Help finding the ultimate internet protection program

[domino]

Hey all

 

Recently  I had a lot of problems with malware and other popups on my pc , I have the "advanced systems care pro" installed , but some how malware still gets through.

Right now it is some program like "savecoupon" and "rightcoupon" that keeps installing it self, I have no idea from where I get it .

 

So im looking for at complete program that takes care of all in one , malware,privacy,registrationfiles,popups ect , the ultimate cleaning and protection program, not a virus program.

 

Not a free program, I don't mind paying for it , if it works.

 

What do you recommend ??

 

 

Brian

[kvp]

Assuming you have a windows machine: First, you'll need Spyware Search and Destroy to get rid of your malware. After that install its active protection too (called Tea Timer). Then you could use the AVG antivirus suite. The free version is good too, but the commercial version has a few extra features. Also, you should choose a browser that has less holes in it. A simple one is Chrome from Google.

 

http://www.safer-networking.org/

http://free.avg.com/

http://www.google.com/chrome/

[katoftw]

Any that you pay proper money for will do the job.

[Bri]

I've been using Panda Antivirus for about 5 or 6 years and never had any problems at all.

[E6系]

Hello,

 

I use Windows Defender in association with AVG full version.  Despite this, my work desktop got infected recently by CryptoWall when I clicked on an email titled "Updated Travel Itinerary" just 48 hours before a trip to KL and Singapore.  This thing is REALLY BAD. 

 

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2600543/cryptowall-held-over-halfamillion-computers-hostage-encrypted-5-billion-files.html

[HantuBlauLOL]

i was using Kaspersky antivirus and internet protection pack and it served me well..

[Guest keio6000]

I run a tech company.   In my opinion, nearly all of the products mentioned are in my opinion basically worthless.   They protect against the "low hanging fruit" of potential problems while overdramatizing their successes (note the anecdotal feedback of others here) while altering your system in ways that can cause performance issues, upgrade issues, compatibility issues, and more.     For example, the key cause of E6-san's problem was his unfortunate incidence of poor email discipline - he opened an attachment that he knew he shouldn't have, probably from a person he didn't know.   If the malicious email e6 got was relatively new, it is unlikely that ANY security program would have stopped it.  Those security suites are like astrology - they loudly tout their supposed hits in order to increase the 'buzz.'   whether or not you have such security junkware seems to be not at all correlated with whether you'll get infected or caught out by actual threats out there.   

 

I also personally would also stay away from Kaspersky on simply an ethical basis.  Eugene Kaspersky, founder of that company and reportedly a former KGB officer, has strong ties with the neo-Fascist, imperialist dictator and human rights destroyer vladimir putin.   If you must spend on such 'false sense of security' software, consider doing it in doing such a way that doesn't prop up one of the most cynical and evil regimes on the planet.  I await the predictable false equivalencies in reply to which I will say, YES, yes sunshine--there IS a difference between sending money to putin's friends and sending one to an American company, even if the US is far far from perfect.  

 

 

Edited November 5, 2014 by keio6000

[kvp]

I would like to add, that there are some preventive packages. On modern systems, it's possible to set them up to disallow the execution of any unknown or unsigned code, including prevention against most buffer overflow attacks. Also some softwares like the Spybot S&D package allow real time monitoring of system modifications, so it's possible to block them manually. Both require knowledge of the system, both for setup and during use, but they can effectively prevent most attacks, regardless of the use of a known malware database. No system is 100% percent safe tough, but there are better and worse ones. Proper user behaviour (not clicking 'ok' on everthing) can also help a lot.

 

On a politicial note, i wouldn't recommend any non open source, non publicly reviewed software, since many innocent looking software contain backdoors, like most windows versions do for the NSA (they can sign software themselves to look like it's coming from microsoft). This is a known 'feature', but most people don't care. The same can be said about the lawful interception (eavesdropping) interfaces built into most network equipment. Of course once the presece of such interfaces became publicly known, everyone started using them. So most non western powers (like China) and most non government groups (from anyonymous to any random russian hacker) are using the american built interception system for their own goals and the US has very little power to stop them. So using publicly reviewed open source software and firmware on every equipment we own is a good strategy to decrease the chances of a successful attack. What keeps most governments out of our systems also keeps most hackers and other unlawful groups out. (fun fact: Why did the lenovo laptops got kicked out of the pentagon? Because after IBM sold them the factories, they changed the NSA root certificate in the TPM chips for a Chinese government one. :-) Unfortunately, getting completly clean hardware is getting really hard nowdays.)

[HantuBlauLOL]

Whoa, never knew those infos before..

 

Politics everywhere..

 

Also thanks for mentioning to only use publicly reviewed stuffs, going to clean my PC now.

[E6系]

Hello Mr keio6000,

 

While I generally agree with your comments above I must clarify one point: I did not open an attachment.  I'm using Windows 7 and IE11.  The email was in HTML format.  I have been told that a script must have been embedded in the HTML code.  Also, the email template was relevant to emails I had been sending earlier in the day to coordinate seat allocation across multiple airlines.

[kvp]

 

I'm using Windows 7 and IE11. 

Ok, simple advice. Don't use IE at all and try to stay away from microsoft products. On windows, almost any browser is better that doesn't use microsoft components (try firefox, chrome or opera). Also using a web based email service with good virus and spam protection is also a good idea. (many of them won't even let any - good or bad - html email scripts through) The idea is if most malware can't run on your setup, you are less likely to be hit by them.

[Densha]

So I just had a malware on my computer. I have no idea how long it has been in there but it wasn't detected real-time by Windows Defender but is removed now. I should have got better software earlier because Defender is crap, but what do you recommend? And I should change all passwords for my important accounts (mail, bank, paypal, etc.) now right?

[kvp]

Anything that has active protection is good. This means it doesn't just detect malware, but suspicious activity. This includes the moves of any programs that try to modify the system. Usually i have to click 'allow' around 6 times for a flash upgrade to work which has to be started by hand after checking the manufacturer's signiture. When i don't want to modify my system, then any permission requests are suspicious. Is this annoying? Yes, even resizing a toolbar or trying to change the time will trigger a permission request. Is it safe? It is, as long as i don't make an error and allow something that i should not. If you don't want to do this, then any modern and up to date maleware prevention software will work as long as it can scan all executable code before they are run and it's updated at least daily. (not monthly or twice a year like certain microsoft products) Having heuristic (behaviour based) detecting cabapbility is also important against those brand new bugs that nobody knows about.

 

Yes, you should change the passwords. Mainly those you entered at least once on the compromised machine, but also those which were just saved somewhere (text file, spreadsheet, password keeper program, browser password manager, etc.) on the compromised machine, because many malwares tend to look around for unused but stored passwords and accounts.

[Densha]

I now have Avast Antivirus installed which has active protection, but as far as I understand it only has virus protection and no malware protection. And the program is annoyingly commercial and heavy on resources.

Now there is also Malwarebytes which protects against malware, but the free version doesn't have active protection and because I will have to run it alongside Avast it will take up even more resources.

I'm not really sure what is the best to do.

 

Also, Avast says the malware was last edited a year ago. Does this means it was installed on my computer that long ago?! Or do you think it is the date the malware was created?