Anti virus woes

Software & Apps
#1

I know someone is going to moan at me for not using the search, but I have, for over an hour and have now got a headache!

So, after that fiasco I will ask the question.
Hi Guys,
Old Voxy has a problem. What is the best anti virus/malware software I can get that also checks in and out emails and marks them “checked” at the bottom. (I’m using Windows live mail with only 1 POP and 1 Gmail)
AVG has turned to s*&" and has been causing me problems shutting down for the last two incarnations. (Paid for anti virus) Strange really, it’s since it’s started looking like Windows 8 modern UI.
I’m using Windows 7 Pro.
Any suggestions would be very welcome. At the moment, I’m using “Microsoft security essentials”. Mmm, not really impressed with that, but it will have to do for now.
Thanks in advance
Voxsmart.

#2

I don’t think I’m going to be much help but I thought I would post this.
I had to get rid of AVG a long time ago. I tried to get the AVG email scanner to work with Vista Windows Mail . I went to their forum & did manage to get it to work for a couple of days . Then it stopped again & the solution wasn’t working.
I decided to just disable the AVG email scanner for a while .
Then I tried Avira & I just didn’t like the way it worked.
By then I had decided not to scan emails automatically.

Now I’m using Avast & I like it OK .
I still don’t automatically scan emails.
So far I haven’t had any viruses get in .
What I do is manually check suspicious emails or just delete & erase them without opening them.
Especially any that have an attachment.
I do this in two ways .
One is to go in an emails “backdoor” with Properties & take a look .
This will tell you things like the senders email address & sometimes the message.
Other times all of the message is encrypted.
The other is I “save as” & copy the email to a folder & scan it with Avast & Malwarebytes .
I don’t use a “sandbox” for this but I think this would be another security step if I found it necessary.
I think the antivirus email scanners have problems because most ISP email is already scanned by the ISP . I think part of the reason for this is emails are lept on the ISP email server until you open you email service Windows Live mail for example. Usually you can keep or even open them on your ISP’s website . So they scan them to protect themselves.

So I would give Avast a try at worst it won’t work for you.
That is what you have right now .

#3

Voxy, every few months, I see a new “Best AV tests reveals” study, and I can’t tell one from the other - in the Paid Programs. I’ve got customers with Kasp in which units take so long to load upon system start-up, and they’ll spend 2-3 minutes wondering if their units are infected simply because Kasp hasn’t loaded promptly. (And because they have 80 other oddities loading, du-uh…)

But I don’t believe any of the AVs can address the main attacks these days - the “invited-in hijacker” types that pretend to find a virus and then warn the customer “If you want to save your system, I’ll save you-! Just click on the SAVE ME NOW button”. They’ll conveniently offer a CANCEL button, too. But they both do exactly the same process - infect the computer.

Nothing prevents this EXCEPT an alert and disciplined user that recognizes this as a wolf-attack in sheep’s clothing. And on POP machines, I suspect it’s too late. “Better hope we can remember the Other Admin User’s password to see if we can defeat this.”

The paid-for products do offer one thing that the Freebies don’t - access to an [B][I]updated[/I][/B] bootable Rescue ISO.

None of these “AV Polls” ever address this issue and, for me, this is the central feature - “Can I download a Rescue ISO, and is it updated at least monthly?” Every other claim is merely a leap-frogging, chest-beating marketing declaration.

#4

I’ve been using BIt Defender for about 5 years. The past 3 years its loaded up just fine without a noticeable lag at startup. However, I do monitor the programs in startup and disable or delete anything non-essential.

I don’t get those “If you want to save this system hijacker” things, but I use a software firewall(Comodo) and Malwarebytes Pro, besides being careful about what I click on.

The other thing is that I’ve been using web based e-mail for the past 6 years, so I don’t have the POP mail issues about extensions and such. I do check attachment names on e-mails before opening. The DLL’s and exe’s are then revealed. Or if its a funky extension I look it up.

I just got BitDefender 2014. I’m going to be curious to see what has changed and how well it works. I"m a little worried about reports of forced ads being displayed by the AV unless you ask the company to disable it. This wasn’t a part of the previous AV’s.

#5

@ ChristineBCW , I didn’t test it but it appears to be free & updated as of 10/16/2013 .
I may give it a test in the next couple of days when I have time.

http://www.avira.com/en/download/product/avira-rescue-system

#6

I would never go as far as to endorse one as “best”, but the front runners are consistently rated among the top alternatives to consider.

I’ve had a paid subscription to ESET NOD32 for several years which has been renewed several times. I’m quite comfortable with the level of protection it provides and it is configurable to varying level of “intrusiveness” depending on the user’s habits. You can also create your own bootable rescue disc at any point and time.

However, Bit Defender is considered among the top prospects by most these days.

You should be able to make an informed choice from the information at AV Comparatives.

They have been independent testers for many years and usually provide a solid foundation from which one can make a good selection without bias.

There is never “BEST”, but the products with consistently high ratings should never be ignored when choosing.

Good luck.

#7

I stay away from Norton as they are the most attacked by malware and Virus since they claim to be the best and biggest and you can guess whom gets nailed by malware/viruses over and over again. I used to have Avira free for some time but then switched to MSE as this has a malware/spyware with Virus scanner together which simplifies the protection to one software and not have multiple software doing and conflicting with each other process thus letting virus basically walking right in your front door. And as other said there is no one best A/V-Malware program it’s up to your and your user to know what not to click and flag obvious emails that are too good to be true. This form still works for a vast majority of Virus/Malware programs although people would think they don’t but sometime the simplest thing is what people forget and click on it to find out they got hit with Virus or Malware. So the software is only good as the user but the bigger the software name the bigger you can guarantee the attackers will go after that program and find a weak spot. That is the nature of Virus/Malware besides the biggest software - they also target the user that is most likely to get hit are the very same one clicking away at all or anything they see without thinking wait let me see what this really is saying or asking me to do. And also a plus with MSE it updates your O/S updates so that helps to keep one up to date should one forget that the O/S is also another prime target for Virus/Malware once it gets that all bets are off your Virus/Malware program is going to protect you anymore. Forgot MSE is free to valid O/S users as well and updates are free. Norton suite or itself has some bloat to it that by its very nature could allow a virus to make it since it consumes to much resource rather then providing protection to the user or network it was suppose to protect. This is why I avoid anything Norton as they don’t seem to know that sometimes a simple Virus/Malware detector is what most likely will work best at stopping the infection before it starts. My .02 cents worth.

#8

Based on my experience with infected e-mail attachments with three different virus checkers (Microsoft Security Essentials, Avast and AVG), I rarely seen Microsoft Security Essentials detect an infected ZIP file. AVG is a little better, but misses out on roughly 3/4 of them on the day the e-mail is received. Avast catches the majority (misses roughly 1/4), but usually catches most of the rest after its next definition update.

Basically, as far as attachments go, if I see an attachment with an application inside (‘Type’ column says ‘Application’), then it’s a virus, regardless of the sender or how ‘genuine’ the e-mail looks. Unfortunately, no virus checker I’m aware of has the ability to automatically quarantine all archived attachments (Zip, Rar, etc.) that contain any executable file inside.

As for tagging the e-mails, I know that Eset (Nod32) also has capability, which is enabled by default. Personally I don’t trust the tags placed in e-mails as there’s nothing stopping a spammer adding forged “No infection found” tags to its infected e-mails.

While Avast does not tag clean e-mails, it does change the subject of e-mails it quarantined. For example, one in my inbox says “*** VIRUS *** IMPORTANT - New contract agreement - LinkedIn”

#9

I can’t really add much because I have had a Lifetime license to Eset Smart Security and Nod32 before that, so I have stuck to one A/V for a very long time, that said, I believe good surfing habits are a must with any A/V program. I have never had a virus, at least none that Eset has not taken care of, but I don’t go where I know it will be dangerous.:wink: I remember back in 1992 they delivered the first retail version to the Austrian market under the product name STOPVIR and it was an awesome program.

#10

I always tell people never to rely on just one solution for antivirus and malware protection. I’ve seen things slip through Avast and BitDefender and even Malwarebytes that ended up getting caught by Comodo Cleaning Essentials. Even then, I’ve seen some nasties that weren’t even picked up by CCE but detected by GMER.

#11

[QUOTE=voxsmart;2706036]I What is the best anti virus/malware software I can get that also checks in and out emails and marks them “checked” at the bottom.[/QUOTE]

There is none…it will still be a “hit and miss” operation for most antivirus programs.
@ our company,we use WEBSENSE ,which is a VERY capaple service,but it’s not aimed at individual users.
The best approach for consumers,is layered security…

#12

Thanks for all the answers Guys, cholla, I’ve used Avast before and hated it. AVG was good, but sadly now just a pain with added bloat ware.

I’m always very alert to strange looking emails, this as a lot of you say is a must and something I preach to others. The tagging is simply this, others have requested it and I have pointed out that this can be forged, none the less, they like to see it.
As for asking for the “best” is simply semantics, I should have said what’s good.
My ISP has a very good filter for nasties on POP and bad websites, it warns of impending doom and has a “Get me out of here button” also it asks me “Do I want this” very helpful, but not infallible.

Bit defender sounds good as does NOD 32, the bootable rescue disc sounds useful as well. I’ll look at prices and see what I think will suffice.

Thanks again Guys, you’ve all been very helpful. :smiley:

Voxy.

#13

After looking at Bit defender and NOD, I’m still in a quandary.
I had to phone Bit defender to find out what the half price offer meant. It was a bit misleading. You can’t have a free trial at half price, you have to pay the money up front to get the discount. OK this is for a full year licence, but, even though it says a money back guarantee if you don’t like it. Trust is a big thing to me as I’ve been ripped off a few times in the past and it’s cost me dear.
I’m not confident after the way the offer is advertised in the return email and was not really happy the way the person at Bit defender was trying to explain how it worked to me. Mmm, not sure about this.

NOD: Like most, does far more than I really want or need. In fact I really do not want some of it and it seems you cannot remove or turn it off. It’s also bloody expensive! If I don’t like it, tough as only the top product has a free trial.
I’ve noticed one of them has a free version, I need to go back and find that again, maybe I can have a free version of the virus/malware only programme and see what it’s like.
I’ll get back to you and let you know what I have decided. It may be of use to some of you.

Voxy.

#14

Hi Guys and Christine who’s one of the “Guys”. (I didn’t want you to feel left out)
After a lot of thought and another phone call to Bit defender I decided to go with that. The Geezer I spoke to this time was much easier to talk to and explained things properly in a nice confident way that put me at ease.

OK, what’s the worst I could loose, around £15, I could also gain a very good anti virus proggie for half price for a year on three machines.

So far so good. I have managed to remove the stuff I don’t want and it’s found some nasties that AVG had missed. I think when I get used to the way it works, I’ll be happy with it. (I hope) Thanks again. You are all stars! :bigsmile:

Voxy.

#15

I would switch off the automatic updating/updates for BitDefender. It tends to look multiple times a day and can slow down your machine. Also the downloads seem to take far longer with automatic updating on than if you manually download them yourself.

I would encourage you to use Malwarebytes at the very least and also Comodo Cleaning Essentials to backstop your BitDefender scan. BitDefender is good, but even it doesn’t catch everything.

#16

[QUOTE=voxsmart;2706140]My ISP has a very good filter for nasties on POP and bad websites, it warns of impending doom and has a “Get me out of here button” also it asks me “Do I want this” very helpful, but not infallible.[/QUOTE]

Another layer of security don’t use your ISP email only for VIP emails only and only then. Make a Yahoo, Gmail or hotmail or others for communicating with family so that if the email compromises your free email account it will not get your ISP and all those contacts and you can delete that account ISP is harder to do and you could get blacklisted if it goes that far. This is one thing I tell others that have ISP email don’t give that out and only to trusted VIP. This is another form of security you can do to protect your precious ISP email account. Others may say it shouldn’t matter it does matter a whole lot. As you mentioned your ISP pop is good at catching but good for how long and when will the one get through and you click by accident then that will be trouble. So secure your ISP email like Fort Knox.
I never had trouble with Windows Firewall and MSE since I started using it this past year but one should always make sure your Windows updates are key granted there are some bloopers M$ did on their updates but that is also the nature of protections as well. Overloading protection may sound good but then it might also cause more problems then it was to help fix. So me One Firewall and one MSE and also I edited my Hosts file so that if any gets loose they can’t call home or pull up a blank page if they try open a suspicious page.

#17

@ yojimbo197 I’ve used Malwarebytes for years as it’s used by professionals and it’s extremely good. It’s loaded passively and used every day on it’s own, anti virus turned off. I have not noticed any problems with Bit defender updating, it just does it in the background. I’m using a i7 second gen CPU and 16 Gig of 1600Mhz RAM. I added the extra 8 Gigs out of a rig I stopped using as they are the same make and type number. It saves wasting them, but whether it helps or not is debatable, I never notice any slowdown. thanks for the advice though, it all helps.

@ coolcolors,
My POP mail is only used for special stuff, my Gmail account does all the rest.
One firewall at this end and one at the ISP’s servers. email and surfing filtering at their end is a part of the fibre contract. It’s not intrusive, but it works very well. They still advise a decent anti virus and Windows firewall. Yes, one day a bad email might get through, but that can happen to anyone, I am always vigilant. I can always phone my ISP and they will delete a sus mail for me, so I don’t have to worry at all, I just delete the empty mail header. It’s never happened yet in nine years.
Get blacklisted by my ISP! no chance, if things go that wrong it’s their responsibility and that’s in the contract. I pay extra for their filtering.
Windows update tells me when there are some, I sort through them and hide the non required ones, (Mostly office stuff I have never loaded) then I update then and there in the background and I never notice any slowdown when I’m working at the same time. I was thinking of using the Windows update cleaner, but I would like to know a little more about it first.
Again your advice is very welcome and appreciated, but I’m no novice at this game, but I’m always willing to listen and learn.

Thanks you Guys for bothering to help. :smiley:

Voxy.

#18

[QUOTE=voxsmart;2706399]I can always phone my ISP and they will delete a sus mail for me, so I don’t have to worry at all, I just delete the empty mail header. It’s never happened yet in nine years.
Get blacklisted by my ISP! no chance, if things go that wrong it’s their responsibility and that’s in the contract. I pay extra for their filtering.
Windows update tells me when there are some, I sort through them and hide the non required ones, (Mostly office stuff I have never loaded) then [/QUOTE]

That’s good to hear but there always that fine line contract that they can update when they want to line in their side of the contract as well. I this many times where you sign the contact but it also states that in future conditions they can delegate the terms of the contracts so when was then might not be now. FYI it happens alot state side here. And yes is something gets through and they fail to catch it that would be them but also for you to inform them of the fishy email as well so they can track it down. But let’s say you had your ISP email up and a family member click on the link that was on a fishy email then they find out your account was the one the started the infection you can also be in trouble that way as well regardless if the family did it your the owner of the account and thus by proxy held to account. Just my .02 cents this is like the torrent wifi effect if someone stole your wifi but your name is on the account if falls onto the user to report such problem to the ISP as well. My take here…

#19

coolcolors, what do you want me to do? dump my POP mail? My family do not use this only Gmail. This is the UK and our consumer laws are different. I talked to my ISP today and they assured me I would not get banned for any reason, except for failing to pay my not unsubstantial bill. I use a professional system, yes it’s expensive, but corporate accounts are dealt with in a totally different way.
Also my POP mail is not free. I assume you don’t have any POP mail accounts. if I got paranoid about the s*&t that’s on the net, I would give up now. using this tech is risky, so is driving a car, would you stop driving?

I appreciate your concerns, but I’m sure I have it covered. if not, it’s my problem.

Vox.