Do any of you guys pay to for anti-virus software on your personal PC? If so, what do you use?

[RH | 4,924]

First, I do use anti-virus software.  I hate it but at times it's necessary.  But this has been on a personal machine, I don't click on any email I didn't prompt on and if any company I do business with seems to do anything fishy, I always log directly into their web page from a bookmark, rather than clicking on links in emails.  I'm a pretty safe guy.

But due to reasons I won't bring up (but I am a software developer, so that's enough context) I need to up my game.  The problem is, I simply not had enough reason to care on my personal machine than doing anything else than install a free copy of AVG.

What do you guys use that have paid for Anti-Virus software?  What do you like, what do you not like?  Is it worth it?  I ask these questions because I can certainly google something like "What is the best, personal Anti-Virus Software 2023" and get results.  But I prefer to here people's real opinions and not a single "Top 10" list is going to provide me much information in the way of actual experience.  Plus, I know that none of you guys are trying to sell me something from an affiliate link.

 My main desire is to have something that works, is configurable and works 100% in the background, unless a true malicious attempt is caught, and not something intended to scare me like "oh noes!  You have had 1,000 "tracking cookies" installed on your machine!"

So, does anyone have any recommendations for Anti-Virus Software?  I could drop $30-50/year.  I'm not looking to go nuts. 

[Brickman | 3,995]

I just use MS defender which comes with Windows 10. It does the job and isn’t too invasive and if I’m running things it deems I shouldn’t be I can just turn it off or white list items. 

In terms of paid solutions I’ve used Bitdefender plus and I think that was one of the best and easiest to use. The free version is also really good.

[RH | 4,924]

6 minutes ago, Brickman said:

I just use MS defender which comes with Windows 10. It does the job and isn’t too invasive and if I’m running things it deems I shouldn’t be I can just turn it off or white list items. 

In terms of paid solutions I’ve used Bitdefender plus and I think that was one of the best and easiest to use. The free version is also really good.

This is pretty much what I'm reading.  I'd probably, normally be fine with just Windows Defender but being that it's also integrated into Windows, it just feels like any general purposed exploit is going to figure out how to get around that first.

I didn't have time to download, configure, run, test, etc. a new ant-virus today, assuming it would have turned out to not be what I need, but I do need to get this done.  I'll try the free version of BitDefender tonight. and take it from there.

Edited October 20, 2023 by RH

[a3quit4s | 4,107]

People still pay for anti-virus? Been using Microsoft Defender since forever and it’s always been good. 
 

edit: I also work in the industry and make good decisions when it comes to unknown stuff on my PC

Edited October 20, 2023 by a3quit4s

[DarkTone | 986]

Kaspersky. Its ok. Had it for about 10 years. 

[DefaultGen | 5,414]

Everyone has agreed to just willingly use spyware now. Windows, Facebook, Discord, Google, etc. AV software is just another program that phones home your files and data to another company, and probably gives you adware-esque pop ups to upsell subscriptions.

Virtually all Windows antivirus has 99.9%+ "protection" rates including Windows Defender, meaning inability for malware to do bad things, even if it isn't detected while inactive https://www.av-comparatives.org/tests/malware-protection-test-september-2023/

Personal data collection/breaches and phishing have largely replaced effective malware that targets individual computers.

[Brickman | 3,995]

8 minutes ago, RH said:

This is pretty much what I'm reading.  I'd probably, normally be fine with just Windows Defender but being that it's also integrated into Windows, it just feels like any general purposed exploit is going to figure out how to get around that first.

I didn't have time to download, configure, run, test, etc. a new ant-virus today, assuming it would have turned out to not be what I need, but I do need to get this done.  I'll try the free version of BitDefender tonight. and take it from there.

This is true to an extent but MS are way more invested in security these days. They don't think of it as an afterthought like the old days. They are actively paying bounties to people who find exploits in their Defender program and Windows program. It's still not perfect but considering you come from an IT background it should be enough for you imo.

A lot of attacks come from phishing or when people download unknown software. Personally I think having a solid disaster recovery plan is way more important than having the best of the best AV. Make sure you are constantly backing up to cold storage and another type of backup. I personally have cloud, NAS in RAID configuration and hard drive. 

5 minutes ago, DarkTone said:

Kaspersky. Its ok. Had it for about 10 years. 

Oh yeah I forgot about Kaspersky. I have used the free and paid version at a workplace and both were very good. An alternative if you aren't digging Bitdefender.

[Gloves | 11,800]

12 minutes ago, Brickman said:

Personally I think having a solid disaster recovery plan is way more important than having the best of the best AV. Make sure you are constantly backing up to cold storage and another type of backup. I personally have cloud, NAS in RAID configuration and hard drive. 

This is the way. 

[Link | 2,715]

35 minutes ago, Brickman said:

Make sure you are constantly backing up to cold storage

I just keep my computer in the refrigerator, that way everything is already there. 

[RH | 4,924]

54 minutes ago, a3quit4s said:

People still pay for anti-virus? Been using Microsoft Defender since forever and it’s always been good. 
 

edit: I also work in the industry and make good decisions when it comes to unknown stuff on my PC

Yeah, I've never ran into anything and I think the main concern I'd have is somehow accidentally clicking through a phishing scam.  That's never happened, but there's a first time for anything.  Plus, when you need extra security for, reasons, well it helps to have a proper extra layer of security.

25 minutes ago, Gloves said:

[RE: Back-ups] This is the way. 

In my case, the issue isn't lost data, it's stolen data.  I'm not working for the Pentagon, but I have recently picked up a client where I dev on my local machine, but I do have to work with some sensitive data.  The fact is, I need to basically take reasonable efforts to cover my tail since I'm using my personal hardware.

I've worked on projects even more sensitive in the past, but this is the first time where I've not been given a laptop, on an AD with proper security applications and patches pushed to my device every morning.

[BlackVega | 583]

Previously when using Windows XP and 7 I used Eset for a very long time and was very satisfied with it until the keygen stopped working

[Brickman | 3,995]

30 minutes ago, Link said:

I just keep my computer in the refrigerator, that way everything is already there. 

A seperate freezer offers a lot more protection though. I’d recommend looking into some solutions.

[Brickman | 3,995]

27 minutes ago, RH said:

Yeah, I've never ran into anything and I think the main concern I'd have is somehow accidentally clicking through a phishing scam.  That's never happened, but there's a first time for anything.  Plus, when you need extra security for, reasons, well it helps to have a proper extra layer of security.

In my case, the issue isn't lost data, it's stolen data.  I'm not working for the Pentagon, but I have recently picked up a client where I dev on my local machine, but I do have to work with some sensitive data.  The fact is, I need to basically take reasonable efforts to cover my tail since I'm using my personal hardware.

I've worked on projects even more sensitive in the past, but this is the first time where I've not been given a laptop, on an AD with proper security applications and patches pushed to my device every morning.

Then you probably want to look more into network security vs AV. Segregation from your main home network is probably the key here. Definitely have a look into AV stuff but put a focus on your network security too.

[RH | 4,924]

34 minutes ago, Brickman said:

Then you probably want to look more into network security vs AV. Segregation from your main home network is probably the key here. Definitely have a look into AV stuff but put a focus on your network security too.

Sure, and "anti-virus" is a bit of a misnomer these days.  I don't want anything fancy.  AVG is probably fine, but I hate all of their bloody pop-ups so I don't want to give them money.