Can You Trust Free Antivirus Software?

Saw this on PC World's site (posted 08/24/09). They had AV-test.org test the free AVs.

Can You Trust Free Antivirus Software?

 

Hi,

If you can find any free AV which is worse than this let me know.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJXL....com/user/PegHorse&feature=player_profilepage

Thanks.

 

I wonder how much click-through ad revenue PC World gets when someone opts for a free program?

 

Summarized

-Top 6(5) by PCW rating
-Rating based on detection/overall performance/scan speed/etc

1. Avira: 92
2. Avast: 91
3. AVG: 86 - MSE: 86
4. PC Tools: 69
5. Comodo: 68

-Top 6 by detection rating

1. Avira: 98.9%
2. Avast: 98.2%
3. MSE: 97.8%
4. AVG: 95.8%
5. Comodo: 74.6%
6. PC Tools: 46%

-Top 6 by detection rating: 2 week old signatures

1. Avira: 53%
2. MSE: 52%
3. AVG: 47%
4. Avast: 46%
5. Comodo: 41%
6. PC Tools: 33%

-Top 6 by detection rating: 4 week old signatures

1. Avira: 45%
2. MSE: 44%
3. AVG: 41%
4. Avast: 41%
5. Comodo: 39%
6. PC Tools: 37%

EDIT: Detection tests are performed by av-test.org

 

They made a rather daft statement.

"Do-it-yourselfers can often find good advice at helpful sites like Wilders Security Forums, but even there you shouldn't expect to talk to anyone for help with a free antivirus app. (Unless you can bribe a techie friend, that is.)"

Last time I checked free AVs get at least as much coverage as paid ones.Ok this is a minor thing but just one more reason why I can't take anything PC World does too seriously.

 

I thought Comodo was a fast scanner but seems it,s not correct too.

 

Yes you can trust free av programs.
I disagree with the article regarding getting help for a free av at this forum. I think members are very helpful with free programs.

 

Can You Trust Free Antivirus Software? If this question was asked a few years back, I would have say definitely NO. But now free security products are better than they ever had been before. I run my own computer shop and build custom systems for my customers. I give them the option of which security setups they want to use, paid or free. If they want paid, then I will install a trial version of the paid products and let them purchase the products themselves.

I used to recommend only paid products to my customers, but in the last year, I felt confident to recommend free products to my customers.

Most of my customers are novice because they pretty much don't know the rules of the does and don't(s).

What made me fell confident to recommend free products? over the last year, I had more customers with paid products experience more malware related issues than the customers with free products. Of coarse testing site can show some kind of comparison between paid and free products, but first hand experiences are much more reliable.

Of coarse the companies that sale only paid products, don't want others to know this because it cuts their sales.

So it is possible to built a system with only free security products and still have the reliable protection.

The following are what I use to build a free security setup for my customers based on their preferences: I also make recommendations if they don't know.

Avira AntiVir
avast! Home Edition
AVG Free
Outpost Free
Online Armor Free
COMODO Internet Security (Firewall)
a-squared Anti-Malware Free
Privatefirewall
PC Tools Firewall Plus
Spyware Doctor Starter Edition
SUPERAntiSpyware
Malwarebytes
Spybot S&D
Ad-Aware Free
SpywareBlaster
Microsoft Windows Defender
McAfee SiteAdvisor
Spyware Terminator

My customers have been more satisfied with the free security setups because the cost is less plus the protection has been better for them.

Thanks.

 

trust that stems from the dikats of paid or free is a mere hogwash. you trust an av for its performance not whether its $80 or $00.The only thing lighter after shelling $$ for a much touted av is your purse...not your pc

 

good for panda

 

Trust em, well yes and no.

Depends who/what you're trusting. Lots of excellent soft is available for free, and has been for years. Some is provided by a person or people who have other jobs but code in their spare time, often asking for donations, nothing wrong in that. A lot is very poor, or just ineffective.

Other free soft is provided by a person or people who run it as a business, this is a taster for other versions, which they hope you'll upgrade to.

The thing is, if very few people do purchase, then they won't be able to survive in the long term, no matter how good the soft is.

So in that sense, we won't be able to Trust that they'll always be around. Which would be a great shame, and i'm Sure a lot of us would miss them if they went.

 

I gotta agree with Ron. I don't mind paying for reasonably priced antivirus or antimalware software. It's pretty cheap insurance when you come to think of it. And at the same time we are supporting them and allowing them to hire more people, do more research, make more improvments, etc.

But to answer the question at hand. Yes, for the most part I do think you can trust and be adequately protected with the higher rated free solutions out there.

 

Good point, they have to make money or we all would have a lot fewer security apps to choose from, and not near the quality either. Although I use a paid AV, I really appreciate these companies that provide free alternatives, because they realize how important it is that as many pc users as possible stay protected to help prevent the further spreading of malware and it's destructive ability.

 

Cant' tell. Is there an English transcript?

 

MSE stats don't look too shabby either, and it's technically still in beta.

 

It scans fast, not faster than Avira, yet. As stated by the article, you need to keep in mind that it's slower due to the deep analysis it does, as it doesn't have the added massive signature database like Avira. (Which is a good thing in my opinion.)

 

Unfortunately no, it is only in french.
But I'll summarise whaat happened.
The guy was testing Mcafee Total Protection 2009 against fresh URLs but he could only use 5 URLs because in the process Mcafee got terminated by malware which it failed to stop.
Upon reboot of the PC, Mcafee did not load and the PC was compromised.

So bashing AVs just because they are free is not a smart move, I wonder what paid AV has a better detection rate than Avira.
There are some good free and paid AVs, one should choose one which really protects in real world situations.

 

ya its better to pay $80 to a top av than paying $50 for xp antivirus 2010.But statistics show that the % difference in paid and free is far less than the difference between $80 and $00

 

We have tons of internet users that don't bother installing an anti-virus even if money wasn't an issue. They believe browsing familiar web pages and checking email is just fine and won't cause any problems down the road.

These same people don't care about updating software, browsers and patching Windows updates. They are content with seeing the annoying Windows and Java update icons instead. Money and time well spent on more important things in life until they get strange bank statements from across the country.

 

Apparently Norton puts a lot of trust in free anti-malware software-

http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow_viewer/0,1205,l%3D237846%26a%3D237834%26po%3D1,00.asp

 

Running and being very pleased with the freeware versions of several AV/AM programs were sufficient incentive for me to take a crowbar to my wallet and license their commercial cousins. Quality programs with competent people behind them never fail to impress.

 

.
LOL! Someone has to support the botnets

 

Indeed they put a lot of trust in free anti-malware since their paid product could not measure up. However, such fact is beyond the point. The point is Symantec violated the MBAM software agreement. MBAM is free to the public but NOT for commercial use.

MBAM should have sued Symantec to oblivion. Symantec deserves to be sued.