What antivirus software do you use?
- Thread starter Lucian
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I don't think I use any, but I'm based in using Linux Ubuntu or Mint.
Chapmike
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You should know that nowadays, Windows Defender is considered good enough so you don't really have to use anything else. Most third party antiviruses are now just here to sell you services that will bloat your system and make it slower, and using more than one will only make it worse.
Windows Defender is absolutely useless when it comes to blocking dangerous websites.
Raylauncher
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Chapmike is more or less correct. You won't find any foolproof commercial antiviruses and most of them are indeed just 5% defense, 95% bloatware. If you are not sitting behind a multi-thousand dollar firewall and have a few hundred dollar/month subscription to services like Cisco Talos, your own computer/mobile with it's software will never grant 100% protection to you, especially if you are using free versions.
Windows Defender in it's own right is much better than it was years ago, but it's not really that excellent, especially since hackers would prioritize getting past Windows Defender first out of any virus-tracking software. That is the only thing making the reliance on it void.
Kaspersky is one I did really like and it was the least-bloaty software out there. However do keep in mind that it's speculated it sells data to Russia. I'm not saying it's 100 true and you should avoid it, but do keep it in mind that it's good to be cautious.
If I would really have to choose one, I would go with Malwarebytes currently, as that can root out some nasty stuff, but still, a well-coded virus might just be good enough to bypass it long enough to do damage.
I used through the years also: Avast (garbage), AVG (better than Avast and Norton, but still garbage now, it used to be pretty good though a long time ago), Norton (garbage). Basically do avoid any that is pushed in your face or on the "top" of most lists, they do like to pay a ton to be advertised.
For web-browsing, Ublock Origin is a must to have. Not only is it the best adblocker, but the best threat mitigator as well imo, two birds with one stone. It's also heavily modifiable for your own liking.
But honestly, your only best bet with everything said is to browse safely and download only trusted material. At the end of the day, know that the best defense you can have for your own device is your own sense and awareness.
Windows Defender in it's own right is much better than it was years ago, but it's not really that excellent, especially since hackers would prioritize getting past Windows Defender first out of any virus-tracking software. That is the only thing making the reliance on it void.
Kaspersky is one I did really like and it was the least-bloaty software out there. However do keep in mind that it's speculated it sells data to Russia. I'm not saying it's 100 true and you should avoid it, but do keep it in mind that it's good to be cautious.
If I would really have to choose one, I would go with Malwarebytes currently, as that can root out some nasty stuff, but still, a well-coded virus might just be good enough to bypass it long enough to do damage.
I used through the years also: Avast (garbage), AVG (better than Avast and Norton, but still garbage now, it used to be pretty good though a long time ago), Norton (garbage). Basically do avoid any that is pushed in your face or on the "top" of most lists, they do like to pay a ton to be advertised.
For web-browsing, Ublock Origin is a must to have. Not only is it the best adblocker, but the best threat mitigator as well imo, two birds with one stone. It's also heavily modifiable for your own liking.
But honestly, your only best bet with everything said is to browse safely and download only trusted material. At the end of the day, know that the best defense you can have for your own device is your own sense and awareness.
Chapmike
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I second the use of uBlock Origin, it's also useful to manually block specific parts of any website that bother you.
Like if you're really tired of seeing the trends on Twitter, you can simply block them.
For now it seems to be the most honest, as Adblock allegedly also sells your data, and whitelists websites that pay them.
And it's important that you strictly use the Origin version which is a fork made by the original developer, as just uBlock was given up to other people.
There has been conflicting reasons given by people online, like the non Origin one being a fake used by Adblock because they also apparently whitelist paying websites, or that one of the other devs went rogue and stolen the initial project for himself, but the link below is the official statement.
github.com
And in July 2018, the initial uBlock domain was acquired by Adblock, hence the confusion about the first theory above.
But they really added it to their "acceptable ads" program, so yeah, definitely don't trust that one, and use Origin.
Like if you're really tired of seeing the trends on Twitter, you can simply block them.
For now it seems to be the most honest, as Adblock allegedly also sells your data, and whitelists websites that pay them.
And it's important that you strictly use the Origin version which is a fork made by the original developer, as just uBlock was given up to other people.
There has been conflicting reasons given by people online, like the non Origin one being a fake used by Adblock because they also apparently whitelist paying websites, or that one of the other devs went rogue and stolen the initial project for himself, but the link below is the official statement.
Please clarify uBlock₀ vs. uBlock · Issue #38 · gorhill/uBlock
This is confusing. Are you recommending users with the present extension (i.e. uBlock₀) should now install uBlock from the new repository? If so this should be stated clearly somewhere.
github.com
But they really added it to their "acceptable ads" program, so yeah, definitely don't trust that one, and use Origin.
Last edited:
animeadept
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I use windows defender and McCafee! Both do the job pretty well for me.
