Which Antivirus do you recommend for Windows Server 2012?

[Berryracer]

I have a license for Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2013 and Eset Smart Security but both of them don't install on the Server 2012 to my surprise

which antivirus do you recommend?

 

[Zxian]

Server operating systems need server versions of security software. I've been running my home server (2008R2) without any anti-virus for a long time now.

What is this server doing, and why do you think you need an anti-virus on it?

 

[Berryracer]

Server operating systems need server versions of security software. I've been running my home server (2008R2) without any anti-virus for a long time now.

What is this server doing, and why do you think you need an anti-virus on it?

well i dont go to any fishy places and i download cracks all my software is legal but i remember in the days of XP if you even run IE you get a virus right away so I kinda am paranoid now

 

[Zxian]

well i dont go to any fishy places and i download cracks all my software is legal but i remember in the days of XP if you even run IE you get a virus right away so I kinda am paranoid now

Are you using your server OS as a desktop? If so, stop. It's not meant to be used that way. Windows7/8 and IE9/10 are very secure. There's not much need for malware protection these days.

 

[Chiefcrowe]

Even if they are secure i disagree that there isn't much need for malware protection.
There are still many different vectors for people to break into your system and antivirus/malware software is just one of the layers that should be used.

Are you using your server OS as a desktop? If so, stop. It's not meant to be used that way. Windows7/8 and IE9/10 are very secure. There's not much need for malware protection these days.

 

[Berryracer]

Are you using your server OS as a desktop? If so, stop. It's not meant to be used that way. Windows7/8 and IE9/10 are very secure. There's not much need for malware protection these days.

well yes I am using Windows Server 2012 as my main OS starting from today because when I tried running it using VMWare Player I kept getting errors when assigning IPs manually and the computers not seeing each other (Thread here) so I thought lemme try installing Windows Server 2012 on my main machine rather than a VM

 

[Engineer]

I know that Microsoft Security Essentials will run with Server 2008 R2 but no clue if it will run with Server 2012.

 

[Berryracer]

I know that Microsoft Security Essentials will run with Server 2008 R2 but no clue if it will run with Server 2012.

No it wouldnt...

Im gonna try something else...

I will try installing Windows 8 Pro (I have an upgrade license which I bought for 15 bucks) since I know all my drivers / software work, and I'll install Hyper-V and install Win Server 2012 on it maybe that will work out better than VMware Player in terms of having connectivity to the server...

 

[seepy83]

Are you using your server OS as a desktop? If so, stop. It's not meant to be used that way. Windows7/8 and IE9/10 are very secure. There's not much need for malware protection these days.

This is awful advice. It screams ignorance.

OP - I've run Symantec Endpoint Protection on a 2012 server in a test/lab environment. I don't have any 2012 in production, but SEP ran fine.

 

[Zxian]

This is awful advice. It screams ignorance.

I didn't say no antivirus is needed. I said that there's not much need. I still run MSE on my systems at home, but it's mostly as a last defense rather than an extreme necessity as it was in the XP days.

I still think that using Server 2012 as a desktop OS is silly. I've never understood the appeal of using server versions of Windows for non-server applications.

 

[ND40oz]

I've used forefront endpoint protection 2010 and system center endpoint protection 2012.

 

[seepy83]

I didn't say no antivirus is needed. I said that there's not much need.

Oh, really? I must have poor reading comprehension, because these two statements both imply very strongly that you don't think Antivirus is needed.

I've been running my home server (2008R2) without any anti-virus for a long time now.

What is this server doing, and why do you think you need an anti-virus on it?

I totally agree that Server OS's shouldn't be used in place of desktop/client OS. But that doesn't negate the need for antivirus software.

 

[Zxian]

Oh, really? I must have poor reading comprehension, because these two statements both imply very strongly that you don't think Antivirus is needed.

I really don't think there's any need for that kind of attitude on forums. You also cut out the second part of my statement which gives the context. At no point did I say that antivirus was completely unnecessary.

The underlying security of Windows (and browsers for that matter) today is far better than it was 10 years ago. It's a rare case that MSE or MalwareBytes flag anything that needs my attention these days (perhaps 2-3 times per year). Like I said, it's a last line of defence. It's far less critical to have your anti-virus installer handy before connecting to the internet now. I also said that my home server (which serves files and printers, and handles my domain) doesn't have any anti-virus installed. A modern OS doesn't just "collect" malware by plugging in your ethernet cable.

 

[seepy83]

I really don't think there's any need for that kind of attitude on forums. You also cut out the second part of my statement which gives the context. At no point did I say that antivirus was completely unnecessary.

The underlying security of Windows (and browsers for that matter) today is far better than it was 10 years ago. It's a rare case that MSE or MalwareBytes flag anything that needs my attention these days (perhaps 2-3 times per year). Like I said, it's a last line of defence. It's far less critical to have your anti-virus installer handy before connecting to the internet now. I also said that my home server (which serves files and printers, and handles my domain) doesn't have any anti-virus installed. A modern OS doesn't just "collect" malware by plugging in your ethernet cable.

Sorry, but I have the same attitude in my real offline life when people start telling others that AntiVirus isn't important...it's not just my attitude on forums. My professional life has a very strong focus on Information Security, and I encounter people regularly that think they don't need to antivirus because modern operating systems and software are more secure than old ones (totally debatable depending on what software is in question), and they're computer-savvy and would never do anything to allow malware to enter their systems.

And to address your last statement "A modern OS doesn't just "collect" malware by plugging in your ethernet cable". Old OS's didn't just "collect" malware either...not until vulnerabilities were found and exploits were written.

 

[julowsky]

so what My question is on a more serious note. I have a active directory domain Server running a server 2012 forest type. What i am looking for serious input regarding is one of my core servers in the domain running data center 2012 and primary roles are hyper-v remote instance (session host) , application service host and iis. so she has active directory lightweight ds installed. and does not provide a primary domain controller role. so with that info and downtime being as low as possible, i have some kind of virus, im pretty sure it is running somwhere with the internet explorer. internet explorer freezes nomatter what domain or user account is signed in with. What is a registry utility that can be used in a way to not run into any configurations after repair? Connectivity to the server domain is becoming a issue. yet locally or via different subnet you can manually add other servers in the domain to the group. But does not find a current domain that that is joined. There are other issues and factors that lead me to somthing blocking ports or forwarding registry values. its hard to tell threw analyzing debugs with the amount of traffic from users.

 

[Bruce Fraser]

I still think that using Server 2012 as a desktop OS is silly. I've never understood the appeal of using server versions of Windows for non-server applications.

How about this for a reason: students can get it for free from Microsoft through DreamSpark.com. Not just once; but with every upgrade to Windows, they can get the equivalent server OS. If one has several computers, over the years that adds up to quite a lot of money.

 

[John Connor]

There's not much need for malware protection these days.

Are you high???

Do you know what a virus definition is how about a XSS infection?

 

[larry609]

I have a license for Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2013 and Eset Smart Security but both of them don't install on the Server 2012 to my surprise

which antivirus do you recommend?

This should answer your questions: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2491946,00.asp

 

[Firetrak]

kaspersky.

 

[Zahid Iqbal]

I can only recommend KasperSky Antivirus. No other way

 

[John Connor]

I'm sure the OP found something by now.