Malware, Spyware, and Adware.

[Heathen]

What are some good programs to keep all of these away.
I know this has been mentioned on here before, but the search is too broad and too picky.
If you could give me a good list of programs for my little cousins computer I would love it.

[flibitijibibo]

http://www.modacity.net/forums/showthread.php?t=16881

This should cover it.

[Phopojijo]

Nothing.

1) Keep Windows up-to-date.
2) Keep a router properly configured
3) Keep (his/her) habits in check.

A) If (s)he's older -- make sure (s)he's sensible about how (s)he works (his/her) computer.
B) If (s)he's younger -- keep (him/her) as a limited user to prevent (him/her) from installing stuff from untrusted sources.

Lastly, make sure that computer cannot reach the rest of the network... either change its router workgroup or otherwise prevent it from communicating with other PCs.

This of course assumes you had problems with viruses and/or malware in the past. If not and (s)he's pretty competent... then give them more slack than what this post suggests.

As for AV software? I find it pointless for just about everyone.

[Cojafoji]

Avast, SS&D, Lavasoft Ad-Aware.

Oh, and almost forgot the best fucking program you'll ever download.

Common fucking sense.

Don't rely on the programs to protect you. In my mind they have always been a secondary and even third place defense. Common sense and then basic know how will keep you safe enough.

[Good_Apollo]

What the other said, but never hurts to have a program to check.
Malware Bytes, Ad-Aware and or Spybot S&E I've found to work the best and be the most trustworthy. Especially the first one.

[jcap]

KASPERSKY

Fuck, no one understands that all the free ones don't do shit until you actually need to use it.

You get what you pay for (except with Norton/McAfee/TrendMicro/Panda).



NOD32 is a runner-up, but I had some problems with them. It didn't fully remove a virus once so I had to use ComboFix and SuperAntiSpyware.
Norton is the shittiest shit Symantec could possibly shit out. Even if you remove a virus, it still tells you there is one and then crashes when you try to click remove (because it's already gone!)
McAfee I don't really have much experience with other than their Internet Security version offered by ISPs, and that's really limied and didn't catch some things. Though, it's better than Norton.
TrendMicro has a bad history of false positives. It quarantined a file on my cousin's laptop for the network connection center from Windows. Fucking idiots.
Panda is one I have no experience with personally, but some reviews I read don't score it too high.
AVG doesn't have great real-time protection, definitions, or virus removal tools.
Avast doesn't detect a lot of things I've thrown at it, and it struggled removing viruses a lot of times. It might detect you're infected, but it may not remove it all and the virus will just come back immediately.
Avira apparantly has great detection rates, but I've never seen the app in action. Haven't used it before. They have a free and a paid version. Don't know how either of them perform, or what differences they have.
Edit: Webroot is one I've used before, but it also has its problems. In two out of the three cases I used it, it did not fully remove the virus. One time four years ago, there was a pretty bad browser hijacker that none of the other free ones could get rid of, but this did the job.

[NullZero]

KASPERSKY

Fuck, no one understands that all the free ones don't do shit until you actually need to use it.

You get what you pay for (except with Norton/McAfee/TrendMicro/Panda).



NOD32 is a runner-up, but I had some problems with them. It didn't fully remove a virus once so I had to use ComboFix and SuperAntiSpyware.

In my experience, I would put nod32 first because kaspersky kept blocking programs I didn't want it to block in interactive mode, and I couldn't find how to unblock 'em after hours of searching in the advanced settings D:.

I would say nod32 has a lower footprint because of the language it is written in, but it may have changed.

[sdavis117]

I myself prefer S-Secure. I get it for free from my ISP.

[SnaFuBAR]

KASPERSKY

:neckbeard::neckbeard::neckbeard::neckbeard:
yase

[cheezdue]

I recommend Webroot antivirus or antispyware.

[Newbkilla]

KASPERSKY

Fuck, no one understands that all the free ones don't do shit until you actually need to use it.

You get what you pay for (except with Norton/McAfee/TrendMicro/Panda).



NOD32 is a runner-up, but I had some problems with them. It didn't fully remove a virus once so I had to use ComboFix and SuperAntiSpyware.
Norton is the shittiest shit Symantec could possibly shit out. Even if you remove a virus, it still tells you there is one and then crashes when you try to click remove (because it's already gone!)
McAfee I don't really have much experience with other than their Internet Security version offered by ISPs, and that's really limied and didn't catch some things. Though, it's better than Norton.
TrendMicro has a bad history of false positives. It quarantined a file on my cousin's laptop for the network connection center from Windows. Fucking idiots.
Panda is one I have no experience with personally, but some reviews I read don't score it too high.
AVG doesn't have great real-time protection, definitions, or virus removal tools.
Avast doesn't detect a lot of things I've thrown at it, and it struggled removing viruses a lot of times. It might detect you're infected, but it may not remove it all and the virus will just come back immediately.
Avira apparantly has great detection rates, but I've never seen the app in action. Haven't used it before. They have a free and a paid version. Don't know how either of them perform, or what differences they have.


Well then, explain how 3 of my computers at my house, having them installed fore over 1 year each, have prevented every virus since, I use malware bytes, avast, zone alarm, and lavasofts adaware se. Killer group, have never had a virus pass my gates, lol.

[klange]

:gnu: Malware? Spyware? Adware? Hahahaha.

[Heathen]

Nothing.

1) Keep Windows up-to-date.
2) Keep a router properly configured
3) Keep (his/her) habits in check.

A) If (s)he's older -- make sure (s)he's sensible about how (s)he works (his/her) computer.
B) If (s)he's younger -- keep (him/her) as a limited user to prevent (him/her) from installing stuff from untrusted sources.

Lastly, make sure that computer cannot reach the rest of the network... either change its router workgroup or otherwise prevent it from communicating with other PCs.

This of course assumes you had problems with viruses and/or malware in the past. If not and (s)he's pretty competent... then give them more slack than what this post suggests.

As for AV software? I find it pointless for just about everyone.
Well I roll with nothing and just watch what I am doing.
I never get viruses.
He is pretty smart and doesn't use it for much anything.
He is just curious as to what he CAN do.

I said he should just roll naked like me.

[jcap]

Well then, explain how 3 of my computers at my house, having them installed fore over 1 year each, have prevented every virus since, I use malware bytes, avast, zone alarm, and lavasofts adaware se. Killer group, have never had a virus pass my gates, lol.
You're lucky you never got anything bad. But it's unfortunate you need to load up your computer with four separate apps to get not even the full protection Kaspersky has offered me.

You might be smart at browsing. I am too. I used my computer for an entire year before finally installing some antivirus software on it. I had no problems with no apps protecting me. You probably also know what you're doing with those apps. But the problem is, the majority of people don't even know how to run a virus scan, or they don't even know what those firewall notices are. Those are a few reasons I completely ignore the fact that those apps exist. Plus, Spybot, Adware, and Malwarebytes don't offer real-time protection, so they're only good after you've been infected.

[annihilation]

Kaspersky is horrid shit, there I said it.
There are plenty of waay better programs like :
Malwarebytes, Avira, SuperAntiSpyware and spybot.
A combo of those will do wonders.
But hey, use whatever the fuck you want. Poor protection is better than no protection.
inb4 anti-viruse fanboys.

[Newbkilla]

You're lucky you never got anything bad. But it's unfortunate you need to load up your computer with four separate apps to get not even the full protection Kaspersky has offered me.

You might be smart at browsing. I am too. I used my computer for an entire year before finally installing some antivirus software on it. I had no problems with no apps protecting me. You probably also know what you're doing with those apps. But the problem is, the majority of people don't even know how to run a virus scan, or they don't even know what those firewall notices are. Those are a few reasons I completely ignore the fact that those apps exist. Plus, Spybot, Adware, and Malwarebytes don't offer real-time protection, so they're only good after you've been infected.

Actually, Adaware has a real time watch, a virus protection styled firewall. Basically, nothing can get in, so avast keeps it clean from inside. I do surf pretty safe, except for the occasional torrent, or rar file, I always scan before hand on the file. Why go for something that costs money, when of course, you can get the same results with free software? This is my point.

[Cojafoji]

At the end of the day, there are some AV's out there that will miss something that other programs will pick up. It's just something that you'll have to deal with. If you really do value your computer, it is worth it to purchase a program. Just do a little research, and make a decision. When you ask other people, they'll just end up telling you to use what they've used for years.

I've used tons of AV programs over the years, Symantec Corporate, Nod32, Avast free and pay, avg, Norton, and even panda for a little while. They all get steady updates, and they all have dedicated teams behind them.

[Captain Pakundo]

But in the end, ESET Smart Security saves the day...
Again.