Antivirus Software

[meriad]

I just received an email to say that my Norton Antivirus is due for renewal - at a cost of £75 for the year.... is it worth it do you think or is there a free, just as good, antivirus I could download?

I don't do internet banking, but do make online payments via other websites

as always - thanks!!!

[Workingman]

Ria, it is almost impossible to define "just as good" because we all have our own favourites. At the moment mine is a product called 360 Total Security, found here.

What I suggest is that you visit these well known and respected test sites:
AV-Comparatives
and
AV-test

Their charts show real-world operation and overview and if you poke around a bit you can get lots more info. However, for more detail and other comments in an easy to read way you should then look at Tech Radar

Having said all that it remains that the most popular free AV suites - Avast!, AVG and Aviria all score extremely well in the tests, as does 360.

With regards to online payments may I suggest a sure-fire secure method - a top-up Credit Card. It acts like a normal CC and gives the same cover, but there is no 'account' in the traditional sense. When you see something you desperately need to buy you can transfer money on to the card and use it anywhere a normal CC is used. However, the max spend is only the money on the card so if you lose it or it gets stolen and if there is only £10 on the card that is the most you can lose. Have a look here for details.

Here's hoping some of this is useful.

[Suff]

I use Ebay. Reduces my cost from £75 to around £18 to £20. If you decide to do that, just make sure the person you buy from has a very good reputation and there are no complaints that the seller is selling keys which expire or invalidate.

I first bought my 360 for Windows 7 immediately it came out of Beta. It was $25 for 3 computers. As it went up and up and up in cost, I eventually cancelled the subscription renewal and searched for a cheaper option. I've been doing this on Ebay for about 5 years now. Especially as I have two 3 computer subscriptions running simultaneously.

[Workingman]

Free is stil cheaper than £20.

Suff, you have loads of stuff, both private and commercial. You probably need the cover of a contract and a commercial product. Most of us home users can get along very well with free AVs and Firewalls.

When businesses start looking for a commercial product it then comes down to personal preference, and that's where the 'paid for' versions of the free AVs, with added security, have their work cut out against the market leaders.

I am not against paying, but the way I work means that I do not need to. The free AVs use people like me to promote their commercial versions, and well done to them.

[Suff]

Absolutely true. However my Father, after the third time of rebuilding his PC after a virus attack, finally stopped listening to my brother (free is good) and listened to me and paid for Norton 360. That was 8 years ago. He's never been successfully attacked again. He uses it for PC, mobile and Tablet now.

I talked to him about the £75 he pays and he said. "It is a small price to pay for the protection I get". He's never forgotten what it was like before and what I told him at the time about needing to get a quality paid for solution if he wanted to protect himself to the point where he didn't need to think about every click.

I didn't really move to paid because of the work angle, I moved to paid because I realised that it was no longer worth spending so much time trying to keep the stuff out. When I realised what was happening with Javascript exploits on web pages, it was time to get a product which reads and disinfects the web page before it displays. Because by the time the page has displayed it is way, way, too late.

Whilst my position is more around the way that I have to work, my father's is more around the normal person. Every time he goes to a friend to sort out their pc after a virus attack he gives them the same advice I gave him.

BTW, paid for does not include McAffee. I won't use it and remove it at every opportunity..... Too many bad experiences.

[meriad]

thank you both - I'll look at the links and give it some thought over the weekend; work has been rather manic these past few weeks and I've just not been able to face much more IT anything when I get home (unless it's looking up instructions to open a bottle of wine! )

x

[Workingman]

Eight years ago = light years ago. Things have moved on, but then if you have always used Norton and not tried some of the modern free ones there is not much to compare, nor any need to.

I put the links up because a lot of pros use AV-test and AV-Comparatives because they do real time - real world testing using industry standard procedures. It is why. And the tests are not free ones v free ones they test all types of OTC solutions.

I have been using 360 Total Security for two years or so and it has not let me down.

Opening wine:

Grab cap, twist anti-clockwise
or
Push cork into bottle with a wooden spoon handle
or
Turn tap till nozzle points down then push button or turn handle till wine pours.
or
Hand bottle to a man, flutter eyelids and say "purleeeease".

I'll go now.........................

[meriad]

Opening wine:

Grab cap, twist anti-clockwise
or
Push cork into bottle with a wooden spoon handle
or
Turn tap till nozzle points down then push button or turn handle till wine pours.
or
Hand bottle to a man, flutter eyelids and say "purleeeease".

I'll go now.........................

Dare I say 1, 2 & 3 have all been done..... but the last not yet (there hasn't been a bottle I haven't been able to open!)

[Diflower]

Hope it's not tempting fate but I've had Avg for ages (4 or 5 years?) and no problems at all.
I do internet banking.

[Workingman]

There is a bit of confusion about anti-virus software, firewalls and online banking.

Neither of them will help if we have allowed the malware onto our computers by, for example, downloading software from sites where other apps are bundled with the one we actually want. If we do not decline these "offers" we are asking for trouble. We should also scan the download manually with our AV before running the installer; and we should never run an installer from the Internet.

Another trick to get malware is to open links in emails, even when we think we know who they are from. There are plenty of those 'You have won.....!" or "Free xyz when you....!". Avoid them like the plague.

Yes a good AV software helps, but it is always playing catch-up.

A simple extra layer of protection for online banking is Trusteer It is from IBM working in conjunction with many banks and works to protect end-to-end communications. Most UK banks offer it on their websites, but for some reason you have to find it, and if you do not know what it is then you will probably pass on by.