Defending The Kingdom

Antivirus scanners are often bloated and self-serving. Programs like McAfee and Norton Antivirus seem not to have the will or good sense to shed unnecessary code.

I have used both applications I mentioned above, each for more than a year. At one time I remember them being sleek and nimble, but with each update they got more features that I didn’t need. Scanning took longer, but didn’t get any better. At which point, I had to ask, “why do I own these products?”

Lighter is better

You are far more likely to use a program that is simple and fast, so you will be making yourself more secure by finding an antivirus program that fits this description.

Now that there are so many free and good alternatives to overweight applications, don’t hesitate to junk what you’ve used in the past. Try something new. If that sucks, try something else.

You don’t need to put up with programs that think they should dictate the use of your computer’s resources. Reclaim your memory and hard drive space. You will be glad your computer still has some zip the next time you’re working on five spreadsheets, watching a movie, listening to music, and surfing the net all at the same time.

This blog post from ZDNet Australia surprised me:

Antivirus applications from Symantec, McAfee or Trend Micro — the three leading AV vendors in 2005 — are far less likely to detect new viruses and Trojans than the least popular brands.

This has nothing to do with the quality of the software or how long it takes the respective firms to update their clients with signatures and other malware countermeasures.

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However, the actual reason why the top selling antivirus applications don’t work is because malware authors are specifically testing their Trojans and viruses to make sure they can bypass these applications before releasing them in the wild.

“The most popular brands of antivirus on the market… have an 80 percent miss rate… So if you are running these pieces of software, eight out of 10 pieces of malicious code are going to get in…”

I mentioned Avast! Antivirus in the previous post because it is free, lightweight, and effective. It is even more attractive if being one of the little guys is a security advantage.

If you have been following this blog, you have so far installed a firewall, spyware and adware detectors, and a secure browser to keep you feeling safe and warm at night. And the best part is that it hasn’t cost you a single gold nugget to do so. Now it’s time for the final piece of software that is absolutely vital if you wish to protect your computer. As always, it’s free.

It takes a pirate to know a pirate

Avast! is a simple and clean, but ever swashbuckling, antivirus program that will have viruses walking the plank and begging for mercy. But there will be no mercy. Download it, update it often, scan often, and live a long, fully-toothed life on the high seas of security.

In an upcoming post I will map out how to use your new virus scanner most effectively. Here’s the gist of it: it’s easier to prevent viruses from boarding your ship in the first place than it is to fight them off once they’ve ransacked your rum rations and gorged a hole in the hull of your once mighty vessel.