Our last post was about ways to avoid malware (if you didn’t see it, make sure to check it out here! That one is pretty important). This time around we’re going to segue into antivirus. Specifically, what does it do and which ones are actually worth purchasing? As you may expect, we are asked quite often which antivirus software we reccomend. Less often but still fairly frequently, we have people asking how they got malware with their antivirus installed (this we also actually covered in the Defeating Malware post). So, let’s take a look at these two questions.
Which products do we reccomend?
We reccomend either Trend Micro or Bitdefender depending on your needs. That said, we almost always default to Trend Micro as we have been a partner with them for over 15 years and they provide a more cost effective solution in most cases. Why these products and not others? Trend Micro and Bitdefender have rock solid reputations and are proven, industry-leading, best in class options verified through independent testing. And these top ranking test results? They go back years, not just some lucky month. So which option is best for you? Like we mentioned, it really depends on your needs and budget. For example, Bitdefender offers a unique home level IDS (intrusion detection system) capable of protecting your IoT, Internet of Things, devices (think anything “smart” which isn’t protectable through normal antivirus). One of our technicians actually served on a security advisory group with Bitdefender and was provided this, at that time, beta IDS for testing and feedback. Of course, like we said, our reccomendation to you depends on your needs. Most people don’t need a home IDS and are well served through a 5 user license for Trend Micro’s Maximum Security. Whichever way you go, both solutions offer industry leading protection and will keep you well defended.
Trend Micro and Bitdefender have rock solid reputations and are proven, industry-leading, best in class options verified through independent testing.
Ok then, now that we know which antivirus products to go for, what on earth are they actually doing for you? The key here is within the name: anti “virus.” These are not anti “malware” or anti “hacking” programs. Antivirus is amazing at what it does and that is protecting you from viruses, Trojans, worms, rootkits, and keyloggers (if you want the technical details on what these are, they are referenced within our malware post as well). Trend Micro and Bitdefender will also serve to protect you from almost all ransomware varients. The important thing to remember here however is that no product is perfect and malicious people are always working to create something not yet detectable. It is a constant battle of good vs evil in the blocking and creation of threats. Regardless, Trend Micro and Bitdefender are the best options for keeping you safe in this digital world and are constantly updating to insure you the best protection.
This was a shorter topic but let’s go ahead with a few conclusionary points:
1: Trend Micro and Bitefender are hands down your best choices for antivirus solutions. The best for you depends on your specific needs. Ask us! We are here to help.
2: Antivirus programs do exactly what the name implies: they protect you from virus-like programs. Malware is best defeated through understanding where it comes from and hacking prevention is done through specialized hardware/software and network settings.
3: If you do happen to get malware while using one of these antivirus solutions, odds are they still actually kept you protected from something worse. Give us a call and we’ll clean the malware out and try to help you identify how it got there in the first place.
