Anti-virus for laptop.

[muwarrior69]

I just bought a Surface Book 2. Looking at Bit Defender, Norton, Mcafee etc. Was wondering which one to get.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

I just bought a Surface Book 2. Looking at Bit Defender, Norton, Mcafee etc. Was wondering which one to get.

My cable company, Optimum, provides Mcafee complimentary so I have on all the home computers and avoid the annual subscription.

[#UnleashSean]

Malwarebytes

Macafee is literally a scam.

[MU82]

My antivirus subscription was expiring about a year ago. My son-in-law works for Microsoft and I asked him for a recommendation. He said: "You have Windows 10; you don't need antivirus software. It's built in." I was extremely skeptical and asked several follow-up questions. He insisted it was true, said he hasn't used antivirus software for his laptop for years with no problems. Reluctantly, I decided to give it a whirl. It's been a year now, and not a single problem.

My other computer is a Chromebook. Definitely don't need antivirus software for that one. And we never had any when we owned Apple devices.

Not telling anybody what to do, just relaying my own personal situation.

[Eldon]

Who gets viruses on their computers these days?

[Coleman]

I work in IT Security/Compliance. I use Sophos home. It is free. They have a paid premium product but I've never used it.

Most of your standard AV products are incredibly similar. They pull down antivirus definitions on a regular interval (daily, weekly, etc.). A lot of these end up being from the same sources. There are some minor differences, but nothing I consider significant.

Use good internet hygeine. Don't clink malicious suspicious links in email or websites, avoid clicking banner ads, use Chrome web browser, limit your usage of naughty sites, and if you do visit them, use an old ipad or something that you don't care about with no sensitive data on it, not your primary computer. All of that will go a long way.

[MUBBau]

Use good internet hygeine. Don't clink malicious suspicious links in email or websites, avoid clicking banner ads, use Chrome web browser, limit your usage of naughty sites, and if you do visit them, use an old ipad or something that you don't care about with no sensitive data on it, not your primary computer. All of that will go a long way.

Including Scoop

[rocky_warrior]

My antivirus subscription was expiring about a year ago. My son-in-law works for Microsoft and I asked him for a recommendation. He said: "You have Windows 10; you don't need antivirus software. It's built in." I was extremely skeptical and asked several follow-up questions. He insisted it was true, said he hasn't used antivirus software for his laptop for years with no problems. Reluctantly, I decided to give it a whirl. It's been a year now, and not a single problem.

My other computer is a Chromebook. Definitely don't need antivirus software for that one. And we never had any when we owned Apple devices.

Not telling anybody what to do, just relaying my own personal situation.

This is 100% true.  If you have Windows 10 (a new surface book does) you don't need to waste $$$ on extra antivirus software cluttering up the computer. Microsoft now now builds in very good antivirus software - and it updates it's signatures all the time.

Official details:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/comprehensive-security

Also though, if you're using an older version of Windows that doesn't have windows defender, Microsoft supplies "security essentials" for free that includes basically the same antivirus capability.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=5201

Moral of the story - third party AV is a waste of money, and will only slow down your computer.

[jesmu84]

U block origins
Maybe Malwarebytes

That's it.

[T-Bone]

As a security professional - Microsoft built in.
Also support uBlock origin on any browser.
Privacy Badger from EFF for those concerned about such things.

Stopped buying AV products after several have been difficult to remove and simply became bloatware.

Also recommend using a password manager.  There are several out there that are effective and easy to use. I use keepass at work, and a free version of a commercial product.

[WarriorFan]

My antivirus subscription was expiring about a year ago. My son-in-law works for Microsoft and I asked him for a recommendation. He said: "You have Windows 10; you don't need antivirus software. It's built in." I was extremely skeptical and asked several follow-up questions. He insisted it was true, said he hasn't used antivirus software for his laptop for years with no problems. Reluctantly, I decided to give it a whirl. It's been a year now, and not a single problem.

My other computer is a Chromebook. Definitely don't need antivirus software for that one. And we never had any when we owned Apple devices.

Not telling anybody what to do, just relaying my own personal situation.

Any idea if the same is true for mac?  Is there a built in AV?  I've used Norton for years but lately it doesn't seem to be compatible with some of the new communication interfaces between iphone and mac, and it's constantly disabling my printer.

[🏀]

Any idea if the same is true for mac?  Is there a built in AV?  I've used Norton for years but lately it doesn't seem to be compatible with some of the new communication interfaces between iphone and mac, and it's constantly disabling my printer.

Yeah, get rid of it.

Malwarebytes for the occasional bad click and your set.

[muwarrior69]

Thanks, appreciate all the comments. I'll stick with Windows.

[MU Fan in Connecticut]

Thanks IT people for the comments.
I think I'm going to switch to Defender on all my PCs.

[MU82]

Any idea if the same is true for mac?  Is there a built in AV?  I've used Norton for years but lately it doesn't seem to be compatible with some of the new communication interfaces between iphone and mac, and it's constantly disabling my printer.

Others have answered which is good, because I'm no tech expert.

When we had a Mac 10 years ago or so, I had read that security software was unnecessary so I never got any. Never had a problem. But I haven't had one in many years.

[rocky_warrior]

When we had a Mac 10 years ago or so, I had read that security software was unnecessary so I never got any. Never had a problem. But I haven't had one in many years.

I don't use Macs either so can't offer good suggestions - but technically - they're bigger targets of Malware than Windows these days.

https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/2/12/21134681/mac-pc-virus-malware-malwarebytes

[MU82]

I don't use Macs either so can't offer good suggestions - but technically - they're bigger targets of Malware than Windows these days.

https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/2/12/21134681/mac-pc-virus-malware-malwarebytes

Interesting. Thanks for the info.

[muwarrior69]

My iMac is about 6 years old. Run malwarebytes every so often. Never had a problem so far.

[Jay Bee]

Use good internet hygeine. Don't clink malicious suspicious links in email or websites, avoid clicking banner ads, use Chrome web browser, limit your usage of naughty sites, and if you do visit them, use an old ipad or something that you don't care about with no sensitive data on it, not your primary computer. All of that will go a long way.

I keep my naughty site usage to 3 minutes, 2x a day.