Best Antivirus for 2014?

[AraB.]

Hello,

I would like to ask which is the best and top-rated antivirus for 2014?

Is BitDefender the first, or are there other better antiviruses out there?

And which do you prefer, BitDefender Total Security vs Eset NOD32 (both 2014 editions)?

Price isn't a concern...

Thank you,
Ara

 

[smakme7757]

Bitdefender seems to be very popular.

I've used Eset for quite sometime however i switched over to Sophos as i get it for free from work.

If i had to spend money on an AV I would have given Bitdefender a go, but you really can't go wrong with any of the major players.

Norton
Eset
Bitdefender
ect..

 

[AraB.]

Thank you smakme7757 for your opinion...

BTW I just found that Bitdefender's BlackFriday Offer (70% off it's antivirus) is still on and you guys can benefit by visiting http://www.bitdefender.com/media/html/blackfriday2013/?pid=SEM_NA_BlackFridayHeist and buying directly from there!

Other readers, which antivirus do you recommend??

-Ara

 

[AraB.]

LOL, I also found that you can benefit around 82% for Bitdefender Total Security (for 3pc) for $14.95 via an affiliate link, which is not allowed. Next time's a ban. --AnandTech Moderator mechbgon

Is it worth investing in Bitdefender, or any other excellent antivirus?

-Ara

 

[rumpleforeskin]

AV comparatives routinely benchmark AntiVirus software so their site may be worth looking at to give you an idea of how the most popular software compares.

http://chart.av-comparatives.org/chart1.php

 

[KeithP]

Fry's regularly has major AV software for free after rebate with free shipping. Usually there are two rebates involved, although not always, with one being an "upgrade" rebate. Check conditions carefully.

http://www.frys.com/ads/page8#AdNavi

-KeithP

 

[mechBgon]

I am currently re-testing the same virus sample every day at VirusTotal to see which antivirus products detect it. Two hours after I received the sample, the detection rate was 0 out of 50. It is now about five days old and the detection rate is up to 15/50 last I checked: https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/...21e1e4edcf80eb6d20b553cb4a469305431/analysis/ On any given day, any of the top vendors can miss the virus that steals your stuff. Deleting the virus five days later won't get your stuff back.

This is not a surprise to me, and if I were going to choose an antivirus product as the main line of defense, I would be looking for strong behavioral-detection performance. For a power user, however, I suggest using application whitelisting (such as Software Restriction Policy or at least Family Safety) combined with Microsoft EMET. Use a browser that has sandboxing technology (IE's Protected Mode or Chrome's sandboxing). Also uninstall unnecessary software, disable Java in your browsers (or uninstall Java completely if you don't need it), disable AutoPlay completely, and use Secunia PSI to check the rest of your software for missing security patches.

 

[MustISO]

Kinda scary that so many packages are missing that sample after 5 days.

 

[ultimatebob]

AV comparatives routinely benchmark AntiVirus software so their site may be worth looking at to give you an idea of how the most popular software compares.

http://chart.av-comparatives.org/chart1.php

It's odd that Symantec Antivirus isn't on that list. Isn't that one still a favorite for businesses?

 

[Juliet Wright1]

i think kaspersky is best .

 

[DavidAtncus]

I am currently re-testing the same virus sample every day at VirusTotal to see which antivirus products detect it. Two hours after I received the sample, the detection rate was 0 out of 50. It is now about five days old and the detection rate is up to 15/50 last I checked: https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/...21e1e4edcf80eb6d20b553cb4a469305431/analysis/ On any given day, any of the top vendors can miss the virus that steals your stuff. Deleting the virus five days later won't get your stuff back.

This is not a surprise to me, and if I were going to choose an antivirus product as the main line of defense, I would be looking for strong behavioral-detection performance. For a power user, however, I suggest using application whitelisting (such as Software Restriction Policy or at least Family Safety) combined with Microsoft EMET. Use a browser that has sandboxing technology (IE's Protected Mode or Chrome's sandboxing). Also uninstall unnecessary software, disable Java in your browsers (or uninstall Java completely if you don't need it), disable AutoPlay completely, and use Secunia PSI to check the rest of your software for missing security patches.

It looks like a RAR file was uploaded to VirusTotal.
Could it be that some engines don't scan RAR files, at least in the way they are configured in VT?
Might that explain why so many products aren't detecting anything, and they might detect malware if the file submitted is not compressed?

 

[mechBgon]

Good question. Here is a VirusTotal scan of the .EXE file that was inside the .RAR file:

https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/...a3947ce020bccee22ae5db9d/analysis/1390927169/

and here is the scan of the .RAR file itself at the same time:

https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/...0eb6d20b553cb4a469305431/analysis/1390927269/

Same results, so it looks like the engines are unpacking the .RAR file.

I submitted the sample directly to Kaspersky Lab and to Microsoft's malware portal several days ago, so it's interesting that neither of them is detecting it yet. Kaspersky used to be lightning-fast at this stuff, like I would hear back from a real live malware analyst in 30-90 minutes saying they'd added detection to their next signatures.

 

[DavidAtncus]

Thanks for the additional testing and info!
That is interesting about Kaspersky, from what I've read it's suppose to be one of the best products ...

 

[nine9s]

I am trying a trial of Emsisoft Anti-malware. It uses the Bitdefender engine and signatures and its own, plus it has a behavior blocker. It has been the highest ranking against 0-day threats lately and is equal to Bitdefender in file detection. So far, it is very light on system and you can find it for $15.95 (normal $39.95.)

 

[nemesismk2]

I use Kaspersky Internet Security 2014 for Windows XP and Windows 7 because i don't trust Microsoft to get anything right these days.

 

[DerkSeo]

ESET NOD32 has saved me a few times and it doesn't slow down your computer at all like most antivirus programs out there.

If you want protection without reduces computer speed I say go with ESET NOD32.

 

[Venomous]

I've been using Webroot going on 2 yrs with excellent results. The overhead is extremely low, has cloud control settings and is reliable.

 

[santz]

the only antivirus i have used over the years which i have ever paid for is kaspersky
best not met with the Russians

Da Comrad Premiere -

aah nostalgic memories from C&C: Red alert 2

 

[JEDIYoda]

ESET NOD32 has saved me a few times and it doesn't slow down your computer at all like most antivirus programs out there.

you can`t rightly make that claim unless you have used most antivirus programs and kno0w first hand!

There are many that do not slow down your computer at all....
Panda cloud....BitDefender....Avira....Webroot SecureAnywhere AV and many others....

 

[mikeymikec]

"Excellent results" is another amusing endorsement. I'd say that it's been at least ten years since I was at risk of doing something to my computer that would infect it, so from that one might assume that my anti-virus is GREAT (even though there's no basis for that assumption), or possibly I don't have any AV installed at all, and/or that my system has only been compromised with the most efficient rootkit which doesn't give itself away at all, or that I just think that computers always look like a fetid bog of pop-ups and why isn't Windows more stable!!11

As for av-comparatives.org, I have difficulty believing that ANY security product out there has >90% file detection accuracy (unless we're talking about 5 year old samples or something equally pointless), let alone that the worst one scrapes that figure. Almost every appointment I schedule in my line of work involves removing malware of some description from a customer's computer.

 

[andylau09]

I've been using ESET NOD32 for a few years, no problem here.

 

[Sattern]

I prefer MalwareBytes Professional, Super-AntiSpyware and Mircosoft Security Essentials.

My PC hasn't run into any problems in awhile, and if i'm alerted of any issues they are fixed within minutes and a restart.

 

[nemesismk2]

Hello,

I would like to ask which is the best and top-rated antivirus for 2014?

Is BitDefender the first, or are there other better antiviruses out there?

And which do you prefer, BitDefender Total Security vs Eset NOD32 (both 2014 editions)?

Price isn't a concern...

Thank you,
Ara

which operating system do you have if you don't mind me asking?

 

[John Connor]

I use Sanboxie for the browser, have Comodo Firewall installed and Bitdefender free.

The scanners I use are: Herdprotect, Malkwarebytes, Sophos Virus Removal Tool, SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition, Adwcleaner and TDsskiller. If you have malware run Rkill first.