How reliable is anti virus software in this day and age?

Question

Even with all these top anti virus software people still get viruses: so how is it helping ?

Answer 1

Anti-virus software is very reliable, and it works great. But it will not give anyone 100% protection. Just as important as running anti-virus software is the user. They must take some responsibility for their actions. If a users goes to bad sites, uses file sharing sites or does not keep all programs on their computer update, then they get infected. You often here that you can't have a windows OS and not get infected. When in fact if a user uses their head, and spends a little time finding out how malware gets on a computer they will then know how to protect their computer.

Answer 2

Antivirus programs are software applications designed to scan a computer and identify possible viruses and other malware (dangerous or questionable software). Most antivirus programs can isolate and remove the intruder once it has been found. These software programs also can detect a virus as it attempts to access the computer system and prevent its entrance. Antivirus software runs automatically in the background while a user is on the Internet or offline, as long as the computer is on.



Without Antivirus Protection, Intruders into a computer system come in several forms---viruses (programs that attach to files or applications and can travel from one computer to the next when unknowingly opened by a human), worms (can travel like viruses but do not need human interaction to do so) Trojan horses (appear to be helpful software but when opened cause problems and can even create a security hole through which other hackers can enter the computer or network). What each of these intruders does varies, but in general they perform various acts that can interfere with the operation of the computer and sometimes reveal and transmit personal information found on the computer.



There are several ways an antivirus program goes about detecting viruses and malware. One way is through existing knowledge about a known virus. If a virus has already appeared in the world, then it has known characteristics that can identify it. Another approach is to locate malware and viruses that are unknown. The techniques used to identify and quarantine unknown intruders are referred to as heuristic-based or discovery-based detection.



Most antivirus programs feature an auto download component that updates the virus dictionary of the software. Antivirus programmers and software companies collect intruder information in a format that the software references when scanning computer files. The software compares the files on the computer with the reference files. If these files are not updated regularly, the software can not detect recent viruses, worms or malware. This leaves the computer vulnerable to attack.



Intruders and attacks that have no signature or are unknown are a worrisome factor in computer protection. Antivirus programs approach these rogues several ways. Antivirus protection programs are triggered to investigate any suspicious activity. Through discovery techniques the program begins its search using file analysis and file emulation. The software looks for indications that an attack is eminent or under way. Requests to re-format a hard drive or the sudden creation of an executable file (executable files launch instructions) are some clues the antivirus software looks for.



Hopes this helps to explain how AV Programs are helping to stamp out Malicious Invasions.



There are other programs to hlp to prevent infection as well, besides Av Programs, such as Wot;

http://www.mywot.com/



And Spywareblasters;

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

Answer 3

NB: You cannot get viruses by being connec ted to the net, you would have to enter a malicious site or having a program which downloads random stuff from the internet



Well, People get viruses from not using common sense, acessing sites like gramghadu.cn and stuff. Common sense on the internet is needed, I will now paste a big chunk off text i've written, it is highly recommended you consider programs listed, + sandbox makes it basically impossible for viruses to acess your PC as long as you download program or acess sites with the sandbox running



They do not take time to give you comprehensive answers :). read this and decide yourself!



IF you would not like to read this :), scroll down to the programs I listed



NB: NEVER GET AVG!, when infected a virus can easily disable this program. AVG also got no or inefficent heuristic, it's webshield is ineffective and nearly non-exsistent and it can only handle the least harmful viruses

Source 3 years off AVG and AVG reviews,



Too many fan boys here, let me make a more objective answer.



Fact:

Free and Payed protection are nearly the same, free versions off a anti virus which can be bougth uses the same database and therefore catches the same viruses though additional features migth be added to the payed version.



A very good perhaps the best free protection Malware/Virus

Anti Virus:

-Avast(.com) on paper this is sligthly less effective then Avira, but when put to the test this performs better and it's webshield and heuristics are amazing, heuristics being calculations or so done by the Anti Virus to catch threats which is not in their database.



Anti Malware/Spyware

-Malwarebytes(.com) very efficent malware removing tool, catches even the most harmful malwares

-SuperAntiSpyware(.com) sligth better detection rate then Malwarebytes but is not as capable removing very harmful malware/spyware so using both off these is a must



Very good pay'd Suite

-Kaspersky Internet Security (kaspersky.com), this is perhaps one off the best suites aviable, I am a kaspersky fan and to be honest it's virus detection isn't great but with advanced heuristics, and alot off options and features this falls near the top

-Eset Smart Security (Eset.com) This is a very lowed security suite, it features the same as it's anti virus nod32 but is enhanced with a firewall, on paper this is off poor quality but does perform fine, I suggest getting NOD32, disable Windows Firewall and download Comodo's firewall

-Avast Pro or wtf they call it:) (Avast.com) I have always hated this program, but I am starting to like it, as I promised to be objective I will tell right away this is a highly efficent suite, it provides a comprehensive web shield, which outperforms Avira, it doesn't demand a lot off memory and is pure effective, this is just as good as KIS or Eset, perhaps Kaspersky has more advanced Heuristic but Avast is pretty good.



The programs listed above can also be bought as just anti virus, though then I recommend Eset or Avast.



Anti Malware/Spyware

Same as the ones I listed at the top, though Malwarebytes free and pro is basically the same, a few extra features in the PRO such as a real time scanner, though the real time scanner is proven to not be as effective as it's on demand, as for SuperAntiSpyware I have no idea, but as the free and pro version works after the same database I suggest not paying for these programs unless you got the money to spare.



Conclusion:

There are no the best programs, some programs may out perform programs which are better on paper, perhaps when it is used with another product, I did not list Norton, McAfee, Norman, AVG or any off these in this recommendation simply because they are all out performed by miles. Hope this list helped



Additional Protection:

There are many different threats out there, Anti Virus and Anti Spyware/Malware is no longer enough, with thousands off new viruses coming out every day, you will need additional protection.

First off you need a secure Web Browser, I recommend Firefox or Comodo Dragon which are all very safe programs, Comodo Dragon being a based on the Chromium engine being the only web browser to be unhacked (Google Chrome), this is the same browser though with enhanced Security from Comodo



A program I would recommend beside this is Sandboxie(.com), this program is a sandbox program which is a virtual envirnment, in other words a sealed safe which will handle programs within the sandbox. For example if you open your web browser in sandboxie and download a maliciou file, such as a rogue, the rogue may work and download programs within the sandbox, but cannot affect your PC in general, sandboxie also has a remove tool which allows you to remove the programs you have downloaded.



Unless you are using Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 I also recommend disabling Windows Firewall and Download Comodo's own firewall, though Window's firewall receives good rating, Comodo's firewall is a step ahead though you're security will not be compromised by having Windows Firewall

Thanks for reading :), hope this helped

Glenn Thomas Jacobsen



Download Links

Free Anti Virus:

http://www.avast.com/index



Payed Security Suites

http://www.avast.com/index

http://www.eset.com/

http://www.kaspersky.com/homeuser



Anti Spyware/Malware

http://www.malwarebytes.com

http://www.superantispyware.com

Answer 4

Without antivirus software and just being connected to the internet you will be infected within minutes,