free antivirus - current coolness

[Beest]

Being comcast customers we get Norton without charge, but it's obtrusive and takes up plenty of resources.

We have a new computer with Win 8.1 arriving soon, and I'm thinking not to put the Norton on, but free solutions instead.

In a PCmag review they rated AVG as the best free, but a bit obtrusive trying to get you to purchase the full version and extras. Bitedefender was rated as almost as good but very stealthy, I'm quite attracted to this option.

If I get one of these two do I need a separate Firewall, or is the one built into windows OK? Zonealarm seems to be the winner in this category.


or is Norton OK, since I'm not paying directly for it?

[glatt]

Interesting. I've been running Avast for the last few years and lately it has been getting annoying, popping up and offering to improve the performance of my system if only I would download their latest service, or buy the upgrade, and stuff like that.

I'm interested in this topic.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Avast and AVG used to boast about the millions of the casual users they were protecting for free, as a way to prove their expertise to potential paying customers who were serious about security. But after a few years of good reviews, and tech blogs singing their praises, they've both become aggressive, and in some cases down right sneaky, trying to get their free customers to buy.

[Gravdigr]

I've used AVG for years and have never been nagged to buy the pay-for-it version.

As far as I'm concerned, AVG rocks.

It's very unobtrusive, and doesn't hog resources.

I never know it's there til I scan a file, or do a full computer scan.

[Gravdigr]

Also, AVG works.

[xoxoxoBruce]

If you get a new PC and download AVG, I think you'll find it still works well but has become a nag.

[Gravdigr]

That's unfortunate.

[busterb]

Avast SUCKS Just installed a few days ago on an old xp box and it's much slower. IMHO.

[mbpark]

AVG is still sneaky.

It still works, however. I have it at home with a Win7 PC and put it on my niece's Win8.1 laptop and my wife's as well.

No issues here with it.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Did you download from AVG online for those two installations, or do you have a disc?

[infinite monkey]

I ended up buying Norton (and I can never hear that in my head as anything other than Jackie Gleason saying NORTON) because I'd been through every free anti-virus on earth. I always liked AVG but it seemed intrusive, kept telling me what a bad person I was for not buying the full thing. I've liked NORTON's services.

[Beest]

The reviews i read said AVG was very good, the best for free, but the ones you pay for, Kapersky, Norton and another, do score better, but not much.

But since I would be getting Norton at no charge I (I won't say free because I'm still paying comcast) is there any reason not too and go with one of the free ones instead.

[sexobon]

Hi Beest. Since you're asking about Norton versus others, I'll mention that I received an email from Norton just today that raises concern about them. It seems I'm still on their mailing list from registering a free trial that came with my notebook PC; but, I dropped Norton because it was annoying. The entire text is copied below with the part that concerns me in bold and followed by my related post-quotation note:

You’ve likely heard of Heartbleed over the past week. We wanted to share a bit about what it is, steps we have taken to protect our customers and steps you can take to protect yourself across the Web.

Some versions of Norton AntiVirus, Norton Internet Security and Norton 360 were impacted. On April 10th, we distributed updates to these impacted products to stop and block Heartbleed. Norton Accounts used to sign into Norton.com were not impacted. Please refer to our FAQ for more information on how we’re defending against this vulnerability.

Why Heartbleed affects everyone on the Internet

Heartbleed is a bug in some versions of OpenSSL, a set of software tools used widely across the Web for security. This bug may reveal your name, passwords and other private information.

If you visited a website that uses a vulnerable version of OpenSSL during the last two years, your personal information may be compromised. You can use this tool: http://safeweb.norton.com/heartbleed to check if a particular website is currently impacted.

How to protect yourself

Due of the complex nature of this vulnerability, changing your passwords before sites update their version of OpenSSL won’t fully protect you. Here are some simple steps you can take as a precaution:


• Change your passwords on any website that contains sensitive information about you. You should first confirm that the site does not contain the Heartbleed vulnerability by using this tool.

• If you’ve reused passwords on multiple sites, it’s especially important to change them. To change your Norton Account password, visit manage.norton.com and click Account Information.

• Beware of phishing emails and type website addresses directly in your browser instead of clicking on a link through an email.

• Monitor your bank and credit card accounts for unusual activity.


It may take an extended period of time for all the sites affected by Heartbleed to fix this vulnerability. To determine if a website is vulnerable to Heartbleed using this tool. We recommend you only exchange personal or sensitive information such as your credit card number if the site is not affected by Heartbleed.

You can learn more about Heartbleed and its impact to consumers by checking out our FAQ or by following the Norton Protection Blog.

Stay Safe Online

Norton

My current antivirus service hasn't informed me that some of THEIR programs were impacted. Why was Norton?

[Gravdigr]

Heartbleed. Ugh. What can you do about it, besides changing your password(s)?

[Gravdigr]

Not much is my guess.