For many years, anti-virus has been a major player in the control of exploits and infections. The truth is that things have dramatically changed and much of the junk that is infesting our computers is not really a virus at all.
It is considered nuisance Malware. Since this type of infection is not considered a traditional virus, most virus scanners will not catch it. It will pass through unnoticed and in most cases not even a full scan will detect it.
In addition to the many high priced paid anti-virus solutions, there are a ton of free products that work just as good as the paid versions. For this reason, old time companies like Symatec and McAffee are loosing lots of customers. Products like Norton are made to sound like you are getting a lot for your money when in reality you are just paying to slow down your computer. They are trying to pack as much stuff as they can into one program to make it look like a good deal.
In addition, products such as Malwarebytes, which actually focus on most of the current threats, are really putting a strain on the major anti-virus companies. These products are finding and removing well more then half of the threats that are in the wild.
With all the above things going against them, many of these mainstream companies will eventually start to do more development towards the business structure rather then the consumer side. The companies keep trying to stay on top of the threats but the bad guys today are really having a hard time staying keeping up with the threats. They will also be focusing on how to remove threats once they have already infiltrated a computer. It is simply a loosing battle trying to stay ahead of these infections and it appears that the bad guys are winning the battle.
So, what exactly should you be using to protect your computer? Well the answer is that you need a couple of separate lines of defense for the best results. The first thing to consider is what product should I get for my Anti-Virus? Well, the answer is to get one of great free products that are offered. I would recommend either Avast Free or Microsoft Security Essentials for the anti-virus part. There are others such as Avira and AVG so it will probably be a matter of personal preference as to which one you decide on. They all work well and will do the job for you.
Your anti-virus program is only part of the cocktail you will need to keep yourself safe. You will need a couple of more ingredients to add to the mix. The first will be Malwarebytes anti-Malware. Although the product is free, I highly recommend upgrading to the paid so you can get the important advantages of the real-time monitoring. Last but not least you should also add the free Malwarebytes anti-exploit. This little app does not slow you down at all and it works in a totally different way then conventional Malware products. Rather then using definitions to stop an infection, it looks for patterns that exploits use to enter your system. In this fashion, it is able to strop an infection well before it gets into your system.
If you use the above combination of products, you will have about the best protection possible for your computer. You still need to practice safe surfing habits, however.
Article by, Ross Deprey And Joe Z
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