxy which was what I was looking for at the time.

  • Defender + Malwarebytes. That's it.

  • A regular backup and not being silly will consistently outperform expensive snake oil bloatware

    • Installing a third party antivirus can sometimes improve performance. Some third party antiviruses are lighter than the inbuilt Microsoft Defender.

  • Ultimate Hosts Blacklist.

    https://github.com/Ultimate-Hosts-Blacklist/Ultimate.Hosts.B…

    They provide DNS servers for it as well.

    "It is easier to prevent, than to heal."

  • Kaspersky somehow blocks youtube ads in microsoft Edge, and ads in Outlook too.

  • Norton. Been using it for the past 20 years. Have no desire to ever change

    • Me too, been trying to uninstall Norton since 2019, but just like herpes it'll reappear every 6 months or so

  • The issue is some banks if you read the fine print mention If you ever have issues with a 3rd party accessing your online banking they write "That PC's running with windows default settings are deemed to not be secure enough. Therefore they wont refund you any stolen money." Which one could argue that windows defender is a default setting. As it's now included as default and requires no user input to use.
    I don't know if the financial ombudsman will agree or disagree with the bank. I don't really feel like trying it out.

    Until last year I used Bullguard which was first bought by Avira and since Norton. Norton wouldn't allow me to delete my account as I had a "ongoing subscription." Also they piled on the FUD. If you don't pay for our services your house/dog/bird/fridge will get hacked!!! First email I ever got was "You have been hacked and you just don't know it. Subscribe to our monitoring service for $35 a month to be informed of any hacks involving your details."
    Even though I followed the guide saying if you wish to cancel your migration from Bullguard to Norton. Do these steps. Still wouldn't let me delete my account. So I ended up changing my registered email to customersupport at norton. I haven't gotten any FUD emails since. :D

    I now have bitdefender.

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