Anti virus help - Mcafee Vs Norton

English Open Chat
1

I have been using a free trial version of an anti virus.But, its expired few days back. I am totally confused which anti virus is better to protect my computer system from the evils of virus, trojans, spyware and malware. I know they both work pretty well and I am totally impressed with their performance.

Do you guys have any suggestions in this matter.

2

Both os these applications rely on VisualBasic Script. Something that is not used, generally, in Linux. 99% of Windows, however, is VisualBasic Script. So the only way you’d need one of those apps, Mcafee or Norton, in on Windows. As to which is better, that’s up to you.

3

dealrocker wrote:

>
> I have been using a free trial version of an anti virus.But, its expired
> few days back. I am totally confused which anti virus is better to
> protect my computer system from the evils of virus, trojans, spyware and
> malware. I know they both work pretty well and I am totally impressed
> with their performance.
>
> Do you guys have any suggestions in this matter.
>
>

AVG-free?
http://free.avg.com/ww-en/homepage

–
Graham P Davis, Bracknell, Berks., UK. E-mail: newsman not newsboy
“I wear the cheese. It does not wear me.”

4

You mean this on openSUSE (of which you do not tell us which version)?

Not very many of us use any AV software.
Only those who transfer incoming mail to Windows systems seem to try to save those Windows systems from problems by filtering those mails. So not for their own system.

5

My suggestion would be to focus your efforts on where the REAL threats are to Linux security. Typically that is hacking into a PC via an insecure ssh (or vnc/remote-desktop) entry from a worm, or capturing one’s Password and ip-address via a Phishing attack/seduction.

Outside of the lab, there are next to NO virus against Linux. I think I read about a cross platform virus that could infect openOffice (called Bad Bunny) but thats about it, and it is not common, and possibly extinct.

Hence anti-virus software to defend Linux have next to NOTHING to test against. Without good testing, such software is debately not worth much. And since the software has nothing to be tested against, and since there is nothing to defend against, don’t waste your time with such software. Because IMHO it is a waste of time (at least here in mid-2009 it is a waste of your time). Spend one’s precious time defending against REAL threats. And there are REAL threats against Linux but they are NOT virus.

Trojans are typically designed to go after MS-Windows PCs, and there are semi-automatic ways in which Trojans can be placed on MS-Windows PCs. Because of the tremendous diversification in Linux distributions and Linux applications, it is much harder for hackers to create a Trojan to infect a Linux PC. Vulnerability to trojan horses and viruses results from users willing to run code from sources that should not be trusted. In Linux, if one is prudent in the applications they install (which is relatively easy in Linux if one installs from repositories) then catching a Trojan is unlikely. So setup your repositories for only OSS, Non-OSS, Update and Packman, and thats a good start to being safe.

The biggest threat to a Linux desktop user IMHO comes from:

  • poorly defended ssh port attacked by worms …
  • Phishing attack (via a tricky web site that looks like a legit web site) that fools one into entering their password, and hence capture’s one’s password (where one has the same password for everything). For example, an email notification from your Bank to urgently log in to a URL provided. You go to the URL, it looks like your bank page, and log in. But it is NOT your bank page (it only looks that way) and you have just given away your Bank password and likely your IP adderss. Plus if that is also your PC password, then your PC can then be attacked by an automated worm that knows your password and your ip address and can possibly guess your username.

So rather than waste time on questionably effective anti-virus software for Linux (which can not be tested), and where such questionable software will defend against next to NO real world Linux threats, instead spend time learning how to protect port#22 against ssh attacks, and put in place some quality usernames and passwords (not all the same) so as to thwart phising attacks.