Signature updates - how often is often enough?

Discussion in 'other anti-virus software' started by bellgamin, Jan 22, 2005.

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  1. bellgamin

    bellgamin Registered Member

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    I have 4 AntiVirus programs -- My real-time monitor is DrWeb. The other 3 (F-Prot, AntiVir-PE, & AVG) are back-ups.

    DrWeb updates its signatures multiple times daily. AV-PE updates every week-day. AVG updates 4-5X/week. Lately, F-prot usually updates only 3X/week, and (rarely) 4X/week.

    The infrequency of F-prot's updates concerns me. If FP's update cycle of 3X/week is truly *adequate* then are the more frequent updates by the likes of KAV, NOD32, DrWeb etc. actually unnecessary?

    Along the same lines, if a freebie like AV-PE updates 5X/week, why does NON-free F-prot do so only 3X/week?

    Bottom line- I have long been a fan of FP, but nowadays it not only runs slow, but it also updates less often than others. I am becoming disillusioned. Am I seeing things the wrong way or.......?
     
  2. Notok

    Notok Registered Member

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    I think it's a valid concern, especially where 0-day malware is concerned. With the amount of malware coming out all the time, AVs are needing to do more to remain a valid solution.. I imagine this plays a big part in Eset's decision to enhance AH as much as they have been. I don't know how an AV is going to remain competitive if they don't update frequently.
     
  3. Honolulu

    Honolulu Guest

    This is something I have also wondered about. DrWeb amazes me with their advanced heuristics and still they provide updates thru out the day. It really tells me they are on the job. I have F Prot on my laptop and the irregularity of updates kinda bothers me at times. Maybe the fancy advanced neural heuristics and size of their virus database combine to make more frequent updates not so necessary.
     
  4. ronjor

    ronjor Global Moderator

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    Daily updates are a relatively new service for most antivirus vendors.
    In case of a new bad virus on the loose, F-Prot releases updates asap, just like the others.

    I use F-Prot as an on demand scanner. I did give it some realtime use yesterday
    and see no slowdown on my computer.

    It seems some see a slowdown and others don't. ?
     
  5. Ianb

    Ianb Registered Member

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    Have you tried Bitdefender Free as an on demand Belganin ?

    Frequent updates and a good detection rate.
     
  6. bigbuck

    bigbuck Registered Member

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    Pretty disappointed with weekly updates from NAV......or I can use the 'intellegent updater' @ 5-6MB each day!
     
  7. Randy_Bell

    Randy_Bell Registered Member

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    I download the IU everyday, not bad if you have broadband, but if you're still on dialup I can see where that would be a problem. The LiveUpdate {LU} occurs more often than weekly when there are Category-3 viral threats in-the-wild. I have seen instances {not often but it happens} where LU occurred three times in the same day.

    At least the "Intelligent Updater" {IU} has enough "intelligence to execute and install your new defs without requiring any interventoin from you; all you have to do is run it {an .EXE or executable file}. With other AVs, McAfee for example, for the dailies you have to download a large DATfile and then know where to put it. Same holds, I believe, for daily updates of Panda, CA-eTrust, and TrendMicro.

    Hopefully someday Symantec will convert to an "all-LU" realtime differential or incremental update system. ;)
     
  8. mercurie

    mercurie A Friendly Creature

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    Bellgamin,
    Do you not use Command AV any longer? If no. Why? I think you were using as on demand. Thanks. ;)
     
  9. VikingStorm

    VikingStorm Registered Member

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    Of course, that's been asked for, for a number of years now. I don't understand why McAfee or Symantec won't go "out on a limb" (*cough*) and have a more aggressive default update cycle (simply have a darn "advanced options" section to enable the more frequent updates path). If McAfee switches to normal daily dats, Symantec will swiftly follow, and vice versa. Each only considers the other as a real competitor.
    Symantec's IU, and McAfee's beta seems to all be tailored for corporate usage unfortunately.

    [Once I think about it, McAfee's daily dat is pretty much the same as Symantec's. All you have to do is d/l the exe, run it, and click "next". Unless the consumer version is different, (which I have a feeling it is). It's only 3.4 mb for the .exe, or 5 mb for the .zip. So pretty comparable with Symantec which is around 5-6 mb. The one difference I see is that McAfee's beta defs are more hidden; I guess since it updates 5-6 times a day.]
     
  10. bellgamin

    bellgamin Registered Member

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    I donated my CAV license to someone who has better use for it than I do. Ditto with my VirusBuster license. I'll probably give away my F-Prot license, too, one of these days.
     
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2005
  11. Mongol

    Mongol Registered Member

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    FProt is a puzzle to me also. It has run fine on my Dell Laptop but the sporadic updates have been a bit puzzling. My desktop houses DrWeb and it will update two to three times a day at times. Maybe I am a bit spoiled by DrWebs intradaily updates. I have noticed that FProt has updated two of the last three days though, maybe they prowl the forums of Wilders eh? :eek:
     
  12. mercurie

    mercurie A Friendly Creature

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    A fine creature with a big heart. That's what friend Bellgamin is! ;)

    By the way I still got mine on the Emachine that the children use. :)

    Daily updates will suit me just fine. I think useage pattern would dictate how often it would be necessary. Most safe surf useage of machine I really think daily would be fine for nearly all. There certainly could be exceptions and some would want to base their purchase decision on this. Note weekly is not enough!
     
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2005
  13. bigc73542

    bigc73542 Retired Moderator

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    I am running KAV and it has been updating almost every hour, sometimes two with the extended databases

    bigc
     
  14. RejZoR

    RejZoR Lurker

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    Everyday updates are nice,but 3x per week+as needed is enough for now i guess.
     
  15. shorty1

    shorty1 Registered Member

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    I use Dr Web and I will be the first to admit that I like the multiple daily updates. I think the main thing the multiple daily updates does for for me is that it gives me confidence that they are on the job. Manning the front line if you will. It is easy for me (and I assume others) to feel that if a anti virus updates only 2-3 times a week that they are just slacking it in between. It's easy for me to imagine, you know, office parties with young college age strippers and booze flowing freely and the like. :)

    But seriously, it is simply a matter of perception. To use Symantec as an example. I am sure that at any given moment the number of people they have on the front line is many times the amount Dr Web could muster on it's best day.
    Yet, because Dr Web updates multiple times a day I perceive that they are more on the ball. That's not true and I know it. But therein lies the issue: what my brain knows to be true and what my heart/instincts tell me.
    Hope that makes sense.
     
  16. Jimbob1989

    Jimbob1989 Registered Member

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    Corperate edition of McAfee Virus scanners updates are updated daily instead of weekly. Would be usefull if everyone had that luxery.

    Jimbob
     
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