Networks·41,393 discussions

Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

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We all have our favorite and least favorite anti-virus software choices. I am setting up a new network for a small company (10 or fewer employees) and I need to choose an anti-virus program for the server and desktops. My hardware supplier is recommending a popular (yet very ineffective) product. I need to choose an alternative but I can’t decide which product to use instead.

Any suggestions?

Topic

Symantec

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I like Symantec Enterprise AV. They have a central management console and can do remote install of AV.

We use CA

In reply to Symantec

And I can’t really say anything to recommend it.

Sophos

In reply to We use CA

We have been using Sophos Enterprise for about 3 years now. It has worked great. It is easy to deploy, has a very fast scanning engine and uses “on access scanning” which consumes no system resources unless a virus is activated. Sophos detects viruses, trojans, spyware and adware.

What version?

In reply to We use CA

Just curious what version you are using. One of my clients has the new version and it is radically different than the older ones. While the management console has become much more complex, it also has expanded capabilities. I definately wouldn’t call CA “intuitive” though.

Symantec Corporate

In reply to Symantec

Not to heavy, remote control over clients, fast and small download updates…..the works.

Best LAN working AV I’ve seen so far.

You can control all your clients trough the server and has a lot of nice features. Support for lotus notes, Exchange server….everything

Trend

In reply to Symantec Corporate

I have been using the corp. version of Trend for about 4 years and love it. I was using Norton Antivirus at home and have really mixed feelings about it. I used to love it, but last year I had to deal with Tech Support several times and was extremely disappointed in their service and responses. My Norton at home expires this month, so I am dumping it and trying Trend at home. No thoughts about the home version of Trend as of yet.

Used Symantec, prefer Trend Micro

In reply to Symantec

I have used Symantec products in both the corporate and personal environments.

After MAJOR support issues, I no longer recommend Symantec. Period.

After a long search, and recommendations from other professionals, I selected Trend-Micro’s Pc-Cillion Internet suite for individual systems. Have found it to very very flexable, and kept upto date better than most. During my testing, Pc-Cillion discovered more “problems” then did the others that were tested.

Have had some “unique” problems that required
calls to Trend-Micro’s support, and have been very happy with the results.

TrendMicro also hase some “corporate” solutions for larger networks, and were very fast in responding to questions and suggestions.

By the way, I have six personal machines that I protect in my homelab, along with several machines at several remote sites…

McAfee. Norton, AVG

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I’ve seen problems with the prepackaged McAfee and Norton Suites. If you can just install the AV part of it then they are both fine.

I use McAfee at work and have home use rights. But I use AVG at home.

Symantec,McAfee,TrendMicro,Etrust,Sophos

In reply to McAfee. Norton, AVG

I had worked with Symantec,McAfee,Trendmicro CA and Sophos products in a network environment and the one better works for me is from TrendMicro so, I recommend a solution from Trendmicro.

I don’t like McAfee or Norton

In reply to McAfee. Norton, AVG

Both have become HUGELY bloated POS’s IMHO and I’ve run into issues with AVG at home like it kindly notifying me that a file was infected as it let the infection run rampant through my laptop, however it’s still what I’m using onmy laptop until something better comes along in the free market, like comodo, who’s personal firewall ROCKS but their AV/AS is still in beta.

choose

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Well there is only one that I can call a good antivirus program and thats Nod32.
Norton and that kind of trash I would never install in any system.

Greetz

Big products versus newcomers

In reply to choose

We had this type of debate once where people where mentioning that well known products tend to be more reactive and have more functionailites than new products from small companies that started ercently. On the other hand more “confidencial” anti-virus get less attention from hacker and virus maker, their security hole (don’t dream every program on earth as security holes somehow) tend to be less exploite…
In my opinion one very good add-on is a 1 hour course to the user about security and the promise of a big smack to whoever doesn’t respect these and get the network infected….

Big products versus newcomers !!!

In reply to Big products versus newcomers

Well thats true, but its also how the program is done. Norton suck big time in everything. There alot other big products thats a way better.
There is not any system thats 100% secure.

Greetz

Virus repair tech picks Windows OneCare, Avast,AVG

In reply to Big products versus newcomers

For those who are willing to pay for AV, Windows OneCare is excellent and offers much more than AV. Integrated with free Windows Defender, it handles 2 way firewall, internet cruft and cookie cleanup, defrag, and even backups and does so for up to 3 computers for $50/yr. For those needing to spend the $1.39 a month on beer, if you are running 64 bit OS, Avast might still be your only bet, althought the bigs must have something by now? I run Avast on Vista Beta with Defender with no problems. AVG works well, especially with old OS like 98. Keep in mind this is biased from having to fix so many Symantec/Norton installation issues and NAI/McAfee issues in general, and Panda too for that matter.

Recommendations

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I would suggest looking at some of the major PC magazine web sites to see what they recommend. Here are a couple links from PC World: For AV – http://www.pcworld.com/article/124475-1/article.html. For AS – http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,126818-page,1/article.html.

Also, here is one from about.com – http://antivirus.about.com/cs/beforeyoubuy/tp/aatpavwin.htm

I’ve used McAfee and NAV/SAV in home/work environments

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I’ve had the opportunity to use each of the major products (McAfee and Norton/Symantec) in both a home (standalone) and network environment.

Personally, I prefer Norton for home use – it seems to be easiest to set up, use, and update. McAfee, in my experience, was a little unwieldy, when compared with Symantec’s products.

On the other hand, in a workplace environment, I much prefer McAfee. It seems to be much more stable in a network environment, and is easier to administer. I’ve had far more problems with the Symantec client than with McAfee’s.

No choice but everything’s OK

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

When I took my current job, my company already had Symantec Enterprise AV running on our servers and workstations. I have never had any problem with it to date so instead of replacing it I’ve kept it running. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it, right?

lucky

In reply to No choice but everything’s OK

You are lucky.
You cant belive how much problem I had with Norton.
I have removed 100:s of them from computer, just for they dont work and they use to much system resources. They also use to tresh every system there in.
This is both in workstation and servers.
I cant point out how much I hate that crap.
When I swith to other progam they work and dont get all crap thet norton/symantec stuff do.

Greetz

I like Trend Micro…

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I’m not a fan of the commercial favorites Norton and McAfee. I have had great success with the Trend Micro products in environments like your are describing.

We use Trend Micro also

In reply to I like Trend Micro…

After using Symantec Enterprise, and client versions of McAfee, we decided to go the Trend Micro route. It has served us well for about 2 years now without any major issues. They even have a beta version that works with Vista.

Symantec NAV

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Symantec NAV – deploy AV to desktops and servers alike. Perfect manageability with minimum desktop legwork required.

maby

In reply to Symantec NAV

But its junk.
Use other anti-virus if you want a better security and dont want to trash you system.
Nav is also huge on take system resources.
Use Nop32 insteed..
Better, faster, more secure, low on system resource, dont trash the system, safe.

Greetz

Symantec Client Suite

In reply to maby

I have used Symantec Corporate AV & Firewall for years on
literally hundreds of machines without any of the problems
you are mentioning. It has never “trashed” a system. I’ve run
it on every flavor of Windows and OSX. I can remote install,
lock user settings, repair, push different sets of firewall
rules, sweep entire network, view status of every machine,
etc… all from a centrally located console. It is elegant.
Perfect it isn’t, but it’s closer than anything else I’ve seen,
and I have played with them all.

Problems with Symantec / Norton

In reply to Symantec NAV

We use Symantec (Norton) here because Corporate buys the licenses for us. I’ve had problems with it because workstations occasionally just stop connecting to the server and the only way I can get them to talk to it again is to uninstall and reinstall the client on that workstation. I have to keep a close watch to be sure that all the clients stay up to date with signatures.

I also have had problems with Symantec when they purchased a company that I had bought a product from (Quarterdeck Cleansweep) and then they refused to honor the license that I had paid extra for – but that’s another issue. [I had a good experience with McAfee in a similar situation.]

With that said, I haven’t had enough experience with other enterprise systems to be able to recommend a good alternative. I personally just try to stay away from Symantec when I can…

Norton – better than nothing?

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Just as I suspected – everyone seems to have their own favorites. Personally, I had to clean out too many systems infected with viruses and spyware that got past Norton. I’ve heard and read some good things about NOD32, so I am currently testing that on one of my workstations and Trend Micro on another.

Norton

In reply to Norton – better than nothing?

No I would not use Norton att all.
AVG is better and free if you dont want to buy one..
Else is Nod32 or Norman better choice.

Trust me. I have done a resersch for company?s about anti-virsu prgram.
Only 3 was good and they ware Nod32, Norman, F-secure.

Norton was so far behind these 3..

Greetz

Trend Micro

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I’ve been using a Trend Micro Client/Server suite for several years now. It has performed very well without requiring much attention from me. I’ve been happy with the product but the customer support is what really keeps me coming back.

AVG

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I use the AVG Network Edition at the office. It is centrally managed and I haven’t had a problem with it. One other thing, the subscription is for 2 years not 1 and the price for the 2 year subscription is about the same as for 1 year subscription to NAV.

AVG does it for me also

In reply to AVG

I use AVG Network edition in my companies environment and have not had any issues with it at all. The 2 year license is a good move and costs about half as much as NAV or McAfee. I find it easy to manage and to maintain.

best of luck.

AV & AS

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Dear All,

1. Self has used these products to date.
Mcafee,Norton,AVG,Kaspersky,PC-cillin,
Nashot(DOS years),Trend Micro,e-trust
from CA etc.
Also online Scan of Panda,Trend Micro,
Kaspersky etc.
2. To recommend except Mcafee and e-Trust,
rest are some what sloppy but is
effective for some people.
3. Panda’s Online Scan detects a majority
including Spywares.
4. Reg. AS is concerned, Spy Bot, Spyware
Doctor and even Microsoft’s one is
some what good enough.

Avista

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

It is free but requires to be reregistered every 12 months. It will look after a samll server and clients and updates itsself regularly avista.com

AV & AS

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Dear All,

1. Self has used these products to date.
Mcafee,Norton,AVG,Kaspersky,PC-cillin,
Nashot(DOS years),Trend Micro,e-trust
from CA etc.
Also online Scan of Panda,Trend Micro,
Kaspersky etc.
2. To recommend except Mcafee and e-Trust,
rest are some what sloppy but is
effective for some people.
3. Panda’s Online Scan detects a majority
including Spywares.
4. Reg. AS is concerned, Spy Bot, Spyware
Doctor and even Microsoft’s one is
some what good enough.
5. Generally it is said that one should
have more than 1 AV/AS solution in
Office for safety reasons.
6. Earlier versions of Norton is worded
publicly as resource hungry and no
idea about new ones.

AVG Network edition

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

AVG Network edition i would thoroughly recommend to anyone. Easy to install with remote administration.

Bitdefender 10

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

The best antiv/firewall/spyware etc. product.
It does wonder to youre home/work computers.
No attack, no nothing.
Profile manager, Web content protect.
Btw, it work for win and linux as well.
http://www.bitdefender.com

Kaspersky

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I’ve used Symantec/Mcafee/Bitdefender and InnoculateIT, all fall over in comparison with Kaspersky, we have been using this for about 6 months now in multiple installations its detection rates are excellent in online tests and also and importantly it doesnt kill your machines like many well known AV programs do.
Check this site for detection comparison http://www.av-comparatives.org/

Avoid suites; choose best-of-breed AV & AS separately.

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Without out knowing more about your installation, one cannot make a fully informed recommendation.

In the absence of more information, I would suggest Grisoft’s AVG for anti-virus protection, and SpyBot Search & Destroy for anti-spyware. At the very least, do evaluate each of these products.

choose best-of-breed AV & AS separately – RUBBISH

In reply to Avoid suites; choose best-of-breed AV & AS separately.

Only if you believe the hype, certain AV companies like Kaspersky don’t pretend Anti-Spyware is different to a virus (it isn’t) and so do the AV job properly.
“Suites” is a marketing term which means you may be buting one good product – kaspersky, or maybe a hodge podge of different programs link with an interface.

Even worse you could buy AV & AS seperatly and watch your PC die as they both kick off at same time.

;>)

AND…background processes

In reply to choose best-of-breed AV & AS separately – RUBBISH

The biggest problem with almost every PC that I touch is background processes. AV is just one of those necessary background evils, but running a “suite” or ANY additional active spyware protection just isn’t worth the cycles, imho. Why? Because viruses are much more destructive than spyware, and not nearly as easy to remove after infection. Generally, I recommend a reputable, free, passive spyware product – usually a Spybot S&D/Ad-aware combo seems to work.

Oh, and I try to stay away from Symantec because their products are so resource-intensive.

Avoid suites; choose best-of-breed AV & AS separately.

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Without out knowing more about your installation, one cannot make a fully informed recommendation.

In the absence of more information, I would suggest Grisoft’s AVG for anti-virus protection, and SpyBot Search & Destroy for anti-spyware. At the very least, do evaluate each of these products.

Panda IS

In reply to Avoid suites; choose best-of-breed AV & AS separately.

We have been using Panda for a few years. Benefits include daily updates, the ability to talk to a human being on the odd occasions when problems occur. Try doing that with Symantec!!! Seems to be more thorough than Norton / Mcafee. As Panda is not as well known, is is not targeted as much by the hackers / virus writers.
As with the others, there’s a 30 day free trial on their website. 2007 version of IS is licenced for 3 PC’s, for the same price as Norton.

Panda

In reply to Panda IS

At my last jb I converted from NAV to Panda – the Panda installer handled everything. From the central management system it found all other PC, uninstalled NAV, installed Panda and did all the reboots. What could be easier.
It also does anti spyware and anti spam (though the anti spam honestly isn’t really good, but the antispyware is) and the heuristic scan is best in the business.
The only problem I every had was that if a scheduled scan was missed it did not automatically reschedule, but this was a few versions ago, so it may be fixed.
Having used corporate versions of NAV, CA, and Panda, I would say Panda is as good at central management as anyone else. I also used the Exchange agent which did a very good job.
Best of all was that it was half the price of NAV.

TjD

Panda AV is fine; their suites are not.

In reply to Panda IS

To repeat, select “best of breed” components if you want best overall results.

Avoid suites; choose best-of-breed AV & AS separately.

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Without out knowing more about your installation, one cannot make a fully informed recommendation.

In the absence of more information, I would suggest Grisoft’s AVG for anti-virus protection, and SpyBot Search & Destroy for anti-spyware. At the very least, do evaluate each of these products.

Avast Pro

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Avast Pro WILL catch things that no other mentioned here will. It has ‘modules’ within it such as resident scanner,p2p,script,email scanner and so on .. eight processes in all and customable, a sheduled scanner. At least give it a trial go. It will get your attention. it is also a very low resource footprint.
– Terry Mathis

Avast is the best that I have used.

In reply to Avast Pro

I have been using Avast for about 4 years now. I recommend it to everyone that I know and have given I don’t know how many free copy’s to friends or loaded on computers for others over the years. It has nailed virus’s I did not know I had. I had already burned the software to cd while I was using AVG. I moved from AVG after running across a problem with a old service provider. I could not get a good modem connection and every time I opened zonealarm to test the connection I would get a virus AVG would not catch it as it came in. I heard about Avast and switched to it. I have not had that problem again.

I know that Avast is low resource program because I was playing with a old Gateway Liberty subnote 486DX4/100 24meg ram (maxed) It was running 98SE (all updates) and had Avast running as the antivirus on it. It was slow to load software because of the ram but the thing could still run the net and handle basic computing such as running office XP or openoffice.

Avast really works !!!

In reply to Avast is the best that I have used.

I totally agree with Rhoch, Avast is a great antivirus product. Even I have been using this product from past two years, and had never been affected by any virus or torjan or whatsoever. The best thing about Avast is that they include all around protection from viruses, trojans, worms and even spywares with easy to configure security or protection modules. Avast also have full server line products.

Nod32

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

We moved off Sophos and onto ESet’s NOD32 product last June. It’s fast, reliable, nice to administer and saved us ?4,000 over three years for 86 clients. There’s a couple of limitations but hey, don’t they all?

Use NOD32 – Avoid Norton/Mcafee like the plague

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Only one that I can recommend – NOD32. And the only piece of software on my PC that I can class as a really good piece of software.

It’s smaller, faster, has better detection rates and much more frequent updates. It beats the competition in every way. And cheaper to purchase than the rest – http://www.eset.com

Norton/Symantec/Mcafee – Slow, bulky, lets viruses on to your PC. They’re just well-known brand names that don’t perform. I’m amazed that we have IT professionals on this board saying they’re good. I’m frequently troubleshooting customer PC’s where the processor is getting totally hammered by the Norton ccapp.exe process.

Out Of Date Reviews

In reply to Use NOD32 – Avoid Norton/Mcafee like the plague

Beware magazine articles (E.g. URLs to PC World below) Recommendations based on AV assesments carried out a year ago are as much use as a chocolate fireguard. In fact more dangerous as you just might make a decision on the basis of their conclusions.

AVG & Trend – both excellent

In reply to Out Of Date Reviews

I personally use AVG on home network and thus far have found it to be very, very good. My corporate employer (international, quite large) uses Trend – a choice influenced by the network & system engineers, not the accountants (which says a lot, IMHO).

Stay AWAY from McAfee and Norton

In reply to Use NOD32 – Avoid Norton/Mcafee like the plague

I use NOD32 and my available ram went up over 100 meg with no other changes to my system. McAfee and Norton are system process hogs and slow to get an available update to their virus definitions. the only thing keeping them alive is their names.

Gary : 2007.01.11

Nod32

In reply to Use NOD32 – Avoid Norton/Mcafee like the plague

I totally agree.I always proposed Symantec but when W32.Stration infected most of my clients using Symantec while Nod32 on my laptop kept it at bay – I’ve changed my mind and have moved all my clients over to Nod32. What’s more, Symantec weren’t interested in my problems. Footprint, processor overhead, speed of scanning, size and frequency of updates and reliable protection – Nod32 makes everything else look silly.

Problem with NOD32

In reply to Nod32

On my recommendation (so who do you think feels like an idiot?) my flatmate – who has been searching for a suitable substitute for NAV – has just installed NOD32. I don’t know if she did something wrong or what, but her system now will not start up – even in safe mode. 🙁

I know it’s not part of this thread so feel free to contact me some other way if necessary, but how do we now get her system back? It freezes – no HD activity at all – before getting to the stage of showing the task bar after informing her that certain software products have been damaged.

It didn’t do that before she installed NOD32. Not even when she was using that pathetically unfriendly Norton

Any help would be appreciated.

Problem fixed …

In reply to Problem with NOD32

It’s OK – a little lateral thinking and creative use of Task Manager allowed us to get the NOD32 uninstalled and reclaim our computer.

Later, when we have a spare system (we have a retired laptop we’re not using at the moment) we might re-try NOD32 just to see if we can get somewhere … but not yet.

NOD32 beats Norton anyday

In reply to Use NOD32 – Avoid Norton/Mcafee like the plague

A full Norton scan on my smallest computer took hours. NOD32 beat it by at least 5 times.
Another problem with Norton is, getting it off the machine. One time, I tried to uninstall it, and it wouldn’t come off. I think there were so many updates, that the uninstall program was looking for earlier versions. I ended up doing a lot of work by hand, searching the drive and the registry to get rid of it. That stuff is living on past performance, and current performance sucks.

Trend Micro is an easy deployment

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Hi,
I am Surajit from Guwahati,India.I am administering Trend Micro Officescan Server from last 1 year and found its client version fantastic.It doesnot effect the overall system performance.Only you should have an internet connection and perform easy updates.It automatically scans your PC everytime you login.Its better.

You need a backup program as well as a Virus checker.

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I use Avast from Alwil Software in the Czech Republic. It has detected viruses during a download before they get installed. I occasionally try running other virus checkers but they don’t find anything that Avast doesn’t detect.
I back up my programs to a uSB external disk using Z-DBAckup. It’s a German piece of software and so you need to get a translation of the instructions. Some backup programs haven’t been wtitten flexibly and you can’t back up to Flash Pen memory or external drive. Very pleasd with Z-D Backup.

Just survived

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Hi
Just survived from trojan called win 32 zlob-si.
I have Avast and in that day update , was
just that trojan killer !
So i loaded Trojan Remover 6.5.5 trial
and it destroy that trojan easily.
Avast is easy to operate and it is going well
over my computer.

Have used NAV & Trend Micro….currently ZoneLabs

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

No complaints about NAV or TrendMicro.
Got ZoneLabs with purchase of Averatec notebook. http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/home.jsp
I like the layout and control over processes.
Recently though, it required some tweaking to allow syncroniztion of PocketPC through ActiveSync. I have it on 3 home systems in a wireless network.

Sophos and Panda

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Nortons is a joke, and McAffee does not respond quick enough. Sophos is a great antivirus and works well. Look at that and also look at Panda software. Panda also has a bridge device I use at all my sites that blocks viruses, worms, spyware and spam before it hits my network. (Actually it scan in and out bound!) I actually saw a increase in bandwidth after deploying them!

Panda

In reply to Sophos and Panda

I just want to add that Panda has always impressed me in the past as a good product. When I’ve been called in to clean up network-wide infections, Panda always nabbed everything, whereas Symantec, Mcafee, and Trend did not.

FYI – here are the free scanner links I use:

http://www.pandasoftware.com/activscan
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
http://security.symantec.com/
http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs

Panda

In reply to Panda

Exactly, our local “Virus Queen” (opens everything sent to her) had a system that was “protected” by Symantec Corp Edition V10 and when I did a online scan from Panda’s site it found 220 Macro Viruses that Symantec was just living with. Seince putting in Sophos with the Panda GateDefenders I have not had one out break and now that user above can open anything she wants more safely. Except for the spam emails that get by, of course.

Panda is complete

In reply to Sophos and Panda

I also like panda. It’s very convenient, has everything included and updates daily in the backround. It also has TruePrevent which can catch a virus before it is even listed by the companies.
Been using it for years and still clean.

Sophos – I concur

In reply to Sophos and Panda

I agree whole-heartedly with the Sophos option.

The company I am with changed corporate owners 18 months ago, give or take. Previously we were using Sophos and we had zero out breaks of viruses in four or five years of use. We did have the ocassional PC infested and one localised out break (when the local IT support disabled Sophos!).

We now use Symantic, the standards for our “new” owners. I have had more PCs infected in the last 12 months than the 4 -5 years with Sophos. More importantly confirming all PCs have current, running AV is far, far more difficult with Symantic than with Sophos.

Sophos

In reply to Sophos – I concur

Sophos has a great Exchange plugin (well actually a whole different product) called Puremessage that scans the stores continously so if you got something befor eht edefs hit your server it will get it on the next sweep. It also is the second layer of my SPAM (Oops UCE) filters as well. They also have Linux and Mac clients.

Response to your question

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

If you cannot figure this one out for yourself, maybe you should not be in I.T. I take my job very seriously, and when I read questions such as this one or “I am new”, you should not be messing with it let alone trying to handle someone else’s network. Build yourself a home network, destroy it, build it again and again while trying new software and implementations instead of bootcamps or braindumps. Learn the right way and you will not be asking silly questions.

Response to: “Response to your question”

In reply to Response to your question

I found your post entitled “Response to your question” out of line. No matter how experienced you are, it’s always good to know what your peers in the industry are using and what their various experiences have been. Since when has advice and information been a bad thing? You need to chill.

As for my company, we are currently running Symantec Enterprise A/V 10.0 and I’ve had no major problems so far. However, I will agree that it’s a system hog, although not nearly as bad as the home version of Norton A/V. After reading this thread, I will definitely evaluate some of the recommendations here.

It’s good to hear someone else’s opinions sometimes

In reply to Response to: “Response to your question”

A newbie I’m not. From the responses I’ve read in this thread so far it seems that choices are made based upon: 1) ease of use, 2) whether or not the package is resource hungry, and 3) how good the package is in preventing infections. In my experience, Norton is the worst in preventing infections and it uses up way too much resources – sometimes slowing a server down to a crawl.

Symantec Enterprise A/V

In reply to It’s good to hear someone else’s opinions sometimes

To add to my last post, I’ve also noticed some Trojans that slip past Symantec Enterprise A/V that should have been caught. However, when I scanned using Trend Micro House Call and a few others, they didn’t pick it up either. That’s where the Heuristics come into play. I’d be interested to see what some of the other players like NOD32 do if I run across this type of situation again.

Thanks for opening up the discussion on this! It’s too bad that some people cut down others for asking questions. I hope you just ignore the post from frvr@.

Have a great day.

Nod32

In reply to Symantec Enterprise A/V

Norton sucks big time.
I have also seen computer have alot of virus, but Norton( all versions) say it?s virus free.
I did use Norman, Nod32 or f-secure to scan the system and almost everytime they found virus that they also removed.
I would give my worst enemy norton only 🙂

Greetz

AVG ANTI-VIRUS

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Take a good look at AVG software. The anti-virus is free for home and individual users and has a very reasonable license for businesses.

They also have an Anti-Spyware product.

SPAM Management – Cloudmark Desktop

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I’ve tried a ton of ’em and Cloudmark’s Desktop product has been nothing short of exceptional. Community spam blocking! 🙂

I don’t use Spybot Search & Destroy anymore

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I deleted it because it was competing for resources with Webroot SpySweeper.

Trend Micro

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Have used both Trend Micro and Symantec in an enterprise environment.

Ran into nothing but problems with Symantec, eventually switched to Trend Micro.

I have been satisfied with Trend Micro’s antivirus, but their antispyware was terrible. Eventually ended up uninstalling it. We use CounterSpy Enterprise now.

Webroot SpySweeper, McAfee, ZoneAlarm, AOL Spyware Protection

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Preferred security software in everyday use in my systems.

F-Secure for sure

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Hi, i has been working with computers since 1980, my first 20 years with 4 BIG companies (2 american, 1 belgian and 1 from Switzerland) and since 5 years to now by my own way. Ok I’m not a novice, and after a lot of problems with practically every AV programs and Spyware in the market, a friend of mine and I found a good conjuntion, F-Secure for AV, BlackICE for intruders, Ad Muncher for ads. F-Secure is a very reactive company (verify this) and I can assure you it’s true! see this: http://www.f-secure.com/speed/

Give it a try you will not be disapointed

NOD32

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

My company tested NOD32 & TrendMicro and we decided to go with Trend. It basically came down to a licensing thing & the costs. We found that they were fairly equal and my recommendation was for NOD32, but the big boss man with the money decided on Trend.

I think the thing that brought the cost up was the licensing for their exchange product. They wanted to license per user mailbox and the Trend suite that we got licensed per server (I believe).

For a small organization, if it’s feasible, go with NOD32!

NOD32 and try to negotiate a price for Enterprise

In reply to NOD32

I used to be a big Symantec fan, and still think the product does a good job, just has high overhead and weaker heuristics than NOD32.
McAfee is way too topheavy and Trend Micro is a pain to install over. If you’re looking for an all in one package you might find a good mix in a big name, but NOD32 is a gem among the bunch. It is also the least processor hungry of the big players.
As an Engineer I appreciate the design of a lean program that is effective as well.

mc afee

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

try mc afeee enterprise edition

My Opinion

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I’ve worked with CA, Trend Micro, and Sophos and my vote goes to SOPHOS!

CA – Effective, but complicated and fat for a 10 person office.

Trend Micro – No general complaints other than it’s not the most popular pick. Which can’t be overlooked.

Sophos – effective, easy to install, and thin.

Good luck.

AVG by Grisoft

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I would highly recommend the AVG anti-virus product from Grisoft:

http://www.grisoft.com

Not only is it free (the non-commercial version (Version 7.5) I use on my home PC), but it automatically updates itself each day with new anti-virus updates. These are also free.

I am also trying out their anti-spam software on a 30 day trial. It slows the machine down so I am not too happy about that but it has detected (and removed) spamware and malware that was undetected by both LavaSoft’s Ad-Aware and Spybot’s Search and Destroy products!

I don’t know anything about McAfee, but I used to have Symantec. It was awful! Not only did I have to pay for it (and pay an annual fee for the updates), but I got globbered several times by some very nasty viruses that required me to reformat my HDD and re-install everything.

I hope these comments help.

slow and secure, fast and less secure. choose :)

In reply to AVG by Grisoft

Heuristic methods always need resources. Play a little bit with scheduled scans, tweak here and there and your protection(s) will slow you down less than those default (secure) options.
Keeping temp files off of your HDD helps a lot. Also avoid keeping large archives in the scanned areas (best on DVDs or other media), as they have to be opened and every file inside them (or those “infectable” for the less secure setting) have to be screened.
Do you defragment your files? Do you defragment your registry? …your swap?
Pay a visit to the old http://www.sysinternals.com (now MS owned) and look for “pagedefrag”…
No flame intended.

AVG AS not ready for prime time.

In reply to AVG by Grisoft

Tried it; dropped it.

Why? Too many false positives.

Ditto for ZoneAlarm’s AS.

Previx + antivir

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I have combined both Previx and Antivir. So far very successful, I have tried several other products,none seem to work as well as this combo.

decent protection

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Depending on your budget, you can start with AVG + Spybot S&D. I recommend purchasing the “Network” package for AVG.
I use the duo above for 3 1/2 years now and I had very good results (mind user’s computer literacy though).
That should do for a start. You can decide later if you need to pay for a more professional-looking Anti-Spyware (like the one Grisoft launched last year under a new brand… the old ewido revamped).
If you can afford to buy both solutions from Grisoft, I advise to do it.
I don’t like Symantec’s solutions ’cause they’re bloated and expensive.

AVG Anti-Virus

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

We providde IT Support for small and medium sized businesses as well as a school system, local towns, etc. We use AVG exclusively as it is no where near as intrusive as the other anti-viruses and it is as good or better than the major anti-virus companies.

AVG from Grisoft

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I’ve removed numerous viruses (virii?) from computers running Norton and Mcafee. Last week, I removed my first ever virus from a PC that was running AVG. And I can’t be sure the folks hadn’t turned off their anti-virus just long enough to get infected (I have a few customers like that).

6th Recommendation for AVG (so far)

In reply to AVG from Grisoft

I have been using AVG since 1996 and it has caught everything that has come down the pike.

ALSO: Grisoft provides AVG Free to home users. Enterprise users should reward them with extra consideration in choosing an Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware Suite.

Networked AV Solutions – My 2? worth

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

It may depend on how big your network is and how important central control of the AV solution is but my current choice is Sophos. Easy to deploy, easy to oversee, keeps its local server updated several times a day and the clients about hourly. Also reasonably priced.

For absolute minimum footprint and speed NOD32 is an excellent candidate and for price the AVG product should be considered.

When they are working NAV, McAfee and Panda seem to be OK but if there is any glitch in the system they are installed on, it may be virtually impossible to uninstall them.

Panda or Trend Micro

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I’ve user McAfee, Sysmantec, as well as the two above. I think a number of the respondents missed the size of the network you’re stting up. I loved the features and behavior of Panda (I use it at home now). I had very good luck with the Trend Micro products also. I ended up with Panda because the “non-power” users were not freaked out by the interface and could actually use it and the management tools for it were very effevtive and did not require a week to get an effective network protection system set up, updating, and working.

I will say – I’ll never recommend Symantec to anyone ever again.

Trend-Micro’s

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

After using others, my company is now happy after getting Trend Micro

is F-Secure unheard of over there?

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I’ve had several discussions with people on the topic who were in the US. I’ve used this company before, and probably will again this year. (Bye-bye Nortons) It seems however I mention it people get real dumb on me. (Europe is that Green Lump to the right of all that blue stuff off the Coast of America, Yes, I can see that, the Center of the World) Sorry, I actually had a conversation like that recently. Any way take a look at F-Secure, (@ f-secure.com or .de or…..) They have a really good Corperate Package. as well as SMB-HO (Nope, don’t work for ’em) -d

No, it’s just to complicated for Americans to use…

In reply to is F-Secure unheard of over there?

Remember, they are the land of the Buzz Clip. Drive thru everything, Short attention span theatre, and pre-made, crusts cut off, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
If it requires more than 5 words of reading or 3 mouse clicks, they won’t bother.

AVG recommended

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I’ve always found the AVG product to be superior to some of the big name alternatives especially for smaller sites. They have very good malware product as well.

CRACKDOWN ON VIRUS!

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

We need to eliminate computer virus now!One virus and my company will have to purchase all new computers.These virus,even to a seasoned tech,look like a hardware component failure.This would be virus in the firmware of a device like a CD writer.On the Internet the hacker records the virus in to the firmware of my CD unit and it stops working!I’m seeing all computer virus as fax files.Virus scanners are token,almost extortion.Turn on the fax file filter in the BIOS and end all computer problems.

hmm

In reply to CRACKDOWN ON VIRUS!

Why would they do that??
Virus in firmware of CD??? no way..

Just buy Nod32 and get all virus out.

GReetz

TrendMicro

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

add another vote for TrendMicro. we use “SMB client server security” for our business. it is by far the best setup i’ve worked with. easy to use console that does EVERYTHING.

You really need three!

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Use one for desktops, another for servers, and a third for email. AVG for desktops, TrendMicro for servers, and another for mail. As long as it is not McAfee or Norton!!

you can actually go with two, if the need arises

In reply to You really need three!

AVG is coming on strong, and not many people know about it. For desktops – on all applications this works great!

For your email and server – as long as the server lives for storage and email, go with Trend Micro…

Good Luck

Trend-Micro PC-Cillin

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

After having used both Norton Home & Norton Coperate anti-vurus products and having nothing but problems….especially with XP Pro SP2 I have decided to go back to Trend Micro’s PC-Cillin.

Here’s my biggest reason for doing so… Norton programs use WAY too much system resources…far more then any other product out there. But the Trend Micro program has always been one that I have never had complaints with.
Thier support is by far 10X better then Symantec and without any of the headaches that I’m tired of running into on a consistant basis with NAV.

So my persona vote is Trend Micro!!

Good luck and choose wisely!

IT’S A PERSONAL PREFERENCE THING…

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I’ve used most of the big ones, Norton, McAfee, Trend, etc. For a recent client of similar size (20 PCs) I went with the Zone Alarm Security Suite. The firewall is the best. The Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware are good. It also includes anti-phishing and spam tools. As everything is incorporated into one “Box” it works together well and needs little configuration. Using best of breed aps often necessitates extensive configuration to avoid conflicts.

Not McAffee or Norton (Symantec)

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

McAffe couldn’t find a virus with a light and a map. It’s a horribly incompetent product.
Norton – NAV has a good virus engine, but it’s become a ridiculous product. It’s so huge and bloated it’s a nightmare. At the least, if yo install it, go with the plain Antivirus product only and use seperate spyware tools and firewalls.
On a corporate network, I’d say put a proper firewall on your LAN/WAN connection, then just use a basic configuration of Windows Firewall on the LAN PC’s.
My software configuration choice would be:
– Antivir Pro
– Spyware Blaster
– SpyBot S&D
– CCleaner (Crap Cleaner)

Next make IE unavailable to users directly (not to applications, many of which use it).
Install Firefox with AdBlock Plus. Enable the Eazy List subscription in AdBlock Plus and also install the FilterSet.G plugin and turn off update notification.
Get rid of Outlook if you can (if you really need the calendaring functions etc., then install a real groupware product on a server.
Something like Zimbra, PHPGroupware, etc.

Most importantly, work with management, make a good set of computer and Internet Usage policies and enforce them.

Type them up and put them in a nice PDF file. Have each user’s netlogon script copy the current version of this file to their desktop on login.

Also in the same document, or a second one, include instructions for updating Spybot and Spyware blaster, use the ALT-PrintScrn function to paste pictures of the process into the document. Now again work with management to require users to go through this process once a week.

Forbid outside software installation by users. Also forbid:
-Online games
-flash sites (games and time wasters)
-IM unles your company uses it for business purposes.

Instruct users not to click on banner ads (which you shouldn’t see if using Firefox as instructed above) or trojan helpware (your computer is at risk! click here to fix it)
etc. No greeting cards etc.

Security is as much about policy as technology.

Oh, and I’d outright block the whole MySpace domain at your firewall. Total waste of company time and significant bandwitdth. Not to mention the plethora of security and copyright infringement risks.

Hope this helps.
Later

war034

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I’m no expert but I’ve been using avast for about 5 years now…it’s not perfect, but it gets the job done.

comodo

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I havnt seen anyone using comodo.com products,there free and work very good.

FreeBSD

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

’nuff said

I don’t think he said he lived in his mom’s basement…

In reply to FreeBSD

This was a real world situation, not some zealot dreamer. I can’t imagine anyone seriously suggesting FreeBSD as a desktop OS replacement.

Say hi to your mom.

Nice . . .

In reply to I don’t think he said he lived in his mom’s basement…

You open with insults and close with an admission that your imagination is so impoverished it can’t handle reality.

My primary desktop system is running FreeBSD. I live more than a thousand miles from my mother (who, by the way, doesn’t have a basement). I’m a published author, working IT consultant, and fairly well respected member of the TechRepublic community. I’ve been referenced as an authority by a Second Life FAQ, and I was the first paid employee of the Wikimedia Foundation. I have Microsoft certifications and have probably forgotten more about Microsoft Windows Registry hacking than you will ever know.

FreeBSD is in many respects more “powerful”, better performing, and easier to use than Microsoft Windows. It’s also, of course, [b]far[/b] more secure and stable.

It’ll be a while before I need to say “hi” to my mother again, anyway. I talked to her around Christmas — that should tide her over for a while.

Well then act like the professional you claim to be…

In reply to Nice . . .

“FreeBSD

’nuff said”

Is the typical mom’s basement zealot type of unhelpful, answer this guy doesn’t need.

THe poster was asking for help, not a smart ass “convert to my religion” response from someone not living in reality. Sure, everyone should stop using Windows. But given that this is the real world where that’s not going to happen any time soon, some people have to deal with Windows systems.
Given your grand claims to be mr expert..
“I’m a published author, working……have probably forgotten more about Microsoft Windows Registry hacking than you will ever know.”

Then next time use what you _haven’t_ forgotten (mom’s basement must have brain damaging fumes) and help the guy or shut up.

And I stand buy my belief that only a drugged up zealot would seriously tell someone to use FreeBSD as their business desktop OS. If you were any kind of decent consultant, you’d have half a grasp on the realities of the business environment mean that “best tool for the job” doesn’t always equal “my personal favourite tool”.

Right

In reply to Well then act like the professional you claim to be…

May I add that the topic is [b]ANTI-VIRUS[/b]/[b]Anti-Spyware[/b].

Not Suites, Systems, and God forbid whatever else.

It is not hard to miss what the topic is!

news flash

In reply to Right

Using FreeBSD, I don’t have to worry about virus and spyware security very much. That’s about as anti-virus and anti-spyware as it gets. If the original post were more specific in its requirements, maybe we’d know for sure whether suggesting different OS choices is appropriate to the circumstances. If a new network is being set up, OSes other than MS Windows may in fact be a viable option for dealing with many security concerns.

“[i]only a drugged up zealot would …[/i]”

In reply to Well then act like the professional you claim to be…

Well, you can stand by your [i]belief[/i] for so long as you choose, [b]but[/b] that will not make it become [i]fact.[/i]

And, [i]ad hominem[/i] arguments are never going to win the day here.

Next time, try to be a bit more well mannered.

I don’t much care what your personal belief is

In reply to Well then act like the professional you claim to be…

I DO happen to know Apothenon well and have learned to trust his judgment.

Before deciding that those who champion lesser used tools are “drugged up zealots”, ask yourself why so many of us are choosing to move away from Microsoft as a primary tool of choice. Could it be that we started in this business using a better OS?

Your language takes you to the level of a flamer at best. Perhaps you should re-consider your preferred communication style?

You’re scary.

In reply to Well then act like the professional you claim to be…

Clearly, you haven’t much ability to address others with respect or to maintain your own dignity in the face of disagreement with your myopic worldview. It has been a good long while since I’ve seen someone fly off the handle like that over a three word statement. While you’re at it, take the advice of people like Deepsand and T2: lighten the hell up.

1. Others had already covered most of the bases by the time I found this thread. I didn’t want to cover ground already well-traveled, since it wouldn’t add much to the discussion, by posting suggestions without reading the rest of the thread. I didn’t have time to read the whole thread at the time, so I skimmed it to see if anyone else had suggested the *BSD solution, then posted that. Now that I’ve gotten around to reading the rest, I think I can provide a little more in the way of suggestions — and I will when I’m done with you.

2. The original post wasn’t very long on details for specific platform needs. It just asks for suggestions to deal with virus and spyware security issues, and specifically mentions that we all have our favorites (and least favorites) — so my statement about FreeBSD fits a liberal interpretation.

3. You seem to have no sense of humor, or at least not a very sophisticated sense of humor.

4. Sometimes, an answer that doesn’t exactly fit the common assumptions of the majority is precisely what’s needed to jog someone’s mind and get him/her thinking outside the box. I tend to aim for that sort of effect from time to time. Once in a while, some wacko like you takes offense to a nonstandard answer and goes berserk, but I guess that’s the price I have to pay for not being a slave to my certifications.

5. “[i]And I stand buy my belief that only a drugged up zealot would seriously tell someone to use FreeBSD as their business desktop OS.[/i]” You’re welcome to be dead wrong. I’ve worked for corporations where the majority of desktops ran free unices (Linux predominantly), I’ve been involved in small business migrations to free unices, and I use FreeBSD as my primary desktop OS in part because it’s a far better development platform than Windows could ever aspire to be. If you were at all in touch with reality, you might realize that not every business in the world is exactly the same as your employer (and I’m assuming you’re employed, here — I could easily be mistaken).

6. “[i]’best tool for the job’ doesn’t always equal ‘my personal favourite tool'[/i]” No sh*t, Sherlock. When the guy gives us enough information to actually provide more detailed responses than wild-ass guesses, maybe some of us will start providing better-targeted responses. In the meantime, as things stand, I’d accept “unplug your computer from the Internet and uninstall all removable media drives” as a response, since we don’t know from the original post whether Internet access or removable storage media is even needed. I get the impression you tend to make your way through life relying on the hope that half-baked assumptions will work in your favor.

Not currently interested in a new OS, but that is an option

In reply to You’re scary.

To settle this whole OS debate, let me just say that I’m not up to the task of “experimenting” with an OS that I’m not familiar with at this time. I’ll stick with M*soft, but that’s a WHOLE different topic that I do not what to even address here at all. Thanks.

Quite welcome . . .

In reply to Not currently interested in a new OS, but that is an option

. . . and thanks for clearing that up.

I figured you probably weren’t looking for a different OS as the answer, but that it might be worthwhile to bring it up anyway if only to get you thinking about the future (beyond this particular task).

Focus, people… the topic isn’t about Operating Systems

In reply to I don’t think he said he lived in his mom’s basement…

I generally enjoy reading these, but the flame wars really turn me off.
First, the original post was asking advice about anti-malware programs, not what operating system may or may not be more secure. Please keep the discussion on topic.
Second, personal attacks will never get the point across. Give opinions about the products, not each other.

Are you sure about that?

In reply to Focus, people… the topic isn’t about Operating Systems

“[i]not what operating system may or may not be more secure[/i]”
Are you absolutely certain, based on the original post? CompHelpNJ said that there’s a new network that needs to be set up, and that an anti-virus program is needed. People sometimes make unnecessary assumptions when asking such questions — perhaps what’s needed is rethinking the network architecture, choosing the right operating system for the job rather than just the default OS for most of the world and six metric tons of security software. How do we know without questioning the apparent assumption?

Considering an OS is as much “a program” as most AV solutions, OS suggestions even fit within the literal word-for-word interpretation of the original question.

Relax Relax – let’s all keep are blood pressure down!

In reply to Focus, people… the topic isn’t about Operating Systems

Yes, the original post was somewhat vague, but for a reason. I wanted to get some opinions on the various anti-virus, anti-malware, and anti-spyware products that are in use in the corporate world.

In my particular case, I am installing a new server and setting up a small office network. I’d like to start it off with a decent security package to keep the server and workstations clean.

So far, most of the posts have been very helpful. I’m also happy to see that I’m not the only one with bad experiences with some of these top name packages such as Norton.

Thanks for your input so far…

Much better antivir – i’m very happy with it

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

You may want to try eScan anti-virus
from Microworld http://www.mwti.net — not only it has the features of expensive antivirus softwares, it also has internet browsing controls… you might want to check it our.. and the price is very reasonable compared with big/popular commercial applications.

Quick Heal – Indian New Antivirus

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Hello there! I met a guy online yesterday through a website that connects business-minded people. He is from India and works in a company (Quick Heal) and recommended their product highly. They have 45% of India’s market and are competing fiercely in the rest of the world. I live in Ethiopia and the popular ones (no need to mention them and appear slanderous), are not as effective as their names are. Wouldn’t you say some new spirit could do?
http://www.quickheal.com

That’s what I can say.

Antivirus

In reply to Quick Heal – Indian New Antivirus

At last i could find someone putting faith in Indian Antivirus. Quick heal is really fantastic and I have been using it since 2005 and there has not been asingle incident of breakdowns. Their latest version 9 is equipped with afirewall which is just fantastic.I use it for home purpose only but it is worth for an organisation.

Try Prevx all in one solution

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

http://www.prevx1.com

be smart and get it all in one product

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

well if i was you i would go with Trend Mirco’s Officescan. Why you ask? well a couple of reasons. 1 its is lighter on the system than Norton or McAfee. 2 less services to start up for in all in one suite. 3 your clients dont have to rely on a server to hand out updates if it is not avalible. 4 its an all in one suite spyware, virus, phishing, and email scanning. i bet my bottom dollar that if you tried it you would like it.

hum

In reply to be smart and get it all in one product

Well its seems fine, but dont use to much in one product.. There are always product thats better on one thing..
Antivirus -one progg.
Antispyware- one progg.
And so on..

Greetz

Bad advice.

In reply to be smart and get it all in one product

While a given suite may have 1 component that is “best of breed,” the same cannot be said for the others. I’ve yet to find a suite that is better than a good selection of individual components.

If you want a job done right, use the right tools, not a Swiss Army Knife.

Get a suite, but supplement it…

In reply to be smart and get it all in one product

I like the idea of a suite, an all-in-one solution. But, where the suite falls short (and I believe they all do at some point), supplement it with a best-of-breed product. For example, I have used ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite (personal firewall and anti-virus, etc.), but supplemented it with Webroot Spy Sweeper (anti-spyware).

That approach contains landmines.

In reply to Get a suite, but supplement it…

If a standalone product duplicates functions contained within the suite, one or both could consider the other to be an intruder and seek to counter its actions, particularly those which involve use of the Registry.

Proper administration, it’s part of the job

In reply to That approach contains landmines.

I ran a machine with ZoneAlarm Internet Security Suite, supplemented with Webroot Spy Sweeper. This machine also ran AVG and web-based scanners from Trend Micro and others. None of these programs conflicted. I turned off the anti-spyware component of ZoneAlarm suite because that function was covered by Webroot. AVG and the online scans never conflicted, because they never ran as passive scanners.
Yes, if a machine has multiple applications trying to do the same thing at the same time, they’ll fight for resources, frequently with “undesirable” results. (Ever run an AVI with two different media players simultaneously? Or run two competing web browsers? It may work for a short time, but at the risk of system stability.)
Short story: know what your programs do, and see that they don’t fight each other to get it done.

Does he even know what he is talking about

In reply to Proper administration, it’s part of the job

First off deepsand do you what you are talking about cause i dont think you do.first go with an all in one, less services less overhead and then its ok to use a couple of freeware programs or pay one like doctor spyware, one of the best out there. look at what the clients are going to be are they p3 500. cause if so multi programs for av and as is wrong. it will drain the system. even if the pc is new it is still a bad idea. multi services are going to slow down the system cause now you have to wait for the services to start up in order to have protection… remember KISS Keep it simple silly

wrong person

In reply to Does he even know what he is talking about

I think you meant to address mb.burkhart, not deepsand.

Who are you talking to?

In reply to Does he even know what he is talking about

1) You’re contracting yourself, by defending both suites and standalone applications.

2) Multiple services? Meaning what? Applications, Processes or OS SVC calls. In any case, a suite does [b]not[/b] necessarily result in reduced [i]over-head.[/i]

And, yes, I do know exactly of that which I speak; this, from many years of experience. If you’ve never had multiple apps mis-interpret each others’ Registry entries you’re either been quite fortunate or you’ve not yet had enough time under your belt to have seen such.

True, to a certain extent

In reply to Who are you talking to?

Running Avast Pro, and if you have Spybot Search&Destroy Beta 14 run Spybot – SD Resident. And maybe Arrowvax 2.0.70 and you WILL be 99% protected.

You will NEVER be 100% protected, as there are Blachats with a lot of weapons out there.

Best to practice safe browsing habits (I know personally some very capable and knowledgeable IT Experts who have done this for years without ANY problems).

– Terry Mathis

Use SpyBot S&D’s “Advanced” mode

In reply to Who are you talking to?

Many seem to the wholly unaware of the wealth of features available in SB’s “Advanced” mode.

For example, using the resident features, “SD Helper” & “TeaTimer,” will not only provide real-time protection against a mytiad threats, but also provide you with a log of all Registry changes Allowed & Denied.

Additionally, for example, one has easy access to all BHOs and ActiveX apps currently installed, along with the capability of removing them or toggling them between being active and inactive.

Another particularly useful feature is the System Startup tool, which provides an all-in-one view of all apps that get launched at boot time, regardless of whether it’s from the System.ini file, the Registry or the Startup folder. This feature is quite useful when troubleshooting, including problems with suspected malware.

Multiple apps need [i]not[/i] be running simultaneously for problems.

In reply to Proper administration, it’s part of the job

If you’ve never had multiple apps mis-interpret each others’ Registry entries you’re either been quite fortunate or you’ve not yet had enough time under your belt to have seen such.

ck out these

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

try http://www.computerlockdown.com and comodo.com,I think u mite like one of these

Recommended Anti-Viruses and Anti-Spywares

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Hello,

Here are the products I recommend to secure your network.

They are my favorite “top-guns”.

The three first are the anti-viruses. Security suites including an anti-virus, an anti-spyware and a firewall are also available from the same makers. However, I would advise you to use a separate solution for every need. The two last are the anti-spywares.

Sophos – anti-virus and anti-spam software for businesses

http://www.sophos.com

Kaspersky Lab – Antivirus software

http://www.kaspersky.com

F-Secure – F-Secure Corporation protects consumers and businesses against computer viruses and other threats

http://www.f-secure.com

Ewido Networks – Ewido Anti-Spyware

http://www.ewido.net/en/

Sunbelt Software – CounterSpy Anti-Spyware

http://www.sunbelt-software.com

I never recommend products like McAfee Anti-Virus and Symantec Anti-Virus. They are far from the level of protection of the three anti-viruses listed above. Forget what computer magazines say. McAfee and Symantec especially are a huge source of revenues for magazines as they heavily advertise their products in these magazines. Other products I don’t really like are (Microsoft) Windows Defender and Spyware Doctor from PC Tools (www.pctools.com). Both are afflicted by the bad habit to grab system resources to a point even high-end computers look completely frozen. In Addition, Windows Defender has a very poor detection rate, which makes it really unreliable. Spyware Doctor has a good detection rate. The version I tried was version 4, which is still the current one. This product might improve over the time.

I hope this will help you in making the right choice.

Best Regards,

Viviane D’Agosto

Surprise

In reply to Recommended Anti-Viruses and Anti-Spywares

En esp?rant une r?ponse de V. D’Agosto, numb40@hotmail.com.

Bisous,

Aur?lie

My choice of antispyware software

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

My personal choice is spyware doctor from http://www.pctools.com
This prog when compared to symantec/Norton
and Mcafee finds more spyware that the other two progs have missed.
pctools also make a pretty good registry repair
prog , they also more recently developed their own antivirus prog but i have not tried it yet.

Spybot Search and Destroy, Avast

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Both free home editions. I also have Lavasoft Ad-Aware but only run it once every few months.
I usually demand run Spybot and Avast after the Grandkids spend part of the day IMing…

get what you pay for

In reply to Spybot Search and Destroy, Avast

I recommend AVG, ClamWin, Ad-Aware and Spybot as a temporary solution, but I also warn that for long-term protection, get something that has corporate $upport, like Trend Micro suite, Zone Alarm suite, Webroot Spy Sweeper, and other quality products.
Also note, just because a product is popular doesn’t make it good. For example, Norton/Symantec is currently near the top of my “most hated” list, followed by McAfee.

And, sometimes, a lot more for less.

In reply to get what you pay for

For example, free AVG [i]is[/i], for all intents and purposes, the same as the paid version; it’s the same engine, but without the management capabilities needed for administering an enterprise system.

As for Spybot S&D, it is an extremely well seasoned open-source type product, that is supported by some of the best-of-breed hackers in the origianl sense of the word.

On the other hand, Webroot Spy Sweeper is a pain in the rump, owing to its slow speed and the occurence of too many false positives. Of particular annoyance is its over zealousness with regard to cookies, insisting that many [i]essential[/i] ones are threats.

“… a free lunch.”

In reply to And, sometimes, a lot more for less.

Yes it’s an over-used cliche, but consider…
AVG is a corporate product, supported by investors and clients. If the majority of their customers are freeloading their product, they’ll stop providing it. If you like it, $upport it. If you’re not going to pay for it, then stop using it as a long-term solution.
Spybot S&D started as a hobby project, and I witnessed it going weeks without updates. In the meantime, spyware continues to be produced, with no means of catching it with this program. They may be better at it now, but with that history I can’t trust them as a long-term solution.
Okay, so Webroot may have false positives. That’s better than missing something that sends your credit card information to an identity thief. I’d rather learn how to configure Spy Sweeper to ignore certain cookies than have to put a fraud alert on my bank accounts. Besides, I listed it as one of several possible solutions. If you don’t like it, use something else.

False positives can be a very big problem.

In reply to “… a free lunch.”

While you and I may be able to spot such, most users cannot; and, even if they could, most likely they will not, but simply rely on the app to do the “right” thing.

Bear in mind that many AV/AS products [b]deliberately[/b] cry “wolf” at every opportunity, so as to impress the user with their “thoroughness.”

Not a problem..

In reply to False positives can be a very big problem.

That is what backup’s and quarantine’s are for .. 😉

– Terry Mathis

For techies, agree; for average users, no.

In reply to Not a problem..

■

get what you pay for

In reply to Spybot Search and Destroy, Avast

I recommend AVG, ClamWin, Ad-Aware and Spybot as a temporary solution, but I also warn that for long-term protection, get something that has corporate $upport, like Trend Micro suite, Zone Alarm suite, Webroot Spy Sweeper, and other quality products.
Also note, just because a product is popular doesn’t make it good. For example, Norton/Symantec is currently near the top of my “most hated” list, followed by McAfee.

the Windows answer

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Assuming for the moment that you are speaking of a necessarily Windows-based network (which isn’t firmly established by your original post), I have some answers for you with some pretty hefty caveats.

It seems likely that you’re talking about using a per-system AV and anti-spyware solution alone. I’m not sure that’s actually the approach you should be taking. Depending on your needs, you should probably consider using gateway security solutions as well. Firewall, web proxy, and email gateway antivirus and antispam software may all suit your needs.

Ultimately, however, you do need per-system user-level AV and anti-spyware software on Windows systems to remain relatively secure. When considering solutions at that level, however, you need to be aware not only of the technical concerns but also the legal. For instance, while Avast and Grisoft both offer free AV softare, both are offered free only for personal, non-business use. To legally use AVG (the Grisoft AV software) for a network of business systems, you need to use the Pro version — which means paying for it.

That having been said, as long as you’re willing to pay, AVG is excellent AV software — among the best. It’s certainly head-and-shoulders above the quality of certain more popular solutions such as those provided by McAfee or Symantec. Another option is to make use of open source software, free to use regardless of whether it’s for personal or business implementations. In fact, ClamWin is, like AVG, one of the best AV software offerings available for the Windows desktop, and is open source software. On my own Windows systems (which are, frankly, turned off most of the time) I ensure that both AVG and ClamWin are installed. You may consider the same approach (though, as I said, for business use you need to pay for AVG).

Avast’s technical virus protection capabilities are excellent as well, but the resource usage overhead is tremendous in comparison with anything but the most bloated alternatives (again, such as McAfee or Symantec AV).

With Trend Micro, you really have to examine the reputation of the specific product: quality varies wildly from one security product to the next in the Trend Micro lineup, from somewhat crappy to truly excellent.

For anti-spyware, I recommend a combination of Spybot Search & Destroy with AdAware. I haven’t kept up with the state of the art quite as much with spyware protection lately as I have in the past, so there may be new anti-spyware applications arising that are worth using, but neither of these have let me down in the past. Unlike AV software, however, active spyware protection software tends to be resource-intensive enough that running more than one at a time is not always the world’s greatest idea. That’s unfortunate considering the necessity of multiple spyware protection applications to be able to get complete protection. You really have to weigh your security needs against your performance needs when making a decision about how to implement spyware protection.

While you’re at it, you should look into getting desktop firewall software installed on these systems. Two such applications that top my list of favorites free or cheap use include the iSafer Firewall (formerly known as the iSafer WinSock Firewall), which is open source software that provides socket-level firewall capability, and ZoneAlarm, which provides application-level firewall capability. Like AVG and ClamWin, these can be used concurrently without putting undue stress on most systems’ resources. ZoneAlarm can create a greater resource demand than the above AV solutions and the iSafer Firewall, however, so be aware of your requirements for resource-light operation.

ZoneAlarm, like AVG and Avast, is free for personal use — but, also like them, you must pay for the Pro version to legally use it for a business network.

Hopefully that helps somewhat. You can also greatly reduce your vulnerability, as I hinted with my FreeBSD post above, by choosing an operating system other than Windows — MacOS X is somewhat better, Linux-based OSes are far better still, FreeBSD and OpenSolaris are incrementally better than Linux, and OpenBSD is the most secure of all (though OpenSolaris is not well suited to desktop use for most purposes for a number of reasons and OpenBSD suffers some shortcomings of its own with regard to hardware support, high-load system performance, and paucity of available software).

I suggest “Avast”

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

Avast is topped ranked anti-virus suite. I have 2 small companies that I have setup with Avast & it works great. I feel employees should also use the some type of AV software on their home pc’s as well to truly have a protected network system. Avast allows for this by offering a free or moderate priced personal version. They also have a server management module so you can have a central update source. This product won?t break your bank either.

Try TrendMicro

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I am running a small network that deals with Medical information and needed a solution that was flexible and effective, without going to the enterprise software level (adding zeros to the price tag). Originally I was a fan of Symantec, but after 2003 had too many problems with it. Tried Panda, seems like a nice product, but I did not like the GUI- just a personal thing. Tried TrendMicro and have been very satisfied; low resource hits, good interface, including a “network Monitoring” option that allows centralized monitoring of PCs on the LAN from one workstation. Had one occasion to call customer support, and it was a good experience–they had a bad update and admitted and corrected it right away. Only issue so far. Also they make it easy to but multiple licenses. Check it out

antvirus

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

use Quickheal antivirus version 9. It is very effective.

ZoneAlarm Security Suite?

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I’ve used McAffee and Norton/Symantec for years then I switched to ZoneAlarm Security Suite (virus/spyware/firewall). I was already using ZoneAlarm for firewall. It’s light weight unlike McAffee and Norton.

Why

In reply to ZoneAlarm Security Suite?

Why are you not using anything thats good?

Greetz

ZA is a “lightweight?”

In reply to ZoneAlarm Security Suite?

Their Firewall is best-of-breed! It is quite superior to those of either McAfee or Norton

Yes, their AV/AS components are not yet up to the quality of their Firewall; but, that’s no reason to throw the baby out with the bath water.

That’s why I advocate using best-of-breed apps for AV, AS & Firewall, as opposed to suites.

Be careful of e-mail

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

I can’t say which product is better but we are using Panda right now. We have had problems with it but we are working through them. There tech support sucks. We switched from McAfee because with the new version we had trouble with e-mail. We have a couple of agencies that send us attachments that are executables. They are necessary for our job. McAfee will block all executables or no executables. You cannot specify certain addresses to accept executables from. We had the same problem with zip files. McAfee said they had no intention of changing this so we had to switch.

Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

If you are using a Windows based operating system, I have found that McAffee, CA, and Norton does not provide good potection. All delete some operating files, including the .dll fills which cause instability in Windows XP. After using many solutions, free and paid programs, I now use Windows One Care (developed by Microsoft for Windows) for anti-virus/anti-spyware. Since Microsoft does not have a good solution for anti-spyware, I also use MaxSecure Spyware Detector and Regestry Cleaner which is very fast. I have not had any problems since using both products together.

Avast Pro

In reply to Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware software of choice

.. ’nuff said, 8 processes, low resource usage, easily configurable.

– Terry Mathis

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