Anti-virus software - McAfee v free software

[zico]

My McAfee anti-virus software is coming up for renewal, at £90 for 2 years, and it claims it will protect all my devices.

Before I renew, I'd appreciate opinions on how good it is, and how free anti-virus software compares. I use my main desktop PC for internet banking, so want it to be secure, but £90 seems like quite a lot if the free options are good enough.

Appreciate any thoughts and comments.

[GeoffF100]

The Windows 10 version of Windows Defender is probably as good as you will get, and free. Certainly, your bank could not claim that you had been negligent by using it. Nonetheless, you should take other precautions. Follow all your bank's security advice. Also back up your files, using multiple devices and media in rotation, and make a Windows 10 installation disc (or flash drive) and make sure that you can boot from it.

[zico]

I use Windows 8. When I tried to update to Windows 10 with my last computer, it killed my computer and I had to buy a new one!

As a result, I'd be interested in anti-virus options that are good and can work with Windows 8.

[GeoffF100]

The Windows 8 version of Windows Defender appears to be OK too. Upgrading to Windows 10 cannot kill your computer. You can always recover from a software problem, provided you have backups. If the hardware broke when you were updating, that was just very bad luck.

[Redmires]

Check if your ISP provides free anti-virus software. I'm with Plusnet which comes with free McAfee.

And here's some reviews of the best free software.

https://www.techsupportalert.com/best-f ... ftware.htm

Kaspersky was free from Barclays Bank but has fallen out of favour recently due to the Russia links.

[ReformedCharacter]

Take a serious look at Sophos home. A free for home use version of the commercial software.

Avoid the old stalwarts like AVG or Avast, they have become just too intrusive and bloated.

Sophos stays out of the way and just seems to work.

I use Avast but I would guess that Sophos is a good alternative. I used to use it at work for about 100 machines and found it excellent as was the support on the odd occasion it was needed.

RC

[GeoffF100]

Here is an interesting article:

https://www.howtogeek.com/225385/what%E ... od-enough/

They agree with my assessment that Windows 10 Defender is probably as good an anti-virus as you will get, and possibly the best. They also push the idea that we should use the paid for version of Malwarebytes in addition. However, we cannot be sure that they do not have a vested interest here. Malware appears to be a much bigger problem for Windows than it is for other platforms, and Microsoft will have to do something about that, as they have done for viruses.

[UncleEbenezer]

Kaspersky was free from Barclays Bank but has fallen out of favour recently due to the Russia links.

That's political. Kaspersky has an excellent track record.

There's also a suspicion, which I find more plausible than many conspiracy theories, that antivirus software is routinely co-opted by the NSA and possibly other agencies to spy on users. Kaspersky being Russian are outside the jurisdiction of the NSA and its friends, and declined to cooperate. The US government ban and its gradual spread is payback for that.

[Infrasonic]

Kaspersky was free from Barclays Bank but has fallen out of favour recently due to the Russia links.

That's political. Kaspersky has an excellent track record.

There's also a suspicion, which I find more plausible than many conspiracy theories, that antivirus software is routinely co-opted by the NSA and possibly other agencies to spy on users. Kaspersky being Russian are outside the jurisdiction of the NSA and its friends, and declined to cooperate. The US government ban and its gradual spread is payback for that.

I agree about Barclays, think they were just a*se covering rather than actually doing any serious due diligence investigations.

However, having just read Bill Browder's 'Red Notice' I wouldn't be too convinced about the autonomy of any Russian organisation under Putin's regime.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Browder
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergei_Magnitsky

I had a Ukranian great aunt who also wrote a book ('I spied for Stalin') about her experiences in Russia (her father was a three star general who 'disappeared' during one of the regular Stalin purges).
Putin is cut from the same cloth...

[Breelander]

Malware appears to be a much bigger problem for Windows than it is for other platforms, and Microsoft will have to do something about that, as they have done for viruses.

They have, at least for the Enterprise environment. Defender has ' Potentially Unwanted Application' (PUA) detection built in (aka PUP) and their definitions are already in the standard definitions updates, but PUA detection is normally only turned on for Enterprise networks.

Detect and block Potentially Unwanted Applications
Applies to: Windows 10
Audience: Enterprise security administrators

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/window ... -antivirus

However, it can be turned on in any edition including Home by creating a couple of registry entries.

in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender
create a new DWORD called PUAProtection and set value to 1

in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\MpEngine
create a new DWORD called MpEnablePus and set value to 1

To turn off, set values to 0 or delete them.

[Slarti]

I've used most of the AV offerings and, although McAfee was one of the best, that was years ago and I certainly wouldn't pay for it.

I have found AVG, Avast, Comodo and Sophos all to have become bloated. Windows Defender, on Win7, which is what I use, is not very good, as far as I can tell and so I am currently using Bitdefender free edition.

It seems to be working and has blocked a number of potential problems with links in emails.

It also seems to offer some protection for the current rogue DDE issue and I'm not sure that anything else free does.

Slarti

[Breelander]

Windows Defender, on Win7, which is what I use, is not very good, as far as I can tell...

No, it isn't. But it isn't an AV either (not the version in W7). For Windows 7 Microsoft recommend you use a proper AV (as you are doing). They recommend Microsoft Security Essentials (which uses the same detection engine and definitions as are used in the 'proper' Defender in 8/10).

[stewamax]

McAfee - at £90 for 2 years

Windows Defender and McAfee are both false economies with poor malware recognition capabilities,
And £90.... for how many devices? I recently bought a 10-licence / 1 year Kaspersky Internet Security pack for £29

There is always a chance of being spied on by a national security agency through the backdoor of such a package, but protection against common-or-garden virus attacks is what I worry about. Of the best, Kaspersky is Russian; Bitdefender is Romanian; Norton (Symantec) is US.

[GeoffF100]

Windows Defender and McAfee are both false economies

That is not true according to the How To Geeks. More importantly, all the other virus checkers introduce vulnerabilities that Windows Defender does not.

[Breelander]

Windows Defender and McAfee are both false economies

That is not true according to the How To Geeks....

Since the How-To Geek wrote that article the Fall Creators Update (1709) has added a lot more new features to Defender. It now includes Exploit Protection (on by default) and Controlled Folder Access that can block ransomware from encrypting your documents.

...Windows Defender Exploit Guard – a set of intrusion prevention capabilities offering many of the mitigations previously part of EMET, specifically:
◦Exploit protection – automatically applies exploit mitigation techniques to the OS and individual apps, configured[i] using the Windows Defender Security Center app or Windows PowerShell
◦Attack surface reduction – set of rules targeting and preventing actions and apps typically used by exploit-seeking malware
◦Network protection – prevents users from using any application to access dangerous domains that may host phishing scams, exploits, or other malicious content
◦Controlled folder access - anti-ransomware feature, that, when enabled, makes it so that only the apps you approve can access Windows system files and data folders

Microsoft | What’s new for IT pros in Windows 10, version 1709

Controlled Folder Access is off by default, because if you turn it you will then have to whitelist some of your apps to let them through the protection. It's well worth turning on though.

The Register | Please activate the anti-ransomware protection in your Windows 10 Fall Creators Update PC

[Andy46]

Hi,

I've no idea why, but you can get update codes far cheaper from amazon than you can directly from McAfee

A 1 year update to Livesafe costs £15

https://www.amazon.co.uk/DOWNLOAD-McAfe ... e+livesafe

I've used the above so can verify it works.

[GeoffF100]

The How To Geek article and other sources make it clear that you can make your PC less secure rather than more secure by installing third party virus checkers. If you want security, buy a second hand laptop (for the price of a couple of years virus subscription), do a fresh OS install, and use the laptop solely for visiting your financial service providers. No emails. No external media. That way, the bad guys will have to infect one of your financial service providers or your operating system provider, before they get to test your on board security.

[Slarti]

The How To Geek article and other sources make it clear that you can make your PC less secure rather than more secure by installing third party virus checkers. If you want security, buy a second hand laptop (for the price of a couple of years virus subscription), do a fresh OS install, and use the laptop solely for visiting your financial service providers. No emails. No external media. That way, the bad guys will have to infect one of your financial service providers or your operating system provider, before they get to test your on board security.

If you are on Win10, that may be true, but the OP is on Win8 where a good AV is a necessity.

Slarti

[stewamax]

To return to OP:

My McAfee anti-virus software is coming up for renewal, at £90 for 2 years, and it claims it will protect all my devices. Before I renew, I'd appreciate opinions on how good it is

My opinion is that it is a poor product. Even it it were free I wouldn't install it because doing so so might make me wrongly feel protected.
Ever wonder why some ISPs give it away (at least for year 1) free?
Its namesake original owner John McAfee who sold out ages ago was quoted (when Intel bought the company and announced that it would trade under a different name): "I am now everlastingly grateful to Intel for freeing me from this terrible association with the worst software on the planet. These are not my words, but the words of millions of irate users."

McAfee himself is a colourful character. He is deeply into Bitcoin mining and tweeted in July that the price of a Bitcoin would skyrocket to USD 500K by 2020 and "If not, I will eat my own d*ck on national television". With the present Bitcoin explosion, he might just be on a winner!

[jfgw]

McAfee himself is a colourful character. He is deeply into Bitcoin mining and tweeted in July that the price of a Bitcoin would skyrocket to USD 500K by 2020 and "If not, I will eat my own d*ck on national television".

He must be quite a contortionist!

Julian F. G. W.