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Microsoft Security Essentials verdict...

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saint:

--- Quote from: wp34 on September 15, 2011, 02:50:43 pm ---Aren't those more malware than viruses?  I don't think MSE covers malware anyway.

--- End quote ---

Meh, I'd consider a bootkit a virus. Dunno.

newmanfamilyvlogs:
The distinction between a virus, malware, trojans, worms, etc. is getting more and more vague. It seems like there is a growing mixture of both specific and general words to describe these software that the average person isn't going to appreciate the distinction between.

If a program masquerades as an antivirus, is it a trojan? Or does it actually have to provide some real functionality to get that title? Is it just malware otherwise? What if it loaded itself via a simple buffer overflow? Does that make it a virus? How about if it propagates itself on an internal network to other vulnerable machines? Does that make it a worm, too?

Also I havn't seen "bootkit" before, only "rootkit". So there's another one to add to the taxonomy :P

SavannahLion:
Hitman is new. Never heard that one recommended by anyone....

MonMotha:
I'm generally recommending MS Security Essentials to everyone running Windows at this point.  It does overall about as well as any other single antivirus solution might be expected to do in terms of what it seems to catch, and it stays out of the way, has minimal performance cost (at least compared to beasts like Norton or McAfee), and it's free.  I'd still recommend running things like Ad-Aware, Spybot, MalwareBytes, etc. with some regularity, and of course let the "Malicious Software Removal Tool" run monthly as part of Windows Update.

Also, ensure that your browser is patched.  Even IE is decent these days...as long as it's 100% fully up to date, though I'd generally recommend Firefox, Opera, or Chrome for various reasons.  You should not be getting "drive by" installs EVER.  Obviously don't "authorize" any installs or actions unless you know darned well what you're getting and where it's coming from, and don't run executables from seedy places.  Simply visiting a website should not be a problem, though, unless you get hit by a 0-day, which is fairly rare (those are usually saved for more "important" things than installing trojans on Joe Random's PC).

Also, run Win 7 and don't disable UAC.  It's not nearly as annoying as it was in Vista, and it will often catch programs trying to do things they shouldn't.

newmanfamilyvlogs:
Another easy practice I've been suggesting is to visit Ninite.com and set up a custom installer/updater for all the major offenders (java, flash, firefox, adobe reader, etc) and set it as an autorun every week or so. If there's no update it passes over it harmlessly, otherwise it updates it mostly silently.

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