Which Antivirus?

[bastafidli]

We are using Norton since it comes free with AT&T DSL but we are in the process of converting all of our workstations to Linux as well :-).

[Conejo]

Trend Micro here as well. Though the last two years their versions have been trying my patience on resource usage and unorthodox exception list placement.

I also recently experienced an issue where I allowed some new renters to access my Wireless LAN for Internet connectivity. Within two hours ALL of my home networked devices were locked up. I've never seen that happen before. It just reminded me how stupid I can be to share a network that doesn't need to be shared. Luckily I have a ZyXEL Hardware Firewall that lets me isolate all mixed-mode networks. I gave them their own isolated WiFi Access Point and now I don't have to worry about cross traffic affecting (or crashing) my SageTV Server.

I like what the others have said, it really depends on what risks your connected users are taking. I don't have anti-virus on my cell phone , but I also don't surf 4chan.

[remmy925]

I actually looked up that Moon Secure antivirus. It appears someone merged ClamWin with a realtime scanner. Has anyone tried it and can verify how much overhead or lack there of you may encounter with it? Is it resource hungery or does it have a small footprint?

I also want to point out. If you think that running Linux makes you safe from viri, you need to rethink your strategy. As it becomes more popular in countries in eastern and Western Europe (not to mention the US), it has become increasingly more prone to viri being designed specifically for that platform. And with Apple moving to an OS based on BSD "I think", it makes for an even greater likelyhood that viri will be created for Linux based machines in the future.

[stuckless]

If you think that running Linux makes you safe from viri, you need to rethink your strategy.

I don't think that linux is incapable of getting a virus In fact, I'm pretty sure the first "worms" were actually created and spread on unix machines. But, I honestly don't see the need to for technically smart people to run a real time virus scanner + real time spyware detection, etc, and taking the performance hit of doing so.

If Linux ever gets to the point where Windows is today, and it becomes, as Windows has, a bacteria sponge just waiting to collect viruses, then I'll switch to something else. BTW, under linux, I also have clamav installed (clamwin is the windows port), but I use it mainly to scan windows files that I download before I copy them over to the kids computer.

I think that running a scheduled scan, combined with a few smart choices, provides enough protection for technical users, on windows and linux. (I do recommend that everyone in my family run real time virus protection (AVG), but they are not technical people )

Andy, maybe you should create a Poll from the list of choices that people have provided, and see which one gets the most votes.

[voidpt]

After reading and trying out several vendors I ended up with ESET Smart Security. It's usually known as NOD32. ESET has expanded it range by having 2 primary products (link):
- ESET Smart Security (AntiVirus + Firewall + some more)
- ESET NOD32 AntiVirus (AntiVirus + a few bits)
Note that the Smart Security is not several separate products. Its integrated into one solution. With all settings through one interface.

Reason I ended up with this product was that I felt it was lightweight / fast / not bloated. This is also backed by several reviews I've read. One other point was that I wanted an firewall I could view live connections in a sensible way. This product has that, just about.

Would add in the end that I hate having AntiVirus at all on the PC. So I try to find the product that makes the least "#¤"#¤'ups on the machine Been living with this one now for about 6months. Ok for now.

[gplasky]

I've paid for AVG for a long time now. The Internet Security pack for 3 computers is like $22 per computer. That gets you a 1 year subscription. Norton is too much a resource hog. I also tried Windows OneCare. That was in the same league as Norton. resource hog and slow. Used Sophos at previous work. I've been very happy with the paid version of AVG for home.


Gerry

[remmy925]

Originally Posted by stuckless

Andy, maybe you should create a Poll from the list of choices that people have provided, and see which one gets the most votes.

I think that is a brilliant idea!

[Serra]

http://www.kaspersky.com/

I'm currently using Kaspersky anti virus. It isn't very well known, but it is one of the best I could find.

Last year, there was a virus that was been passed in Windows by viewing websites. All a windows user had to do was view the site and they were infected. (Isn't Windows great, free software just for viewing a website)

Anyway, this virus infected a bunch of Linux systems via their cPanel software, then passed it on to Windows users. It infected a huge number of Linux server. A company called Hostgator found a fix and it was patched into cPanel in just a few days, so it didn't make big news, but THOUSANDS of servers were infected rather quickly, as the web server could be infected by an infected viewer.

Once the virus was discovered, a ton of us users who ran servers had come in contact with the virus. The only uses who escaped infection were Kaspersky users. Norton, Avast, AVG and other users were all infected and had to manually remove the virus. That made me feel that I had made the right choice. Hardly a scientific analysis, but I'm thinking I made the right choice.

[lotusvball]

I have been very happy with Avast for years. Very stable and unobtrusive, except when it tells me that my database has been updated (you can disable this but I like to scare the crap out of the wife when the computer talks to her)

[Zippster]

Used AVG for years, switched over to Avast and love it, the Nortons/symantecs etc I found way to obtrusive and resource hogs.

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by Zippster

Used AVG for years, switched over to Avast and love it, the Nortons/symantecs etc I found way to obtrusive and resource hogs.

I have been using AVG (free version) for years. I'm just curious about what factors made you decide to change?

[Zippster]

Originally Posted by waynedunham

I have been using AVG (free version) for years. I'm just curious about what factors made you decide to change?

Actually a friend who is "uber nerd" suggested it, I did some looking around and found awesome reviews with a few mixed on AVG, I personally didnt have any issues with AVG and no virus's etc ( knock on wood ) so I figured, what the hell. No update pop ups either, it does it all in the background, well there is the Guy who's voice notify s when you are updated, but you can disable that.

[Polypro]

Pay: NOD32 (2.7 AV only, not the new suite)

Free: AntiVir


P

[mikejaner]

I use AVG free also. Plays nice and runs pretty well.
I personally don't run Antivirus on my SageTV server, because I don't want to deal with any overhead issues. I guess if you are using the machine for other things, it would make sense, but to me, there is no need. Last time I got a virus in email or from a disk etc... was in the 90's. It comes down to knowing what to open, and what not to open.

[CollinR]

AVG Free here too.

Used to be super cool and unobtrusive.
Has gotten much more bloated and Norton like.
I too schedule scans between 3-4am
I also use the windows firewall and spybot in addition to the DDWRT NAT firewall.

I have gotten 1 false positive from AVG, it was a version of EventGhost that was flagged as a Trojan/Keylogger. This I can see as being a nightmare for AV providers as EventGhost is basically a keywatcher in addition to watching just about everything on your system.

Can't comment on AVG's removal powers as I haven't gotten a virus as long as I have been using it (years).

I'll stir the pot some...

Is realtime AV really needed on headless machines?
Whats my odds of having infected EPG data? not much.
Whats my odds of another machine on the LAN getting a nasty that can transport locally? i dunno

Are updates spreading faster then the actual virus?

This is what I have been hearing as of late, the nasties get to you before the updates regaurdless of who you use. I can see why virus cleanup may be a big feature to those who commonly work with AV.



So I use AVG Free but I am tempted to make some changes to the system and quit doing realtime detection possibly not doing it at all. If I get a virus that transports it'll hit my other machines up.



Oh and Andy, it appends this to all your downloaded, incoming emails.

Originally Posted by AVG EMail Siggy

No virus found in this incoming message.
Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com
Version: 8.0.173 / Virus Database: 270.7.5/1705 - Release Date: 10/3/2008 8:18 AM

In the event it finds something.

Originally Posted by AVG EMail Siggy

Viruses found in the attached files.
The file UPS_letter.zip: Trojan horse SHeur.CMMR. The attachment was moved to the Virus Vault.

Checked by AVG - http://www.avg.com
Version: 8.0.173 / Virus Database: 270.7.6/1709 - Release Date: 10/5/2008 9:20 AM

I had noticed it however I really couldn't care less.

[brandypuff]

Not Free but very low impact on system resources and accurate.

[nielm]

I use the free AVG -- I disable and ignore warnings for 'search shield' [1], 'email scan' [2] and the IE/FF toolbar.

It detects and cleans viruses, spyware and adware (and also tracking cookies in FF and IE, but not Opera) so for me it is better to have 1 single anti-malware app, than several. It is a but more resource hungry than the previous version, but it still is significantly less resource hungry than Norton (having just uninstalled Norton on an old PIV machine and replaced it with AVG, the owner was amazed how much faster his machine was)

Its run-time scanner only scans executable files so it will not be busy scanning your Mpegs when you record/play them.

I have it used regularly in my 'Family IT consultant' role to clean up relatives pc's, which are usually infested with significant quantities of spyware/adware (and the occasional virus). (why do people click on adverts saying 'you are the 10,000,000th visitor', or 'you have a virus, click here' or 'get a completely useless toolbar for IE')

Having said all that, I don't run it on my Sage Server (which is also my home NAS) only on my desktop/laptop.

[1] an annoying feature of the new AVG that pre-downloads all your search results, and checks the pages for malware, before adding a logo to verify that the site you are about to click on is clean...

[2] Its email scanner is only POP/SMTP which means it will not work with Gmail's IMAP server, but in any case, an attached virus first has to be saved to disk before being executed, at which point it gets caught by the disk-scanner.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by scavenge

I personally find AVG to be more intrusive with it's ads and default e-mail signature etc.

Ads? I don't see any ads with AVG. The e-mail signature it adds is annoying, but I think it's important to note that you can turn off the e-mail sig without turning off e-mail scanning. AVG's interface is awful, so it makes a while to figure how to do that, but it's not hard.

[mistergq]

I use Computer Associates Internet Security. The firewall program is disabled and I only turn it on when I am using public internet. I am pretty impress with the antivirus and anti-spam program.

[Underfunded]

Here is another vote for the Kaspersky products. I am in the process of converting many of my business clients over to Kaspersky since the clients are very light weight and it has versions for many different types of servers as well. I also have used Kaspersky in my home environment for a long time and it has worked very well for me.