Securing your Windows PC

The most common question we get asked is, “What antivirus program should I use?” The answer typically depends on the user; however, in most cases our solution is a free one. Here’s why: When a user pays for their antivirus protection, they often don’t realize that the virus definitions will expire after a certain time period… and users being human… they forget to pay or simply can’t afford it. Unfortunately, when I get an infected computer it’s often a new computer that came with a trial version and people just think that since it’s installed it should protect them after the trial period. When I inform our clients they’re often embarrassed, but I believe it’s most likely because they’re misinformed about how an antivirus (or a virus) works.

The first thing to know is that antiviruses detect viruses by either a definition or a heuristic test. Once the antivirus program expires, the virus definitions no longer update but it still may catch viruses through heuristic detection. In the most basic way, “heuristic testing” basically means that an antivirus looks for what “acts” like a virus. So, with this known, you may have guessed that the best antivirus program would be one that offers both forms of detection. Any program that does more than that, such as firewall protection or spyware detection is great.Our recommendations differ every year after we read and review the AV Comparatives report. However, we don’t simply recommend the “overall winner” every time to everyone because it may not be the best software for a particular client.

Here is what we recommend:

Our primary recommendation for most users would be Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE). I know most people are curious about this, but first hear me out. MSE provides a clean interface and all the most important functions are easily found. In addition, it doesn’t require much (if any) user interaction after install… it simply works. However, MSE doesn’t do a good job at detecting spyware and doesn’t offer any Internet protection, which is why I usually recommend that users install Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware (MBAM). MBAM is actually one of the few freeware applications that I see huge value in purchasing the full version. The full version offers “background protection” in that if you attempt to access a known “spyware” website it will completely block it. While it’s a little more complicated to setup than MSE, it is worth it.

F-Secure Internet Security 2011 is what I’m running on my computers right now, even though it’s a paid program coming in at $59.99. However, for “power” users or those that simply want all-in-one protection this one wins in every category. F-Secure offers virus and spyware protection, browser integration (if you’re searching for something online, it would be a check mark next to safe websites), an advanced firewall, network connection protection, email filtering, and parental controls. All of these features can be turned on or off at any time (for example, I disabled parental protection). The one downside that I noticed while installing the application is that post-install it has to download a ton of updates which can take a while and completely slow down your computer. I’m not sure why the internet download doesn’t contain the updates, but I guess it’s a rather minor issue. Even with F-Secure though, I still have Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware running for extra protection.

Here is a look at the products evaluated by AV Comparatives: