BleepingComputer.com: What is the best form of Virus protection

Ive just bought a new laptop, and about to buy a new desktop as well. Ive been hit a couple of time by viruses on my current desktop, and want to try and protect myself as best possible from now on.

I believe the viruses mayve come from either a dodgy free games site my child has clicked on, or maybe one of the sites Daddy mayve visited (cough)

Is it just a case of not going to these sites, or clicking on attachments in emails, or can viruses find their way thru anyway ?

Im prepared to pay £20 or so for something like Kasperzky, but in reality is that no better than the free ones like Avast or AVG ? Avast picked up the fact I had a virus, but it didnt seem to stop it trashing my pc.

Or is the bets way via piece of hardware ?

Thanks for any advice. Im sure others will also be interested in any helpful replies given here.

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Please read How Malware Spreads - How did I get infected which explains the most common ways malware is contracted and spread.

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Choosing a security toolkit with anti-virus, firewall and anti-malware programs is a matter of personal preference, your needs, your technical ability and experience, features offered, user friendliness, ease of updating (and upgrading to new program release), ease of installation/removal, available technical support from the vendor and price. Other factors to consider include detection rates and methods, scanning engine effectiveness, how often virus definitions are updated, the amount of resources the program utilizes, how it may affect system performance and what will work best for your system. A particular anti-virus that works well for one person may not work as well for another. You may need to experiment and find the one most suitable for your use and your system. There is no universal "one size fits all" solution that works for everyone and there is no best anti-virus. For more specific information to consider, please read Choosing Your Anti-virus Software and How to choose a firewall.

No single product is 100% foolproof and can prevent, detect and remove all threats at any given time. Just because one anti-virus detected threats that another missed, does not mean its more effective. The security community is in a constant state of change as new infections appear. Security vendors use different scanning engines and different detection methods such as heuristic analysis or behavioral analysis which can account for discrepancies in scanning outcomes. Depending on how often the anti-virus database is updated can also account for differences in threat detections.

Further, each vendor has its own definition of what constitutes malware and scanning your computer using different criteria will yield different results. The fact that each program has its own definition files means that some malware may be picked up by one that could be missed by another. Thus, a multi-layered defense using several anti-spyware products (including an effective firewall) to supplement your anti-virus combined with common sense, safe computing and safe surfing habits provides the most complete protection.

• Important Tip: Always remember that security begins with personal responsibility.

Use trustworthy security tools like:

• Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
  
• SUPERAntiSpyware

I recommend taking advantage of the Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (Pro) Protection Module in the full version which uses advanced heuristic scanning technology to monitor your system and provide real-time protection to prevent the installation of most new malware. This technology runs at startup where it monitors every process and helps stop malicious processes before they can infect your computer. The database that defines the heuristics is updated as often as there is something to add to it. Keep in mind that Malwarebytes does not act as a real-time protection scanner for every file like an anti-virus program so it is intended to be a supplement, not a substitute. Enabling the Protection Module feature requires registration and purchase of a license key that includes free lifetime upgrades and support. After activation, Malwarebytes can be set to update itself and schedule scans automatically on a daily basis. The Protection Module is not intrusive as the program utilizes few system resources and should not conflict with other scanners or anti-virus programs.

If any conflicts between Malwarebytes' and another security program are reported, suggested solutions are usually provided in the Common Issues, Questions, and their Solutions, FAQs thread. I know and have worked with some members of the research team so I can attest that they make every effort to resolve issues as quickly as possible.

Quietman - thank you for taking the time to post such a comprehensive reply.

Its so frustrating have to spend so much time and money , to stop some geek in his bedroom hacking my pc - but hey ho.

I'll have a look at Malwarebytes - costs £19 per pc, so in line with some of the others.

Difficult to judge how much more these paid products are better than the free one s- one has to assume more efforet is put in by the companys to assure they work as best possible.

Im definitly going to set up the level of protection on my childs pc, and give her strict rules. Can you pick up a virus simply by going to a site, or only if you download something - andby downloading , does that mean playing an online game or watching a video like on youtube ?

Thanks again.

You can have a look at Ubuntu, its free and it won't really cause you any virus problems. Its pretty easy to use, so it won't take much time to get used to it either. Or if you have the money, go get a Mac.

Most of the free anti-virus apps available are almost as good as paid ones. Some are even better. Along with it, just use Windows Firewall for the firewall and get a free version of Malwarebytes to be extra sure. You'll be fine.

Youtube itself isn't famous for viruses but some of the links that users on youtube link to might be dangerous. Its not necessary that you'll need to save something to your Hard Disk yourself to get a virus, smarter viruses get in sneakily.
Be aware of what you're getting into, be it a website or something else. WOT is a great safe browsing tool which can be added to your web browser as an add-on.

This post has been edited by Alvas Rawuther: 12 April 2011 - 08:51 AM

You're welcome.

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You may want to reread How Malware Spreads - How did I get infected which explains the most common ways malware is contracted and spread.

I specifically comment about gaming and other bad sites as well as drive-by downloads.