Why You Should Replace Microsoft Security Essentials With A Proper Antivirus

Discussion in 'other anti-malware software' started by lotuseclat79, Apr 11, 2014.

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  1. lotuseclat79

    lotuseclat79 Registered Member

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  2. Brandonn2010

    Brandonn2010 Registered Member

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    I've never understood the love for this AV. Yes it is user-friendly and simple, but there are other much better AVs that are as well.
     
  3. MisterB

    MisterB Registered Member

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    An AV is way at the bottom of my security setup in importance. Imaging and backup are at the top followed by a strict LUA with much tighter file permissions than Microsoft sets by default. Add to this strict software vetting and no casual installing of any software, script blocking, avoiding the kind of website that would host malware, a good firewall and I don't need much in the AV department.For my needs, MS security essentials is more than adequate. Baseline is fine and preferable to bloat.
     
  4. wtsinnc

    wtsinnc Registered Member

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    Agreed !
    I'm unaware of any truly excellent anti-malware 'solution' authored or maintained by Microsoft- ever. I recall the frenzy following the release of Microsoft Security Essentials, then the growing frustration and disappointment over update failures, broken installs, and features failing to work. Detection is pretty poor compared to other free AV solutions and MSE at one time had compatibility problems with Malwarebytes- among others. In my opinion running MSE is only slightly better than running Clam AV.

    If Microsoft bought Bitdefender, they would quickly turn it into S**t Defender.
     
  5. elapsed

    elapsed Registered Member

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    This is my care face.

    Indeed. God knows what 3rd party AV software is doing, or what security/privacy holes it's opening up with the amount of cruft it installs.

    Not to mention the blog is based entirely on tests (and terrible ones like AV-TEST at that), which Microsoft has openly stated they don't care about any more. They are focused on protecting against prevalent malware not predicting what malware will be in the next test.

    ROFL, no flippin thanks do I want that bloat. Browsers provide that perfectly fine.
     
  6. siljaline

    siljaline Registered Member

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    Count me among the many who could never understand the fascination with MSE either. :rolleyes:
     
    Last edited: Apr 11, 2014
  7. ronjor

    ronjor Global Moderator

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    This has been discussed here many times. Many opinions have been put forth, pro and con.

    In the end, it is a free program for users of Microsoft products that feel no need to pursue security programs they probably wouldn't understand in the first place.

    The fact remains that ANY antimalware program is capable of missing something. That's just the way it is.
     
  8. jmonge

    jmonge Registered Member

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    very true very true
     
  9. guest

    guest Guest

    I agree. Instead of keep getting panic when your favorite AV has lower detection rate compared to the previous test, even only by 0.07%, it's better to complement it with different approaches. MSE + Sandboxie, MSE + AppGuard, etc are IMO still better than some of the so-called "Total Protection" AVs. Not to mention that MSE implements modern mitigation techniques generally better than most AV software.

    EMET? I'd dare to say there's nothing better than EMET really.
     
  10. aztony

    aztony Registered Member

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    I think that a lot of users found MSE appealing because of its simplicity. It required very little thought or user action(s). But there are better free AVs that offer that approach now, Panda Cloud and Bitdefender, to name a couple. Graf makes a good point of augmenting MSE with other security complements to bolster one's defenses, but I still wouldn't recommend that anyone still running XP hold on to MSE, if it was their go to AV before support ended.
     
    Last edited: Apr 12, 2014
  11. Victek

    Victek Registered Member

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    Can you provide any professional test results showing that 3rd party AVs increase the attack surface compared with MSE?
     
  12. elapsed

    elapsed Registered Member

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    Have you been off the internet for the past 5 years?
     
  13. wtsinnc

    wtsinnc Registered Member

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    Hello GrafZeppelin;

    I was speaking of traditional antivirus/anti spyware applications, not behavior blockers or anti-exploit applications.

    You are correct; EMET is very good at what it does- provided it is properly configured and maintained.
    The problem with EMET- and this applies to LOTS of anti-malware software- is that EMET requires knowledgeable user interaction to achieve the degree of protection of which it is capable.
    Add to that the necessity to also install .NET 4.0/4.1 so to use it with the most secure (to-date) version of Internet Explore and you have exceeded the threshold that most users are willing to place themselves. They want perfect security but are unwilling to participate in building those layers of defenses.
    That is why security applications which require user interaction will never- in my opinion- become the norm.
     
  14. elapsed

    elapsed Registered Member

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    Not really. True for EMET 1, but EMET 4+ comes with preloaded profiles. It's becoming more of a install and forget program with each new version.
     
  15. wtsinnc

    wtsinnc Registered Member

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    Thank you for that information about EMET 4+; I should have researched before posting and I stand corrected.
     
  16. zapjb

    zapjb Registered Member

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    Well I planned on letting it ride on MSE until I wiped XP & replaced it with Mint/Ubuntu LTS sometime in the next 2 weeks.
    But M$ in it's wisdom no longer supports MSE on XP. So I installed Fortinet? as a lark till I Linux the HDD.
     
  17. Victek

    Victek Registered Member

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    Is that it? How about a professional answer to my question?
     
  18. snerd

    snerd Registered Member

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  19. harshisthere

    harshisthere Registered Member

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    Microsoft does not have anti phishing in MSE because it is handled by Smart Screen Filter in IE.
     
  20. phyniks

    phyniks Registered Member

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    I think there is a conflict in MS security products.
    They say they re made for novice users who do not need advanced security features.
    But they,the novice users,they are the main problem.
    Just try to download a popular song(or something else)...search your file
    in google.
    Click on the first search links .
    Lots of them guid you to download some programs for better functionality.you can see "DOWNLOD HERE" and "DIRECT DOWNLOAD" at evey quadrant of your pageand unfirtunately more than 90% of the programs are adwares(if you re lucky enough to not encounter a trojan)



    1.PNG

    Experienced users usualy know that.they know the file types.they know they should not count just on their antivirus.they know virustotal.
    But what about The Novices.

    The best thing they can do is to update their security softwares(on the best circumstances) and what if the antivirus is weak against these threats.
    Can MSE protect these people?!!!!
     
    Last edited: Apr 13, 2014
  21. zapjb

    zapjb Registered Member

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    That's not a conflict. Just adware/malware of the shoot yourself in the head variety instead of the drive by variety.
     
  22. Rico

    Rico Registered Member

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    Something else MSE does not do well, against the competition, is self protect itself. I've seen many machines protected by MSE & MSE is dead. After cleanup, she comes back to life.

    I've only seen one site, fairly old test results, which scores/ranks AV's ability to self protect, this kind of testing should be done more frequently & be a big factor in choice of.

    Also note "Consumers Reports" 3 yrs in a row, has given MSE, the old thumbs down, & touted other free AV's. This is where non savvy, would gravatate for antimalware choices.
     
  23. phyniks

    phyniks Registered Member

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    Sorry lad
    But I cant understand what u re getting at :thumbd:
    Thay claim their product is mainly for novice players but,the novitiates are more vulnerable to cyber attacks.
     
  24. Victek

    Victek Registered Member

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    I believe Rico is referring to PUPs - potentially unwanted programs - which is a polite way of talking about aggressive adware that borders on malware. Antivirus is typically not good at blocking it since it's mostly bundled with other software and users inadvertently give permission for it to be installed by not "opting out".
     
  25. Rico

    Rico Registered Member

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