Antivirus - still a thing?

DRJ1014

DRJ1014

Supreme [H]ardness
Joined
Nov 11, 2003
Messages
5,770
I have been using a subscription to Webroot for the past few years and the subscription is about to expire and it got me to thinking are paid antivirus programs a scam and should I just trust the windows programs or is there better software I could be using for antivirus/malware/vpn/adblock/etc.

I currently use
Antivirus - Webroot subscription
Adblock plus - free
VPN - none
Malware - Included w/ Webroot

Thanks for any info!
 
assuming you’re using windows, defender is free, integrated and actually works great. I use that with either the free version of bitdefender or malwarebytes.

The best antivirus is making smart choices while browsing the web honestly.

But paying for antivirus? Yea that’s a thing of the past for most people.
 
Last edited:
Dreamerbydesign said:
assuming you’re using windows, defender is free, integrated and actually works great. I use that with either the free version of bitdefender or malwarebytes.

The best antivirus is making smart choices while browsing the web honestly.

But paying for antivirus? Yea that’s a thing of the past for most people.
Click to expand...

I can show you proof otherwise (follow britton white on linkedin), most every info-stealer can bypass Defender and any decent flyby infection can disable defender with a single line of powershell code. There is no such thing as "smart choices" these days when browsing the web, yes, we can be smarter than most, but even trusted sites are compromised, ad networks feed malicious links (Bing & Google looking at you....). Sure, you do get what you pay for still these days, but several AV do just throw bloat at you with their paid subs (vpn, wallet crap et cetera)

Aside from avoiding the obvious stuff, downloading cracked software, shady youtube links et cetera, Defender sure may work for most, tie it with a good browser like Brave and other things that block known malicious networks....
 
MrGuvernment said:
I can show you proof otherwise (follow britton white on linkedin), most every info-stealer can bypass Defender and any decent flyby infection can disable defender with a single line of powershell code. There is no such thing as "smart choices" these days when browsing the web, yes, we can be smarter than most, but even trusted sites are compromised, ad networks feed malicious links (Bing & Google looking at you....). Sure, you do get what you pay for still these days, but several AV do just throw bloat at you with their paid subs (vpn, wallet crap et cetera)

Aside from avoiding the obvious stuff, downloading cracked software, shady youtube links et cetera, Defender sure may work for most, tie it with a good browser like Brave and other things that block known malicious networks....
Click to expand...
There are always exceptions. But I Agree. When in doubt of course there are nice paid packages that I am sure perform well. On that topic do you have any paid antivirus software suggestions?
 
Last edited:
Dreamerbydesign said:
There are always exceptions. But I Agree. When in doubt of course there are nice paid packages that I am sure perform well. On that topic do you have any paid antivirus software suggestions?
Click to expand...
I think what he is trying to say is that Defender isn't the best solution but nothing else is either for the added cost and bloat. I agree with this. Stacking apps for security will just make life more difficult and costly. Keep to safe browsing, installing, behavior practices and Defender + malwarebytes will suffice. The only AV program I don't immediately remove from machines I get asked to work on is Bitdefender.
 
That_Sound_Guy said:
I think what he is trying to say is that Defender isn't the best solution but nothing else is either for the added cost and bloat. I agree with this. Stacking apps for security will just make life more difficult and costly. Keep to safe browsing, installing, behavior practices and Defender + malwarebytes will suffice. The only AV program I don't immediately remove from machines I get asked to work on is Bitdefender.
Click to expand...
Same here actually.
 
Dreamerbydesign said:
There are always exceptions. But I Agree. When in doubt of course there are nice paid packages that I am sure perform well. On that topic do you have any paid antivirus software suggestions?
Click to expand...

How do you know the additional large software package doesn't make the attack surface much bigger?
 
uOpt said:
How do you know the additional large software package doesn't make the attack surface much bigger?
Click to expand...
I personally don’t use those packages I’m sure. And if there’s anything for certain pertaining to the internet and security, it’s that nothing is certain.
 
uOpt said:
How do you know the additional large software package doesn't make the attack surface much bigger?
Click to expand...
This is how I think. Uninstall + firewall rules for in and out traffic. Was it Kaspersky who got hacked with a supply chain malware and introduced an attack vector through their AV suite? I know someone was, cant remember.
 
That_Sound_Guy said:
This is how I think. Uninstall + firewall rules for in and out traffic. Was it Kaspersky who got hacked with a supply chain malware and introduced an attack vector through their AV suite? I know someone was, cant remember.
Click to expand...
Kaspersky recently had their own cellphones infiltrated, but no compromise of their software is known to have resulted.

Regular accidental security bugs are as common in security software as they are elsewhere. And it is all closed source and not review-able.

Love this one, which was caused by recklessness (unpacking suspected malware inside the OS kernel):
https://iicybersecurity.wordpress.c...rus-engine-allows-remote-memory-exploitation/
 
CiniP-kUkAE36aI?format=jpg&name=900x900.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top