Microsoft (in)Security Essentilas

[Chucaro]

Following the advise of an MS certified person 0ne year ago I stopped using the combination of NOD32 and Malwarebytes and installed the "you beauty freebee" Microsoft Security Essentials in my new laptop.
Well, during the weekend the bank have to stop my internet bank facility because a virus in my laptop.
It cannot be, I said! it is up to date and protected. :eek:
Craps! I run NOD32 and there were 58 infections on it after Malwarebytes removed 3 Trojans and 12 spyware.

Today my laptop is back to NOD32/Malwarebytes combo like in the last trouble free 7 years 24/7 use.

MS can shovel their insecurity software :mad:

[incisor]

MS can shovel their insecurity software :mad:

i'll have it over those two any day of the week.

there is no 100% solution and if you don't update and scan daily, nothing will save you.

malwarebytes at least has some redeeming features if you install run and uninstall but nod32 is rubbish.

[d@rk51d3]

Shifted to MSE after nod32 started letting bugs through. So far, so good.

[Chucaro]

i'll have it over those two any day of the week.

there is no 100% solution and if you don't update and scan daily, nothing will save you.

malwarebytes at least has some redeeming features if you install run and uninstall but nod32 is rubbish.

Oh well, I just downloaded the trail version.
If NOD32 now is rubbish and IMO MSE as well which is the leader in antivirus software now?
Bitdefender?
Kaspersky?

[disco gazza]

I run norton 360.(symantec).

Its been very good with my laptops that I've used over the years.Lets me know if I'm downloading a virus or whatever.Runs silently in the background.

cheers

[VladTepes]

The only reason Norton stops other viruses is because it wants to be the only bloody virus on your computer. Bloody thing. Talk about using up system resources to no end....

[gavinwibrow]

i'll have it over those two any day of the week.

there is no 100% solution and if you don't update and scan daily, nothing will save you.

malwarebytes at least has some redeeming features if you install run and uninstall but nod32 is rubbish.
On advice from my IT savvy mate, I recently cancelled Norton 360 and converted to MS Security Essentials. I also pay $30 pa for email virus protection from my service provider Westnet.
Dave - I get an auto update each time I switch on, but my question is what is then the benefit of running scans, and how ofter should deep scans be run (I've never really understood the difference between updates and scans)

[Chucaro]

The updates are to update the virus definicions (new virus) the scan is to scan your HDD files to see if they are clean of virus or malware.
The problem with MSE is that it is a sieve and allow to enter virus in the computer.
Good software (like the old Eset) should block the page and ask the user if he/she would like to continue.

[incisor]

The problem with MSE is that it is a sieve and allow to enter virus in the computer.

to be blunt, that is rubbish arthur.

mse also has a better clean up rate than most others if something does get through, tho like i said, nothing stops them all these days because they come thru the same ports that you use to view web pages so if you allow a web page through the firewall the virii and trojans get through as well.

based on what i see come through the door every week

norton 360 is fine if it will keep running on your system without killing it after being there a month or so and it kills heaps.

norton antivirus on it's own is a much better product than 360

avg anything is crap at the moment as well

kaspersky antivirus, not internet security or pure, is the best pay one at the moment but it doesnt clean up as well as mse at times

most of the rest are hopeless.

avast is another free one that does a better job than most pay ones but it gets way to many false positives at times and is a pesterer.

just my well worn opinion ;)

[Chucaro]

to be blunt, that is rubbish arthur.

mse also has a better clean up rate than most others if something does get through, tho like i said, nothing stops them all these days because they come thru the same ports that you use to view web pages so if you allow a web page through the firewall the virii and trojans get through as well.

based on what i see come through the door every week

norton 360 is fine if it will keep running on your system without killing it after being there a month or so and it kills heaps.

norton antivirus on it's own is a much better product than 360

avg anything is crap at the moment as well

kaspersky antivirus, not internet security or pure, is the best pay one at the moment but it doesnt clean up as well as mse at times

most of the rest are hopeless.

avast is another free one that does a better job than most pay ones but it gets way to many false positives at times and is a pesterer.

just my well worn opinion ;)

You are entiled to your opinion, I just base my on what had happens to my main LT and the old one as well
In both cases the malware bypassed MSE and disabled the Win7 firewall and protection.
In both cases Malware byte detected the problem a fix it.
In both cases the scan of MSE was unable to detect 3 trojans plus several spyware.
So it is not rubbish what I said is true, MSE is a sieve.
If the other antivirus software are as bad as MSE, well you see more computers than me and I understand your fustration, it appears that the bad people are winning :(

[d@rk51d3]

You are entiled to your opinion, I just base my on what had happens to my main LT and the old one as well
In both cases the malware bypassed MSE and disabled the Win7 firewall and protection.
In both cases Malware byte detected the problem a fix it.
In both cases the scan of MSE was unable to detect 3 trojans plus several spyware.
So it is not rubbish what I said is true, MSE is a sieve.
If the other antivirus software are as bad as MSE, well you see more computers than me and I understand your fustration, it appears that the bad people are winning :(

And I had the exact opposite.
About 6 months ago, my paid Nod 32, Mawarebytes, Spybot, and a few others all missed an infection on my system that was driving me mad.

In desperation, I gave MSE a whirl and it it picked it up straight away, and dealt with it. In fact, it picked up another one just yesterday, pretending to be the Microsoft Security Centre. :cool:

As Dave said though, nothing is 100%, and really only as good as the variant of infection you've managed to pick up/detect.

[theresanothersteve]

I went to the old MS paid antimalware years ago, very happy when it morphed into the free MSE. Compared to the resource hungry Norton software it is far superior.

I think, however, people are missing a key strategy for preventing malware infections. Use a log on with diminished privileges! Create an admin log on for installing software and other maintenance, and turn all other user accounts into non-administrator.

The UAC is much maligned, disable it if you must while setting up a new PC but reinstate it once done.

These two strategies will add to your system security. Malware can only install itself using the admin rights of the current user, if the current user cannot install software, the malware can't install. And, annoying as the UAC is (particularly in Vista) having something jump up if system changes are made is a good thing.

And, don't install multiple anti-malware programs. Pick one and stay with it. If you don't like it, remove it completely (using the remoavl tools from the vendors website) and install another.

Make sure you check for updates on a regular basis, and run scheduled scans. This is where programs like MSE come into their own, try using a computer when Norton, McAfee, etc are scanning. Small footprint programs are the way to go!

[djam1]

Spent many hours removing viruses from computers that are running MSE.
Spent the last 10 years working with a number of companies one with 25000 PCs on the domain and found Symantec to be rubbish.
Found NOD32 and others was what I ended up using to get the viruses that Symantec couldn't.
I used NOD32 for years but departed from it this year as I think they lost their edge went to Kaspersky they have major issues with updating so not sure they are the answer either.
No idea what is best but Kaspersky is getting the best reviews at the moment.

[disco gazza]

I dont think there is any one system that will be 100% effective in getting rid of the maleware,viruses,trojans,etc,etc.

The main ones (Kapersky,Norton,McAfee ??) have there pluses and minuses as the years go by.

Its up to the user to find one that works for them and swap it if its not doing its job.
None of them will be perfect. :)

cheers

[jonesy63]

I work in IT Security for a living... as said above, on any day - one package is always better than the others. The baddies are in front - and if they want to, they will get you. (Think "high value targets" rather than Joe Blogs). Anti-malware packages only catch about 50% at the moment. User behaviour, education and limiting access rights are all good strategies.

[jonesy63]

Just an example... recent studies show only 5.5% of all devices on the internet have up-to-date Java. There are literally dozens of exploits for older Java, and all you need do is go to an exploited web site to get infected. Even large USA news sites not immune.

[d@rk51d3]

One thing I have discovered, is that while MSE cleans well, it waits until you have been infected before it does anything.

Currently trying Avsat 8 Internet Security. Seems to be more pro-active.

[jx2mad]

I got a text from my bank today which basically said that my computer was infected and they froze my netbank system. Sorted with the local branch, had it unlocked with new password and ran McAfee stinger from the bank site. Ran program and computer came up clean. I only run the built in windows defender from within windows 8. Jim

[incisor]

One thing I have discovered, is that while MSE cleans well, it waits until you have been infected before it does anything.

Currently trying Avsat 8 Internet Security. Seems to be more pro-active.

the above it not quite how it works

some security suites attempt to pre empt infection by managing traffic and attempt to block content etc so welcome to the world of false positives :D

avast is one of the better ones at the moment but can tend to drive you nuts

[Ralph1Malph]

I use trend micro, currently titanium version .
Whats the opinion re this suite?
I seem to be happy with it. No infections that I know of and I get regular pop ups telling me it has saved me from gazillions.

Cheers Ralph

[theresanothersteve]

One thing I have discovered, is that while MSE cleans well, it waits until you have been infected before it does anything.

Currently trying Avsat 8 Internet Security. Seems to be more pro-active.
I must disagree with that.

I write training material and was trying to deliberately infect a machine last week (virtual machine I could revert to original state when I finished). I had so much trouble with MSE not letting an infected file open I had to completely disable it to let the virus download, let alone install.

Admittly this was a virus, rather than a trojan, but while frustrating it showed MSE was providing security against that particular infection.

It highlights the need for keeping the definition database updated...

[jonesy63]

Every dog has his day:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/advisory/2846338

Anti-malware makers are always in catch-up mode.

[Chucaro]

After reading the comments here and reviews in the net for the time being I left MSE on but also installed Malwarebytes with continuous protection.
So far the PC is clean thanks to Malwarebytes stopping malware.
MSE did not detected nothing :(

[BMKal]

I use trend micro, currently titanium version .
Whats the opinion re this suite?
I seem to be happy with it. No infections that I know of and I get regular pop ups telling me it has saved me from gazillions.

Cheers Ralph

I'm running the same on a new Windows 8 tablet Ralph. Seems to be doing the job OK so far.

Have to agree with comments by others on Norton as well. I have it on my older laptop. It seems to do the job OK - but you really don't want to be doing anything in a hurry on the computer when it's scanning - and that seems to be quite often. As Dave has said - Norton Antivirus on its own is a much better option than Norton 360. My big laptop that I only use occasionally for work has Norton Antivirus only on it, and it doesn't have anywhere near the delays that the little one has.

[Dandevries]

A plus for MSE is that it integrates more tightly with low level OS features helping it to be far more performant as 'closer to the metal'

MS doesn't grant the same to 3rd parties

[flagg]

With my work I get play with this sort of thing a lot. We have virtual farms that develop and run malware in parallel to assess AV.. this is a similar process to what malware writers do to make sure their code isn't stopped or signatured by the AV companies.

MSE is, IMO, technically one of the best AV products in terms of how it works under the hood.

The problem that is has is that ALL anti-malware is BS - it is reactionary, and always behind.

This is compounded because a malware writer will ALWAYS have to bypass MSE as the % chance that someone is running it is MUCH higher than the % change of say someone running Trend, or Sophos.

So it creates an interesting conundrum where because it is the best and it is free it will always be the first priority to bypass so it wont ever be the best. Did someone say logic bomb?! :angel: