The Anti-Virus Tier List

Most Antivirus software is terrible... let's break down what they look like in 2024! ►► BlueSky ➜ bsky.app/profi... .
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[@alan_wood]

I recently visited a customer with a "slow laptop". They had AVG, Avast, Norton and McAfee all installed at the same time! How that thing ever booted up is beyond me.

[@jankowalski1501]

personally I like to add 2 more AVs, just to be on the safe side. Having 5+ is too taxing on the computer, but 5 are the sweet spot if PC is up to date with hardware.

[@viralshark]

Thats like wearing 4 condoms. It doesn't make you safer and will take forever to "load".

[@Stinktierchen]

@@viralshark 4 condoms actually and most certainly make it safer.

[@webbedshadow2601]

LOL@@viralshark

[@sitnamkrad]

"How that thing ever booted up is beyond me." Simple, none of the programs could agree on how/when to crash.

[@DJdoppIer]

Glad to see other people calling out Norton and McAfee for the dumpster fires they are. It's insane how many people still don't realize just how bad those programs have gotten.

[@Azhureus]

I used to have Norton years ago and it really was that bad, slowing down my PC and browsing and so on. Im using Malwarebites for years now and Im absolutely satisfied.

[@boxraze5643]

I have only had experience with McAfee and it's just terrible. Fake popups, trying to force me to pay and more. If you look at trustpilot reviews of McAfee people are saying McAfee charges you randomly and auto renews subscriptions without your consent or any prior warning. Luckily I have never purchased any subscription from McAfee and I just think that someone should take legal action.

[@nixulescu9399]

to be honest norton was pretty good a good while back, mcafee I can't remember a time they were decent lol

[@DJdoppIer]

@@nixulescu9399 They were okay until they merged with LifeLock, and ever since they've been a pile of shit.

[@jonasfermefors]

I'd say they have been bad for quite a long time.

[@rafaeltorovip]

The best line “if your computer gets infected every time, there is a problem between the chair and the keyboard”. That is priceless. 😂

[@Bannockburn111]

Right up there with "The problem with your car is the loose nut behind the steering wheel!" 😃

[@hollygreen8663]

classic

[@sopcannon]

PICNIC

[@Danny-bd1ch]

As a old help desk guy from the mid 90's, it was Problem exists between keyboard and chair.

[@davidb7328]

PICNIC - Problem in chair, not in computer.

[@mike__5kp]

McAfee has been working on my PC for a while now, so much so that I'm thinking of uninstalling it for my convenience.

[@Mo-Thoughx]

How did you get your Windows 11 and Office?

[@mike__5kp]

I downloaded both and now that I think about it, since I installed a supposed update it started to fail.

[@Mo-Thoughx]

I think that may be the problem you downloaded something that made it unstable

[@Mo-Thoughx]

Brother, it is better to buy legally, like on pages like that, so you are more relieved. Bnh software worked for me and I had zero stress.

[@mike__5kp]

If I have no other option and I take advantage and change the antivirus for one of those recommended in the video, thanks for the advice

[@TCOphox]

I can vouch the McAfee one. I once worked at a hospital that had them loaded everywhere and it turned i7 6th gen laptops to Celeron Ds.

[@j_r_-]

Maybe it was mining on the cpu

[@markh.6687]

The bloat in McAfee and Norton has grown tremendously over the years. Ideally a software suite should be more efficient than individual programs.

[@petertillemans2231]

McAfee is good for heating: you can turn the thermostat 2 degrees lower.

[@sams6630]

Ideally yes, in practice I've never seen that happen.

[@danieldevine]

tbf, sometimes that can be windows settings that can be really turned up to 11. We had work laptops that didnt use anything like mcafee but they ran like complete ASS compared to the same spec laptop running a clean install. The management settings i'd seen in another youtube video years ago and suddenly it made sense. There was so much stuff you could enable in an enterprise setting that i didnt realise even existed despite my experience. But boy does it slow things down!

[@ameliakyle7054]

Removing Norton and McAfee completely without a trace from your computer tends to be harder than getting rid of some of the most troublesome viruses

[@aiodensghost8645]

*Laughs in Revo Uninstaller*

[@Maros554]

What "trace" can McAfee leave behind? I recently got a new laptop and it came with McAfee pre-installed, and I just uninstalled it through "Add or remove programs".

[@19xx69]

@@Maros554 registry keys and leftover files that the default uninstaller doesn't remove

[@guillaumebillette4078]

@@aiodensghost8645 Avira is so bad that even Revo couldn't completely uninstall it. I had to reimage the customer's machine.

[@ВладимирКоролев-ч4и]

Does bcu help tho?

[@George_Taylor_]

Honestly, the info on why not to trust influencers who get kickbacks is more critical than the tier list.

[@joshportelli]

Agreed! I knew most lists and articles are just looking for cash and clicks. But 50% kickback is insane

[@oneoranota]

15%

[@IanHodgetts]

I guess that does raise the question "How much kickback can you get from WebRoot?" ;-)

[@GruntyGame]

What really grinds my gears are the content mill, SEO 'articles'. They're all useless and clog up my search results.

[@sal_strazzullo]

The real S tier antivirus is Kaspersky. Yeah it might be spyware, but are you sure all the others aren't? Also even if you don't have any antivirus at all, I'm pretty sure the intel agencies can still access your shit in a way or another. Just think about the Intel ME and the AMD counterpart, they have processes running below Kernel level, and even the drivers themselves could have backdoors.

[@sootierlamb3223]

I’ve realized that if you have Norton and Mcafee both installed at the same time they will try to block each other which wreaks havoc on your system

[@alexlehrersh9951]

So they do their work fine

[@trololoev]

Same as any antiviruses.

[@maki.in.the.shadow.1999]

@@trololoev i have avg and malwarebytes they dont fight each other

[@nintendbro3275]

For some reason, I can't leave a comment so I'm hijacking yours lol about the affiliate marketing, yes that business is scummy, but you also have to be aware of social engineering shills. For example, whoever is at the top of this tier list would have paid OP or anyone to create a video, add a disclaimer about the affiliate marketing to build rapport and a sense of trust, and then you automatically feel more inclined to whatever the number one is purported to be. Just something that seemingly not that many people are aware of outside of people in the marketing, entertainment or banking industries haha

[@shaansingh6048]

@@maki.in.the.shadow.1999 because avg and malwarebytes aren't viruses but norton and mcafee are viruses and antiviruses so they try to get rid of each other

[@TrueDiox]

Working tech support back in the day, I distinctly remember commenting on how the Norton Suite trial would essentially start behaving like malware as soon as the trial period was over. Computers would display all the typical symptoms of being infected to the point that they seemed near unusable. Then, they would magically come back to life as soon as you uninstalled it. Really, the only worthwhile piece of software from Norton is their removal tool.

[@andrewschliewe6392]

Who's fault is it for using trial software.

[@EscapeMCP]

@@AzuraeLyonheart Worked in IT for 35 years and for the vast majority of that time McAfee has been a raging dumpster fire. This "KZbinr" knows of what he speaks.

[@alexw4482]

@@AzuraeLyonheartMcAffee is junkware. It slows your computer to a crawl and doesn’t accomplish anything. Get rid of it.

[@youcantbeatk7006]

@@EscapeMCPWhy are you putting "KZbinr" in quotation marks like this isn't a real channel and we're secretly on Bitchute or something?

[@dijital4801]

@@andrewschliewe6392 its not anyones fault for falling for their marketing (aka paying sites to shill them) especally if they are less tech savvy

[@AndyGait]

Having worked in tech support, the words "the problem is between the chair and the keyboard" rang so true. Some people just don't know what they're doing and blindly click on anything. I have a hard time dealing with parents and in-laws who constantly find themselves with issues.

[@gabrielandy9272]

@dreaper5813 they will still have issues on then and depending on what they want it can be even worse.

[@jeffreykoerber6595]

You should be thankful for those people who don’t understand computers as well as you do. If they weren’t there, you and I wouldn’t have a job.

[@AndyGait]

@@jeffreykoerber6595 I never said I wasn't. That doesn't make the statement any less true.

[@sirbattlecat]

In my country we have a saying: "The best defense is common sense". Unfortunately not too many people seem to have that.

[@Hexanon99]

Termed a 'KCI' error (Keyboard-Chair Interface). We use it informally when discussing support issues.

[@sethalump]

I worked stint at McAfee. Didn't meet a single person there who would put it on their own system. The whole stack is a dumpster fire. This rating is 100% on point.

[@wfjhDUI]

All I've ever heard about McAfee for years and years at this point is how horrible their product is. Seriously, do you have any sense of how it's even possible for them to stay in business or attract computer security talent? Are their customers all just old people who can't remember why their credit card keeps getting billed? It's crazy how the McAfee zombie just keeps shambling on while so many startups with well-regarded interesting products fall over dead around it.

[@tjparkour24]

@@wfjhDUI The vast majority of PC users have no idea what they're doing, and McAfee (Also Norton) spend an awful lot on marketing and distribution, if you've ever seen someone buying a prebuilt you've probably seen that they come with one of those two packages. The average user then assumes that they are safe because of the marketing and don't bother changing it. Of course there will be a mark up in price for the AV, and the AV company is paid for bulk licenses. Part of the problem is that the prebuilt industry works on such low margins that they try to cut costs wherever possible, buying cheap AV could be the difference between profitable and not, and being able to advertise having a paid AV is good for sales. I don't know of a single tech minded person who would install one of them though, it's well known in the tech world how awful they are.

[@wfjhDUI]

@@tjparkour24 I guess that does make sense or else companies wouldn't keep doing it but it's just so incomprehensible to me that there are actual real human beings walking among us who get a new computer overflowing with shovelware and just whip out their credit cards when it prompts them to.

[@rawbmar1166]

@@tjparkour24 Bingo. Preinstalled on many machines.

[@electronbox]

Ex-McAfee contractor here, it was universally hated, known often as "F*in McAfee" every time a machine glitched...

[@marschallblucher6197]

"but mcAfee and Norton are some of the oldest names in the industry" I remember when I was a kid I would ask my dad to turn on the old Windows Vista family computer before I home from school. So that by the time I got home Norton would _finally_ finish whatever it's doing in the background and I could finally get to playing club penguin or Poptropica or miniClip. I don't remember it ever being good.

[@VSN-wb2ly]

Norton was quite good but it feels of soo hard

[@PainFireFist]

Yeah, you're not going back enough in time. They were market leaders in the 80ies and 90ies.

[@iLegionaire3755]

Panda is excellent, its free and feature robust. Norton and McAfee practically stuff your PC to death with so much bloatware, the antivirus or antispyware features are a moot feature.

[@ΧατζηςΓιώργος-ε3τ]

​@@iLegionaire3755they have great defend system but they slow computer

[@johnlucas6683]

Miniclip! Hahaha

[@MohammedMehdiTBER]

You forgot the most important security software: ad blockers Honestly, I only use AdBlock on Arch Linux and stay away from downloading suspicious files

[@no_name4796]

Yup. Considering you get viruses from the web and it's very unlikely you get them in any other ways, ublock-origin is actually the best antivirus! Plus it's safe as you don't need it to run in kernel mode unlike actual antivirusese

[@OnlyMarcoS1]

same (i'm on windows, forgot to say that)

[@Xarius86]

@@OnlyMarcoS1 He just needed a place to tell people he uses Arch...btw.

[@thodean]

Yep, you don't really need an antivirus that much if you only use little non free and mostly free software

[@Skelterbane69]

Using linux helps too, of course.

[@flare9612]

As a user of ESET for the last 8 years, having him nudge between A and S tier back and forth is a win for me

[@cocodojo]

I've had it since back when they was Nod32 and the ever changing android 😂, its really nice change from like say Norton where, once you start a scan, you basically had to close down everything on the PC and leave it alone for a few hours, maybe even overnight to find out if there was anything on your PC. Most times with ESET, I barely even realize its actively scanning for the 4th to 7th time that day, and only know when the little window pop-up says "we found nothing, keep on keeping on my dude 👍"

[@Yarumasi]

I remember using ESET/Nod32 back in the day and thinking I was using some elite government level software that 'hardly anyone knew of'. I was 14 at the time.... and hell, maybe the sentiment is still the same a little

[@mrrailgun6440]

@@cocodojo Hah, i remember doing that for scans.

[@jensen1646]

Yea well this guy rates Webroot as S tier. So...

[@Mavrik9000]

ESET NOD32 is the only paid antivirus that ever gave me a troublesome false positive. I spent many hours trying to clean the system during an important project. Their tech support response about the issue was useless and a bit rude.

[@Thom-5]

McAfee just spams emails after u cancel too

[@justabearwithouteyes5332]

Sorry to hear that, I had a bad time with McAfee but never that bad

[@nobodyimportant2470]

You sure those are McAfee? I never subscribed and I get them all the time from scammers.

[@billpii6314]

They all do

[@Gavman_Gaming_09_79]

It gave me the thing where it says that there were like 7 viruses on my computer, and it came back today saying I'm not secure or something. Edit: I learned that it's powered by the PC App Store and that's why it came back.

[@flowerbloom5782]

I’m getting that bs too

[@None]

Norton came bundled with my sister's old PC and getting rid of that pest was a nightmare. Whenever we'd try to uninstall it the uninstaller would just hang forever and not do anything. Deleting the actual files themselves wouldn't do anything and it would just come right back. Norton itself would constantly popup and stay open. You couldn't even close it.

[@Lol-og9me]

You ever delete it?

[@whatluck1508]

​@Lol-og9me best way to remove the stuff is to do a complete reinstall of windows and not reinstall the "anti-visus". It is integrated deep into the computer system, usually very difficult to completely remove, faster to just backup the data that is important and do a complete reinstall of windows

[@empreurzerne9153]

the roots of the problem's in the register if the still exist it regrow like mold. whit a good software you can delete them in a matter of minute, i remember back in the past i have done twelve hours of removing it by hand i got crazy at the end and though i crash my computer when the research tool tell me no file found... It was done never again.

[@LethalPlant2002]

Revo uninstaller?

[@Dramilos]

yoooo ori profile picture

[@c0mplex564]

As a Geek Squad Agent who has old people come in on a daily basis with Norton and McAfee, glad to know my feelings toward those two companies are valid. I’ve always told customers that Windows Defender is good enough and that Norton and McAfee are worse than actual viruses.

[@marvin.toyboy]

But you are wrong, Windows Defender is not good enough and Norton and McAfee aren't worse than viruses. Your poor customers. (i'm just an ancient malware dev)

[@c0mplex564]

@@marvin.toyboy I also tell them Webroot is the way to go if they want an AV. So not really

[@Kepitano]

@@marvin.toyboy what's good enough?

[@robertbernard7844]

​@@marvin.toyboyFound the influencer who gets insane kickback off of McAfee and Norton sales

[@nodenpona]

​@@marvin.toyboynot sure if i agree on the norton and mcafee parts but i used to write malware (for no malicious purposes of course) as well, can safely say: consider windows defender entirely obsolete for viruses that aren't world famous. reverse shells, desktop captures, file senders: damn thing does not care at all, just because its new. it only starts barking at it once its completely filled with features and one of them eventually gets recognized I've heard it got better in windows 11, but haven't tested that yet

[@HateMachinist]

Thanks for rating Windows defender and Malwarebytes. McAffee and Norton being reduced to bloat-ware is no surprise to anyone who isn't high on copium these days.

[@axi0matic]

Norton has had that reputation for as long as I can remember (at least two decades).

[@HateMachinist]

@@axi0matic yes. They did fall off in the earlier 2000's. Can't claim I was tech-savvy in the 90's, but back then norton was teh shit. You could put "naked woman" in the searchbar all day and never catch shit (or so I thought lmao)

[@h3llr4iser1]

At some point, both McAfee and Norton AV were the de-facto industry standard - back in the DOS days, McAfee Viruscan was THE antivirus to have, just as NortonAV was through the first few years of the Windows 95/98 era. Then the business became way too profitable, and here we are 🤣

[@timp2751]

unfortunately a lot of large companies still on them. Mine uses mcafee (uhh or trellix as they appear to be now..) , including its awful DLP feature that tanks the system even worse than the AV does.

[@delKlosek]

Defender did not inform me about the threat when downloading mp4 from KZbin using an external website. Norton does

[@trajectoryunown]

Back when I used Windows, it was AVG, Avast, or Avira and Malwarebytes to weed out rootkits. Nowadays it looks pretty much the same, except the active antivirus now is Defender. Nice to see Malwarebytes is still useful for system scans.

[@enriquepasa]

Bleachbit's good too to use sometimes

[@aytviewer2421]

Back in the mid 2010's, I had to completely wipe and reload several employee work computers with AVG on them. It was worthless at stopping ransomware that encrypted the files and wanted you to pay bit-coin to recover the files. Junk.

[@AnomalousURL]

@@aytviewer2421i wouldnt assume it will "stop" an attack. It should and probably will detect any malicious files once you run a scan.

[@robertschneider4685]

To be honest, i use more the Adware scanner than the antivirus itself. I still find it really cool

[@ACE112ACE112]

Avast is terrible. doesn't detect shit

[@Shendril]

Being in IT for decades I remember back in the 90's where you could go to stores like Office Depot etc. and access a download station to get up to date antivirus... at that time Mc Affee was the state of the art solution, not only in detection but especially in removing annoying stuff like Shirley. Nowadays I avoid McA and Norton since they can be considered bloatware. So happy to see my personal experience reflected in your Tier list. Great video! Thanks and have another sub & like! Love&Peace Shen

[@jeffchandler6285]

My messy divorce from Norton occurred when during installation these features cost extra when I thought they'd be covered for a year right out of box, told them I shouldn't have pay extra for features I felt would would be covered for 1 year then they could price gouge on renewal

[@MrMudbill]

My school used McAfee back in the day (not sure when, possibly around 2005)... until one day it had a bug or false positive or something that ended up deleting the NETWORK DRIVER on all laptops in the entire school. These laptops were connected to the Windows domain and had remote management enabled, but of course without networking, a fix couldn't be easily deployed. The poor IT guy had to manually go around with a USB stick to fix each individual laptop, which was something like 400-500 units. They swore off McAfee ever since.

[@spectersense]

Damm poor IT guy

[@endrankluvsda4loko172]

IT getting that sweet OT!

[@Sorain1]

Ouch! That IT guy has my sympathy.

[@mk-2727]

That's an absolute nightmare

[@IKER1000sYT]

only 400? at my school im good with tech so when something like this happened i was going around plugging in a usb script for probably a thousand pcs over a few months

[@Adam-Mei]

Finally, someone else sees McAfee and Norton for what they are. I thought I was alone. I've had them download viruses to my PC's when it was time to renew on both formats over the years. I built my first computer in 1996 and used McAfee, then my next in 2004-05 and used Norton. They worked well and gained my trust for years until probably mid 2010's.

[@els236]

Norton and McAffee basically are malware nowadays, they come pre-installed and getting rid of them is stupidly difficult. they'll also constantly spam you with pop-up ads for the paid version or "please renew subscription".

[@jeffreykoerber6595]

Most people who have actually worked with those AVs realize this. You aren’t alone by a long shot.

[@AkahigeNoAmo]

I feel like McAfee and Norton have had a (justified) bad rep since the early 2000's, never heard anyone talk about them in any positive light - especially from gamers, but in general, attentive people

[@oliverurbanik9647]

McAfee and Norton are crap for at least 20 years now .. everybody with a bit of a clue does the best thing and deinstalls/deletes this crap from new PCs the instant they are booted :D

[@Wlerin7]

I honestly can't remember the last time I've heard anyone (besides obvious shills) say anything different about those two. And I'm talking for decades.

[@mroutcast8515]

As IT enthusiast for ~20 years (not working in business for 15 - now only fixing PCs / laptops for people on the side occasionally) - I completely agree with this list and all the tips and insights provided. Really great worth recommending video for people who maybe don't know much about this stuff. Funny how this popped up as suggestion on the side of watching astrophysics video :) Also internet with current OS versions is relatively safe space if you don't register and visit fishy websites and don't open attachments from unknown emails. The biggest risks for modern day user are data breaches and leaks on all the service websites hundreds of millions are using - like multiple google breaches, all sorts of social network data breeches, etc, where they leak your passwords and other data. Hell even leaking email address is bad thing because you land on spam lists which are also used by malware senders, scammers, and what not. And all this danger is not on client side nor out of his fault.

[@haydencarn8737]

Why is Kaspersky being Russian a minus? Like, if you are worried about the govt spying, you should be WAY more worried about ANY product from the US. Especially because Kaspersky moved their headquarters to Switzerland to deal with that matter.

[@west_prime]

Rusophobia = brainrot

[@PandaNoName]

they are being banned from US for a reason

[@James-j9f8k]

If you live in the West, anything Russian is probably a security exploit at this point.

[@maximilianl4453]

Russia is literally blocking western social media, throwing everybody in jail who supports free press and you still think the US is worse? Never been to russia, I guess.

[@nikxohs3925]

and bit defender - eset are from east block

[@NonjaBisnes]

"You should not really trust any tier list...." Procedes to make tier list. Well played Sir. Well played.

[@cryptoafc7655]

still there is no links

[@MAGAMAN]

You definitely shouldn't trust his tier list.

[@ziff_1]

He meant (obviously) tier lists with affiliate links. You get these when you google "best antivirus". Sites put up on the web for the express purpose of fishing for google hits to feed their affiliate links.

[@hvandijken5905]

@@cryptoafc7655 Yeah and there is no way we can find these products on our own without any links.

[@larryjoe1357]

I wouldn't call his list a tier list, he said you really don't need any of them.

[@dzcrabb]

I love that this is your honest opinion on this. There are so many shills out there, and when it comes to security, that is a bit of a scary thought...

[@nickjayr0]

i mean he didnt really trust kaspersky simply because they're russian,even tho they helped the us and russia catching their hackers

[@VSN-wb2ly]

Nothing is really free, even information

[@darrkstarg]

Windows Defender has worked great for me since windows 10. I haven't had any problems in years. I do run Malwarebytes to scan the system once in a while just to make sure nothing has slipped by. Remember Spybot Search & Destroy back in the day? LOL.

[@nickalotdegit]

Spybot have an antivirus solution now! :D

[@iffracem]

@@nickalotdegit been using it for ages.. never had any issues.

[@RmnGnzlz]

That little spider was the best lol

[@AthosJosue]

The MB scanner that you use is the free version? It's good as it us ir you need to pay?

[@Moshoeshoe12345]

​@@AthosJosueFree Malwarebytes with windows defender is all you need once you upgrade to Malwarebytes premium, MB premium is going to clash with windows defender and you will be forced to turn off windows defender and use only MB premium as your primary antivirus.

[@OnePercentBetter]

Thank you for the transparency, expertise, and no affiliate-incentive

[@AlexStLouis-gq8kp]

I received a free ESET license from work, and it seems to be good so far, but the assisted learning mode sure causes a lot of popups. We use it in our office and it killed an attempted ransomware attack that had brute forced a domain admin password dead in its tracks, so I definitely rate it highly.

[@simonchoudhury]

Similar experience here but I just turned off the pop ups.

[@bouncypear_net]

I've been using ESET since it was recommended to me by my coworker at the PC repair shop I worked at at the time.

[@KuvaCzardas]

I've been using ESET for about 18 years, it earned my trust.

[@NeostormXLMAX]

i don't trust eset, they constantly run feedback to its server, and there is almost no scrutiny for what gets sent, i've been using glass door and i've been constantly seen back and forth information streams from my pc to their servers back. and if you disable their cloud the protagonist is apparently in adequate. it reminds me of the whole games as a service stick that don't let you play until you go online with their root anti cheat bullshit.

[@seansretroverse9082]

Another thing that has really rendered antivirus programs not quite as necessary nowadays is that the OSes themselves have been somewhat hardened over the years. Introduction of UAC for Windows, curated stores and package managers for installing software, hardened browsers, and more complete and timely auto updates have all gone a long way towards making antivirus software mostly obsolete.

[@nutellaguyau]

Delusional if you think any of what U just said is true

[@rps215]

Only agree with half of it, but for the opposite reason. AKA Windows Defender is as good as those free AVs back a decade ago that you don't need them anymore, and once you are dealing with those ones that WIndows Defender won't protect you against, most of the time you are dealing with State Sponsored Malware which almost no AV can protect against. I don't agree with the second part because of well, good ol' Dancing Pigs syndrome on most people. You can forget hardened browser because most people I see prefer to use Chrome with little to no modification.

[@notthere83]

One thing missing in your list is the rise of browser-based apps.

[@ashjaylk]

You're most likely talking about Windows S mode. Also by default UAC isn't much secure. And Windows doesn't use package managers, MS aint even package their software; lol

[@TheDenOfTimbsStudios]

I think wannacry would disagree with you, or Petya.

[@sirmiyu]

the most dangerous malware for a system is the user itself, always has been and always will be

[@MissMan666]

eh no, that totally depends

[@verboeq]

My standard practice with ESET was to enable thorough scans and automatically delete/fix detections as default for these users. Don't even give them the opportunity to pick the wrong choice!

[@Mavendow]

I once got malware from Windows Update. I can't agree with that statement.

[@sirmiyu]

​@@Mavendow I never said they were the only danger. You're generalizing a specific case.

[@rawbmar1166]

@@sirmiyu I'd say that's true but every PC comes equipped with a backdoor the NSA can enter anytime.

[@borkrz]

fun fact: avg and avast are literally the same program now, just renamed. im not over exaggerating or joking.

[@DanakarEndeel]

Been using Malwarebytes for years and it detects a lot while their scans seem to be going strong too. I often use the manual scan of individual files through both Malwarebytes and Windows Antivirus.

[@zenedhyr7612]

MB also can act as ad blocker for YT. That's mean YT's ads is treated as malware by them, Ha Ha 😂

[@rileyowen7245]

​@@zenedhyr7612 ads can contain malicious program also ads are annoying.

[@mr.mastermind4840]

Malwarebytes in my experience doesn't detect everything.

[@DanakarEndeel]

@@mr.mastermind4840 I never said "everything" as none of them detect everything (they all have to play catch-up). However, having Malwarebytes (Premium in my case) and the default one from Windows active should catch a lot of stuff; and that's good enough for me. 🙂

[@Rajnish-m8d]

​@@mr.mastermind4840how is hitman pro?

[@Baoran]

My main problem with the one intergrated in windows is how many false positives it has. I constantly have to add exceptions for directories into list because it is trying to prevent me from running because it thinks they have viruses.

[@notcardi]

plus most viruses will disable windows antivirus

[@gamesturbator]

Don't get me started on the countless file deletions without any notification. Found out too late many times. Now I use Defender removers to get rid of that POS permanently and use better options.

[@SpaceCadet4Jesus]

What are you guys saving on your PCs? I have 150 clients with multiple PCs and nobody's getting false positives or needing to apply exceptions. I have the same experiences they do.??

[@Baoran]

@@SpaceCadet4Jesus I have noticed generally that it is older software that causes more of the false positives.

[@serratedsmile4236]

I've been a pirate for more than a decade and ESET has never failed to protect me from dangerous sites.

[@laszlobandi6456]

webroot heuristics are pretty good. you always risk with pirated software, but when starts acting up, you know it's not legit. I remember viruses being super pesky back in the day. later ones werent that crazy. if you can detect it tries to go trough a firewall or something, and you can stop it, it's already safe. havent encountered too many fake downloads, I pay more attention to sources tho.

[@CommanderKappa]

Have you ever got malware from fitgirl? Heard many people swear they never got problems.

[@jonshaffer5793]

what kind of pirate? Butt pirate?

[@onlyms4693]

Is that for the free option? Has u try kaspersky, when i do some sail, I used them and every program I get from the black sea always work without cause a attack for ky PC fr

[@JimboJones-qn4wd]

@@jonshaffer5793 HAHA

[@bulletkingaming2808]

Windows Defender is everyone's friend. He's just there to protect you without having to annoy you, similar to BitDefender.

[@hadesz2257]

Should i install bitdefender too? Or is the Windows defender enough?

[@THEGRANDTOUR-kt3jh]

honestly ur right but kaspersky served me well

[@bzone237]

BitDefender got a bit bloaty and spammy for a while trying to push extra features, especially the premium-priced VPN service but thankfully it calmed down instead of going the way of Avast!

[@FundamentallyFlawed]

​@@hadesz2257Windows Defender is fine for day-to-day use for most users. If you want a little extra peace of mind, you can use something like the free version of Malwarebytes to run periodic scans.

[@MrEggyman99]

I remember hearing a news story years ago about Kaspersky unearthing a highly secretive government intelligence operation because it's detection was soo thorough

[@OH2023-cj9if]

The reason UK Gov stopped users installing kaspersky is because it exposed a lot of stuff GCHQ was using against people. They tried to discredit the company.

[@ziff_1]

Kaspersky probably is the best AV in terms of raw skill, but being Russian ..... nope. I don't recommend anyone use any software developed in Russia or China. Their govt's probably have their hands in everything.

[@specs_u]

US is equally worse

[@ddffgghbjjnbgvcccda]

you are funny...

[@makarov_gv]

​@@ziff_1a very naive suggestion.

[@Willadin]

I've been using Eset for almost a decade now, I think it was smart security 6 when I first got it. Not the best detection but very light, only recently I find it a little heavy perhaps because I've been working with more flash drives and other removable storage. Probably a reason why I have not used others since is because of my configurations to the software, tricky to setup but I believe it's worth the time. Great video!

[@verboeq]

Any of the "security" flavours are heavier than the standard NOD32 antivirus only. Nothing like Norton or Trend though where as soon as you load them your PC gains 10 years of age, and loses half its RAM. ESET VB100 awards have always been top notch so I would disagree with your comment about detection.

[@JamieStuff]

I'm glad to see you acknowledged the PEBKAC error. Personally, though, I'm in the "Defernder is good enough" camp.

[@Jthavok21]

I have used Avast for over 10 years, and the only time I got infected was when I turned it off to access an older program.

[@thegreatboto]

Worth mentioning, Defender does have enterprise options for management/detection which can be handy if you're already invested in Microsoft's ecosystem (O326, Azure, SCCM, etc) called System Center Endpoint Protection.

[@MrHav1k]

Pain in the rear end to manage though... unless they've improved that.

[@moetocafe]

O326 is probably Office 365, right? :))

[@thegreatboto]

@@moetocafe yes, lol. Thanks.

[@thegreatboto]

@@MrHav1kCan't speak to that. Don't have access to the console. I just get to deploy it via SCCM and respond anytime something between a chair and keyboard triggers it.

[@yourpcmd]

Defender has the same features as SCEP, therefore you don't need to install SCEP for Windows.

[@jefff3886]

I started with Kaspersky back in the early days of Windows XP. I had been a Norton user but when I migrated to a 64-bit OS Norton, at that time, did not offer a 64-bit version. After doing my research Kaspersky was the best 64-bit app available at the time. I took note that it was a Russian company but... shoulder shrug. People I trusted reviewed it and gave it top marks. Kaspersky has served me very well over the years. It operates seamlessly and transparently in the background, and I have never once had any issues with it. I'll be staying with Kaspersky.

[@LinuxMaster9]

the gaul of the NSA/US Govt to accuse Kaspersky of being FSB stooges is insane. Especially since the NSA created Stuxnet, Flame, Red October and a host of other viruses and then released them into the world. Kaspersky, found those infections and removed them. Guess we should ban Microsoft and just about every other American company because of alleged close ties with the NSA. Especially Cisco since it has been proven that exports of Cisco hardware tend to end up with NSA planted hardware bugs/backdoors in them prior to leaving the country.

[@Gazzxy]

duno why i ever moved away from kaspersky to be fair... i think I was getting it cheap for one reason or another and that stopped.

[@xCwieCHRISx]

Back in the days I used Kaspersky trial edition and you could set back the windows clock date and extend the trial time 🤣🤣. Buying Kaspersky wasn't an option as a kid.

[@mostneuter]

kaspersky is russian but everything outside of russia is being processed in switzerland so it's not a real problem for the rest of the world

[@jxmai7687]

@@xCwieCHRISx I think that went for few years, each year passed we just back date extra year. but I never tell my customer.

[@Monochromatic_Spider]

Funny story time. My mom used to be absolutely terrified of not having a premium internet security suite. To be fair, the suite she used to have was one called Bullguard, which wasn't that bad. I've been telling her for literally years that she's wasting her money but parents are parents, and I've only been doing computer stuff for 20 years so what do I know? That very nice computer salesman at the shop suggested she use Bullguard and surely he knows what he's talking about! Anyway, Bullguard got bought out by Norton. Consequently the old Bullguard Internet Security got updated into Norton Internet Security. Which is absolute trash with dog vomit on top. Horrible UI, horrible performance, everything about it just plain old sucks. And it just will not stop nagging about additional premium nonsense that my mother very obviously does not need. That nag, and the fact that it could not be turned off, was finally enough to let me convince my mom to not keep paying for a premium internet security suite. So moral of the story, Norton Internet Security actually turned out very useful. I wouldn't have managed to convince my mom to save a bunch of money if NIS hadn't been quite that horrible.

[@michamarkowski2204]

Salesmen will always sell what they want to sell (either because of higher profit or wanting to clear the shelves). For few years I've been working as a PC technician in a PC shop. There were separate entry doors - one to the service station, other to the shop. The shop had a deal with one of the placebo AVs and most clients bought this AV in good faith. Some of them had their PCs on my desk (part of my job was to sanitize clients' PCs) and whenever they came to me with that placebo AV I always sent them back to the shop to buy a real AV (I told them which), not a placebo. For me my reputation (and as an extention the reputation of the place I worked at) was always worth more than some small short-term profit. My colleagues from the shop weren't happy, but those clients came back with friends and family for other products and services, so it was a long-term profit.

[@JP-iq7pu]

Yeah been trying to tell my dad to stop using Norton's, but he just won't do it. I think he got to invested in the eco system and is afraid to to not use it.

[@Hostyl176]

As my mom used to say "Even if you're terrible, you can always serve as a bad example!"

[@dexman6176]

It isn´t just a parent thing. People buy and install antiviruses for the same reason people buy and install alarms in their home, to feel safe. Security has always been a part of human nature, no matter how prepared you think you are you still feel the need and since viruses has become more advanced and harder to detect I can understand why people feel the need to buy antivirus.

[@maximilianl4453]

I know that so well. A lot of older people seem to think that the people who sell stuff are the biggest experts on every topic. The car salesman knows exactly what’s good and what’s not (mostly his brand and the most expensive trim) The PC shop clerk knows what’s best… Otherwise he wouldn’t sell it… It’s a parent thing. Just like reading bought test articles.

[@Nirguin]

"It's a problem between the chair and the keyboard" best line!😂

[@MeriaDuck]

Pebcak is as old a joke as I am (1975) 😂

[@dr0pb34r]

PEBKAC - Problem exists between keyboard and chair.

[@dangingerich2559]

My personal experience, Eset is the best. It's the only one I've seen catching a lot BEFORE it infects the system. It works really well with stopping just about anything at the browser. I never worry about the scans because it just catches it before it gets there.

[@MovieStudioZen]

I 2nd your comment. ESET is the best!

[@EternitynChaos]

agreed

[@k4muk3nu]

Yep, same.

[@tomclanys]

I wrote a main comment about this but Avast also manages to stop any infection before the payloads gets there, in the browser, without any extensions installed. It works great but uses a scummy business model.

[@quicksilverst2506]

Jip ESET is great!

[@StealthParrot]

I've been using ESET (NOD32) AV for over 15 years and it has never let me down. I do agree it has gotten a little heavier since the early NOD32 days but there is nothing that would make me switch to anything else at this time.

[@jondonnelly3]

I like F Secure

[@adevidex2263]

I hope you do not use a 15 years pc/laptop though

[@neelbhavsar1977]

Kaspersky has gone from A tier to S tier now as their top plan has become really good and also provides unlimited VPN along with all features. Very affordable, very light weight, super easy to work with, allows features for turning off and quarantining specific processes/threads, has a lot of encryption, backup and protection features, has cloud, and great flexibility and can be moved from one device to another in case of your device failure or new device login.

[@SpaceCadet4Jesus]

Please stop. I'm getting sick.....sick of the US government telling me I can no longer run my Kaspersky. Who do they think they are?

[@j31b]

I am Russian, so I've been using Kaspersky since I first started to use computer in late 1990s (this was like the default Antivirus for us since it was a Russian company). I left Russia in 2022, and once my licence expired in 2023, I uninstalled it. As someone who does not support war and putin, I would rather not let a Russian based company that coooperates with government to have full access to my computer (and also license is much more expensive if you're not physically located in Russia). Besides, I am a tech myself and I have an idea of what not do, and Windows Defender works pretty well.

[@WanderfalkeAT]

@@j31b Hypocracy is Bliss!

[@johnwethekylow]

Oh man, EVERY single thing I shop for and look up actual review articles for... ARE ALWAYS ADS for the top product, or the budget one that outdoes the higher priced things. It's literally every product, service, software, hardware, everything. ALL the "best of" articles are bought and paid for the brand that's most featured. And inevitably the one they want to sell you. Even amazon reviews are better than these things, or searching whatever I want then "reddit" and I get actual stories from customers about them.

[@balesjo]

I totally bypass those "Best of" articles now for the reasons you mentioned. Unfortunately, they're often some of the first search results you come across.

[@troyBORG]

Good to see ESET is still on the top. I'm currently using it on my PC actually.

[@testuser4200]

After ESET i didnt try anything else. It's quiet, relatively cheap, and it works. What do you want more?

[@MarcioHuser]

I've been using ESET since 2008. No complaints 👍

[@manusoftar]

From the antiviruses listed here, ESET is the one that gave me the best results and I do like to have it as a suit, I own a multidevice licence for ESET Internet Security which includes not only the antivirus "engine" but also a personal firewall which is quite useful being used in the interactive mode so you can have almost complete control about which apps communicate through internet without having to manualy set a bunch of rules on beforehand.

[@kkgt6591]

Same experience, it's very lightweight too

[@verboeq]

I've noticed the ESET firewall is also integrated with windows firewall so its very easy to preserve rules you have already setup in windows firewall, and very easy to unblock connections that are getting caught. It's almost one-click to allow say remote desktop through if you have already tried to connect to the machine and had it fail due to the firewall catching it. I rate ESET and have for many years.

[@Shiye]

Kaspersky has to be the best cleaner and av I've ever used, it saved my system not too long ago

[@angelcm156]

I'm a long time Kaspersky user and I think sometimes it doesn't get the recognition it deserves, it can be annoying sometimes as it detects even the slightest aware attempt, but at the same time it works great and doesn't slow down the computer

[@JustaGuy2.0]

I was going for Kaspersky before getting Bitdefender. Being Russian is a huge red flag for me. Nothing against the company, but i don't trust Psychoputin not getting his hand in there if he wants to.

[@alexbold4611]

I using it since it available, once my company send me to Moscow to pickup Kaspersky blanks(we put current version before sale) and present for Mr.Kaspersky, I think it was most original birthday present for him from Ukraine and yes, i contraband CD blanks because Ukrainian customs want absurd money for empty CD. It was 1998 and I have very important task to do: sneak cd thru border and don’t comeback from Moscow without full cracked version of Half-life.

[@secularnevrosis]

@@JustaGuy2.0 I do actually think that you as a customer has better protection against companies spying on you and 3 party spread of your information in Russia. People need to go to court to get your information and you must have a real case. We all know that it isn't the case with Microsoft, Mac, Google and so forth.

[@r200ti]

@@JustaGuy2.0 You mean you do trust the liars in the media who tell you that? Trust me, he isnt the one who you need to worry about. Its the people telling you to think like that.

[@JustaGuy2.0]

@@r200ti Really? REALLY?!?!? So the invasion of Ukraine and the killing and deportation is something normal to you? REALLY?!?! Don't tell me that Putin is a nice guy and a hero and it's the west the monster that invaded Ukraine, and Zelensky, since he should just accept the losing of territory and independence. REALLY?!?!?

[@Rose.Of.Hizaki]

hard to believe that ive used nothing but Kaspersky since 2007. I still remember when it was version 7. Part of the reason was because I managed to buy a tonne of leftover stock from a store that was going out of business and found a load of them still chilling at the back of the warehouse that had totally been forgotten. One of the greatest things about Kaspersky is keys from older versions will still activate for newer versions. There was a few years where they wouldnt allow this to happen but i think they rolled it back.

[@JohnDir-xw3hf]

That's because it's a russian spyware. Never trust them.

[@nikxohs3925]

free kaspersky is better than all that you have to pay. 10 years i use it doing everything and had no problem. and free kasperrsky virous removal tool is excellent

[@Nightstalker286]

Remember the pig squeal when it detected a threat ha ha ha

[@JoyGamer23]

I can tell my experience with Malwarebytes, it saved my 2 computers from malwares multiple times when i was a little boy clicking on ... questionable download buttons to play some older games... but i can definitely say one thing, once you know exactly what you're doing on the web, you don't really need an antivirus; altough i like to keep malwarebytes sleeping in the background until once a year i wake it up to make a system scan, that usually gives nothing out, just gotta be careful out there XD

[@Beanibirb]

Here after Kaspersky was banned in the US

[@thebluehat6814]

that uncovering of NSA backdoors really did rub them the wrong way huh

[@mlee6050]

Wow, I still use Kaspersky even though it's Russia company and I'm British Wtf Ka-sper-ski, I pronounce like casper sky

[@cdeford2]

Foreign companies get banned in the US either for political reasons or because of protectionism, dressed up as security concerns.

[@Rasupubegasu]

@@mlee6050I do the same. Casper Sky

[@RyanPlate]

Whilst searching for a new antivirus several years ago, I stumbled upon Kaspersky which had great ratings. Upon learning it was a Russian-owned company, it was an immediate no-go for me. Meanwhile... The U.S. Government: We should install this software on all of our computers!

[@davedave672]

Been in IT since 96. I agree. I use Webroot for my customers because its a good AV, has good management (does what I tell it), isn't chatty, & is VERY INEXPENSIVE but with about 230 computers on it I see about 1-2 viruses caught per year (worth having just for that). I also agree Sophos has slightly better detection but its far more expensive. For business use, most others aren't even options to me

[@Eisenhorne77]

We used to call Sophos SLOWPHOS because it would crater a pc with crappy performance. Our security team hated the name but agreed.

[@Belanthiel]

Bitdefender does have central management (Bitdefender Central) So I have to question how you put Webroot (which you said had worse detection rates) above the others based on easier management.

[@SlightlyTechnical]

likely he put as much emphasis on user friendliness and performance as detection rates.

[@pistolpete1471]

Titus lost me on the Webroot pick. Maybe for home use with someone that only browses the internet its okay at best but I would recommend defender over it still. I've worked three IRs recently where Webroot was the AV of choice and all of the clients were ransomed, two of which were script kiddie/ransomware as a service. S1 was installed after the fact to help clean the environments and the amount of malicious processes/files/applications that S1 caught was staggering.

[@xiaor1ck213]

He did say to not trust any video or this one in the internet about antivirus. He said that even though other has a pretty bad experience with webroot, he had a pretty good one. which is most likely the reason.

[@seangraylin]

Don't you man gravity zone as the central management?

[@killerspetsnaz]

ESET also has a central management... So ESET gets A tier, but Webroot, which he complained had an exploit (lmao) and worse detection rates, gets S tier? This doesn't make sense

[@Sterling_Silver04]

I was given a brand-new laptop when I graduated and was getting ready to leave house. Norton came pre-installed and I hated it. A couple weeks after I had everything set up I started getting constant notifications that "my computer had viruses and I needed to pay 29.99 to clean it" and other crap, including my computer running very slowly and pop-up notifications *everywhere.* Notifications were awful. It would pop up at random intervals as long apart as 5 minutes or as short as immediately after I x'ed out the previous notification. They also wouldn't leave on their own, I would have to stop whatever I was doing just to clear the ad. Got fed up and spent an hour exterminating every bit of it from my computer with extreme predjudice. I wouldn't piss on Norton if it was on fire. I'd throw more gasoline.

[@balesjo]

Norton used to be pretty good back in the 90s. But it seems that every time it's been bought by a new company, it's acquired more bloat, more nag popups to see other products, etc. Then on top of that the price has gone up astronomically and they force a subscription on you. I found this year I was able to buy a version for new users and use its software key to continue the service after deleting my credit card on file. It's a stop-gap measure until I decide on something else or to stick with Defender.

[@Shifty.]

9:08 video starts here

[@majorenDK]

Exactly! I try every time to explain to my father-in-law, but he always somehow presses a harmful link and then he installs AVG because he is ashamed of calling me again for help :D

[@gtasanandreas684]

The best Antivirus : Common Senses

[@ErasedPNG]

I like how he just lay it out there in the end, "The problem is YOU." because it's so true. We as the user wouldn't even be infected in the first place if we really becareful in what we do. We're getting attacked from many ways now like through e-mails, calls, sms, etc. These kind of attack usually uses a method that will panic users like involving bank account, fines or tickets, and personal accounts issues. We need to always calm down, read everything properly, and always check whom and where was it sent from. Stay safe!

[@scarfaceReaper]

I'd say the most simple way we get scammed is downloading something from a "safe site" we damn well know it's not and even when we are warned we just click ignore and keep file and later we are hit with viruses 😂 some never learn

[@ErasedPNG]

@@scarfaceReaper That's one of them I agree. Unless you know what you're doing and not gullible enough to simply trust random strangers on the internet (even if they're on your friends' account), always double check (or more even) before you click on something.

[@wilet.3088]

CyberSec professional here. Most honest and accurate review of antivirus software I've seen in a while ! 😂

[@zaca211]

As a professional with over 100 medium sized business under contract and more than 10 years in the computer repair business, I can tell you that most of the time, AVs cause more problems than they solve. Unless i have a customer that has a specific need for AV such as endpoint management, data control, HIPPA compliance control, etc... the built in Windows AV and some basic end user education will do more than pretty much all commercial AV in stopping threats. And McAfee is an instant uninstall every time I find it on a customer PC btw.

[@tamoghnapal6619]

I like Kaspersky as even though it's kind of annoying, it has actually worked perfectly for me, and my PC has never got infected. Kaspersky's scan for external devices and downloads is very good. Also Kaspersky probably has the least false positive rates, I have rarely had actual software treated as a malware. It also has a seperate category for "Legitimate Software that can be used by criminals" which is pretty good as it's just a warning for the user.

[@stedz2000]

Used Kaspersky for yonks.

[@EliteRock]

I've stuck with it for some years too, also never had an infection (that said, never had one at all since about 2005 when I was green enough to get the crude Brontok worm). It does an excellent job of blocking access to malicious URL's.

[@69Dartman]

I've used it for years too, if it detects something it warns you and usually locks it down to let you decide what to do. If you wait they have great sales for multi users and longer time periods. I don't think they would actually play nice with their home country either because if they did they would quickly lose all their paying customers.

[@mikapeltokorpi7671]

Kaspersky - leaking to Russia since the 90s. So no.

[@EliteRock]

@@mikapeltokorpi7671 Hmmm, who should I be more worried might be collecting and storing intel on me - Micro$oft/CIA/MI6 or the Russians? Not a difficult decision, actually.

[@ki4tlf]

As you mentioned, the ID10T behind the keyboard clicking on links is our main problem. And that's with them only having User access accounts. I'd hate to see how bad it would be if they had admin rights which some businesses have done.

[@getsideways7257]

And can you actually catch anything by just clicking the links? Unless, of course, you are still using Internet Explorer...

[@realEchoz]

@@getsideways7257 in theory yes, in practice no unless you are an extremely high value target or you have extremely old software, like for instance what you mentioned, iexplore.

[@LaepsynPaepsyn]

Thanks for the great video! I have one suggestion: if I understood correctly that your latest experience with the F-Secure one is from 2016, I'd recommend you give it another go in 2024 :) The detection rate (and the whole package) has developed quite a bit.

[@panjak323]

What I hate about defender in W11, it can't be disabled anymore, it scans every file, leading to 30s delays between downloading and being able to download files. And it completely kills compilation performance for no reason.

[@MyrddinREmrys]

Long time Trend user and have to say.. as long as they don't turn it off to access something that got a warning from trend.. have not had any systems get infected. And, once configured and folks told to click the do-not-show-again when offered the password manager.. it runs without dragging down the system and does the job without distraction. I like that it will give I think it's a weekly summary of trackers and bits it's blocked or dealt with for you and that's not too bad. I've usually been really happy it'd just dealt with things embedded in websites etc and didn't bother me about having to do so. Anyway, like the vid and your thoughts.. with my personal reservations re dumpstering Trend since I feel like they really are staying on-target and focused on their main business model.. Thanks for a good down to brass tacks video.. appreciate it.

[@pitape1822]

I like Eset or Kaspersky because I can easily disable them for a few minutes or one hour to speed up backups on external drives or avoiding false negative when writing Linux ISOs with Rufus. They are also lighter than Defender.

[@mikapeltokorpi7671]

Knowing the history of Kaspersky, it is absolute nono for me. It has been so over 20 years now.

[@edicahyono9283]

Antivirus wit disable and exit option is important at least for me

[@RustedCroaker]

@@mikapeltokorpi7671 By "the history of Kaspersky" you mean when we found out that it's the only security software that can detect and neutralize NSA exploits?

[@StaK_1980]

I like your honesty. I'm just not 100% sold on your list, nor the reasoning behind some of the reasons. Especially the placing of WebRoot.

[@vitatreat9037]

Just noticed that disabling core isolation/memory integrity in windows increase FPS and significantly increase on 1% FPS which removed stuttering. About 5% to 19% depend on games and how slow your CPU is. Made me looking for alternative AV. For time being I turned off that. Instant fix without turning off virtualization in BIOS (That BIOS setting also have same FPS boost). Still lookinh decent free AV

[@bivitabrata3188]

My experience back in the early 2000s, norton was dependable, but years later ended up being a nigtmare. It became so heavy, slowing down the pc a lot, and corrupting the os when you uninstall it.

[@balesjo]

My gripe with Norton is the constant nagging popups trying to sell you additional products/services. Even clicking that you don't want to see the popup again is useless. So I tried BitDefender because of its good reviews but they've also taken the route of the popups. So I'm back at Norton for now but continue to read articles like this.

[@bladesofseven]

Having been a longtime Avast user because this was from the Vista era of computers, I'm not at all surprised to see it fall from grace, but all things considered I can't tell if having it on my current laptop is strictly because of old muscle memory clouding my judgement. At least Malwarebytes is still getting good reps, which is nice, had to use that quite a bit to clean out my computers back in the day.

[@user-mt4zr5kp7h]

The one thing I hate the most about Windows Defender is every time you update Windows or even just Defender itself gets updated, anything that I have put on the allow list is suddenly re-detected again, and I have to do it all over again. And often times, what I have allowed gets itself quarantined before I even realize it. It's just a pain in the ass. So anytime I have a client with Windows, who does a lot of things on the internet, the first thing I'll do is disable Windows Defender completely and install Webroot. It's been working well for me for five or six years now. Well, up until I switched to Linux. Now I don't run any antivirus.

[@Mr.Reality]

Instead of removing viruses from your computer your now occupied with getting anything to work on Linux.

[@crazydude5825]

​@@Mr.RealityActually really easy to do these days. Very few programs now struggle to work on Linux. It's usually only an issue if the developers intentionally block it.

[@Mr.Reality]

​@@crazydude5825 Thing is I know that everything works in windows. I use photoshop, sony vegas, i play pubg sometimes and adobe doesn't work on linux, can't play pubg because of easy anti cheat. and I'm sure I will run into many more issues with Linux. And even if all these issues can be resolved, I cba spending and tweaking everything just so I can use the software. I just want everything to work. I think Linux is cool. competition is good but let's be real. You can't compare Linux to Windows. Windows is far superior. Unless Linux can do more than windows or the same with less spyware etc I see no reason to swap to Linux. It will just be a downgrade.

[@7_of_9]

Malwarebytes+Windows defender! That's all you need, everything else just decreases the OS performance

[@chefrobsen]

I had Norton for me and my dad as kind of a safety net. But every year it was the same scheme: suddenly my subscription was renewed for about a 100€ and only me haggling with their customer support would get me down to the usual 30€ / year. And I got tired of it.

[@steveg6199]

My credit card recently expired and Norton's been bothering me that they can't auto-renew. Muhahahah! Sorry Norton, I'm leaving. 🙂

[@HookerHeels]

This is me. I get my 10 computer license for Avast for $30 after I don't renew lol I know people don't like Avast, but it catches things for me (I don't necessarily pirate things, but I am a power user and do download a lot of handwritten tools for things, mods, etc, and once in a while it catches things that I download. Tho after this video, I think I'll look into Eset.

[@whelpthereitis2577]

Having a similar IT history as you I am surprised / not surprised my ranking is basically yours to a tee. Great advice and breakdowns across the board

[@JustAGameShow]

I have ESET Antivirus, never had an issue with its detection/background operation. I've also NEVER used free antivirus software because most have malware for advertisements in the background which opens up a different line of safety which is ironic considering the software it's being used through.

[@trololoev]

Kaspersky: his detection is S tier. Only antivirus is S tier: detection of this antivirus is worse that A tier ones. where is logic?

[@FundamentallyFlawed]

He's also taking performance into consideration. If one has a slightly higher detection rate but uses significantly more system resources, it may not be worth it for most average users.

[@trololoev]

@FundamentallyFlawed only purpose of antivirus is to find viruses, if only Kaspersky donit on S tier, then he real S tier.

[@MarioShadbox]

I use Kaspersky for home and office, and that's because they've regionalized prices. I'm in Argentina with a devaluated economy and having a service in our local coin it's a plus, really good software at a fair price.

[@nikxohs3925]

get kaspersky free. is as good as paying one

[@RustedCroaker]

@@nikxohs3925 Lucks some good additional features beside being exceptional antivirus, but for an old PC it can be a plus.

[@MysticRixel]

Just happy to see ESET doing well on the tier list. I've been using it for over 10 years and never had an issue with it. :)

[@Twenty_Six_Hundred]

I was a Nod32 user back in the early 2000's and swore by it for years. Nowadays i just use defender, Malwarebytes for scans every month and my brain. Defender does a decent job providing the user isn't lurking around dodgy questionable sites

[@PanduPoluan]

If you like ESET, you'll be happy to know that they now also provide a free on-demand scanner. So you can pair that with Malwarebytes.

[@AWEG-qu8bz]

I- habe einen Mini-PC einer chinesischen Marke gekauft. Und die erste Frage meiner Meinung nach ist, dass die Hard- und Software des Systems sauber ist beim ersten Booten/im Originalzustand. Danach liegt es in meiner eigenen Verantwortung. Aber wie kann ich sicherstellen, dass das System sauber ist, wenn es meine Tür passiert? Thanks

[@clockwork6966]

ive been using avast for a little bit (free version, im a bum) and i noticed where you put it in this list i know absolutely nothing about this field so just a few questions and observations: 1) for me avast tends to redirect me away from "infected" websites more often than windows defender, just wondering, in terms of pure avoidance of bad sites and dodgy installs (ignoring annoyance of use, data leaks, etc) how does it compare to defender? 2) is it worth just getting rid of it and relying on defender, is it going to be more or less as effective?

[@ziff_1]

your best bet is to install Ublock Origin in your browsers and do away with Avast, and use Windows Defender. Ublock will guard against shady sites. Actually your best bet is to stay away from dodgy sites (porn, piracy, etc), but if you're going to do that, Ublock (it's free) is a must, and really should be installed anyway. Tip: if you use Ublock, note that it can be disabled on a per site basis, and you should disable it for certain sites like your bank, utilities, etc

[@Nomad19-04]

Use kaspersky, you can even use both. There is something to do that from configuration

[@skyhunter996]

Avast is pretty good and defo has better detection rate than win defender. Him putting it below defender is criminal given it's majorly better

[@dozeros7902]

AVG and Avast do block sketchy sites like you said, while Windows Defender does not. Don't worry, you're good. Just because he made this vid doesn't mean he's right.

[@kingjakewolf5348]

I would suggest removing avast and installing a really good adblocker like uBlock origin that is open sourced that will block you from malicious websites and block annoying/malicious ads from websites and instead keeping defender whihc is pretty good nowadays or if you can get the money a license for ESET

[@lonekid9286]

I used to use Windows Defender it's mostly silent but when I game, the resource it takes becomes noticeable. So, I tried some other antiviruses and found NOD32 much lighter than defender. So, I bought a physical licence for ESET Internet Security as NOD32 was sold out. But it was still cheap enough for my budget. So, I downloaded the ESET software, used the licence key I bought, which suggested me to used their Internet Security but they also had an option to downgrade, which I used to turn it to NOD32. And the results are good. It's very light, yet still detects malwares with yet no false alarms.

[@destrierofdark_]

the biggest pro to eset is that its detection rates aren't cheated; it's not going to bonk a file for having a wrong name, or "looking like it might do something"; it'll only ever act if the file _is_ malicious, and never on maybes, which basically every single one of their competitors literally depends on to keep their detection rates comparable.

[@bottomshot4546]

I've had the same experience, built a Win 7 gaming machine in 2015 and found ESET NOD32 to be the lightest in resources, In those 8 years Ive only had one false positive

[@Eternal_Tech]

How does a digital download, such as antivirus software, become "sold out?" Or, are you referring to buying a box containing a product key from a store?

[@destrierofdark_]

@@Eternal_Techhe said physical license. ie: he bought it from an actual store.

[@bikes02]

@@destrierofdark_ WOW, do people still actually buy AV's from shops 😂

[@mahehro]

Avast and AVG have been part of Norton for a while now. Avira recently too. F-Secure is significantly better than many people think. There are few configuration options, but very good protection with great performance. My top 3: Kaspersky, F-Secure & ESET. Bitdefender's performance is really not that good and there are too many security gaps.

[@rekkuramones7671]

F-Secure aren't familiar to most of peoples. It is from Finland and it is really familiar in Europe, but not in rest of the world. That's why peoples underrate it. Performance of it is really good and detect rate too. They also have many other security softwares.

[@ronhaworth5808]

I've been using ESET NOD32 for a long time now and nothing has ever got past it. Low footprint on the system.

[@caracal82]

I just watched Jay'zTwoCents and I was surprised he also said never ever use Norton or McAfee. I have been with Norton since 2013 and really enjoyed their services until recent years when they started to spam me with annoying pop ups everyday. Upon Jay's video I cancelled renewal with Norton and came here to look for good antivirus. I really enjoyed your video and found it very helpful. Instant subscription and hope to stay updated with your videos on what works and what to avoid installing.

[@Ultrajamz]

Honestly don’t think Norton is McAffee tier bad, but the notifications and suggestions for “system cleaning” and “driver updates” are annoying, and it has better option granularity compared to BitDefender from what I remember. My concern with windows, is thats what all the malware devs will 100% test against.

[@allenqueen]

When I was a kid, our computer would come down with a viral flu every so often. Doesn't happen these days, even though I use internet a whole lot more

[@decryptmars]

But this also has to do with the fact that malware today is highly optimised to avoid detection, neither by antivirus nor by the user. The hurdles for malware to get onto a system and embed itself there are much higher today. Accordingly, the last thing you want as a malicious actor in this situation is to be exposed, for example through conspicuous and excessive utilisation of the victim's system or sudden changes to the victims system. The days of malware announcing itself to you via popups with skull-and-bones-gifs are long gone.

[@realEchoz]

@@decryptmars how often do you see sophisticated malware? i virtually only see terrible malware exploiting the same vulnerability as always-the user. why even bother unless you're going for a specific target? there's an infinite supply of idiots who will fall for anything.

[@CodeKokeshi]

What I dislike about antivirus software is how they often hide or bundle their installation with another application's installer. The abundance of adware (though I'm not sure with this one) and unnecessary and constant notifications that come with them can be quite annoying. The last time I had an antivirus was probably eight years ago when I was more innocent about these things.

[@MrThebigcheese75]

My mother in law, who is now easily confused had three or four paid antivirus and I blame the aggressive popups. Avast and avg definitely. I just make sure defender is running, same with work computers. I also make sure to only allow them local accounts, my predecessor had them all as admins and all had "the usual password". Stops them installing anything they like.

[@robertbertagna1672]

Thanks!

[@xarisfil58]

"It's the problem between the chair and the keyboard" - Wisest sentence ever spoken on cybersec domain for a user

[@shanerogers3869]

PEBKAC is one that’s always stuck with me since first hearing it.

[@CK637]

This video was great! I would love to see a tier list just like this for VPNs, because that industry feels very similar.

[@MunyuShizumi]

You can't really audit VPN providers in the same way as the core feature is a blackbox server that you can't test and don't have access to. Often they'd be considered good just because there hasn't been a public scandal yet which you typically learn about a year or two down the line. An antivirus you can at least test yourself in a VM environment, but there's no way of knowing how secure a VPN provider is or if it's storing or selling your data. I guess you could test if geo-spoofing works at all, and compare pricing and network performance, but the whole security/privacy aspect is a big "Trust me, bro" and generally shouldn't be seen as more trustworthy than a generic ISP.

[@TheSast]

​@@MunyuShizumiYou can also rate the level of imformation they require of you to be their customer, their payment options, etc

[@EscapeMCP]

Your own VPN: S-tier

[@KyleLockhart]

I'm currently using Bit Defender. Swapped over from Kaspersky mid 2010s for whatever reason. Before that was Eset nod32. Honestly I'm kind of debating whether it's necessary anymore since windows defender does a decent job and I'm not pirating or otherwise doing many risky things on my pcs.

[@carlitosoe]

If I hi back to windows I would use microwin debloater and remover defender only because I feel Microsoft sneaks telemetry in defender and to preserve system resources

[@IronStorm666]

Does anyone know if there is eset 32 for linux in the first place? Secondly, you can install an old version without the new graphics, but have the ntivirus updated using the address of the new one, how do you do it on winzoz? If you would be perfect. Simple, fast and space-saving. 🙄

[@roddneyfett444]

I would add that Bit defender does an nice job at identifying vulnerabilities.

[@slycordinator]

After Avast bought AVG, they started making the two products more and more alike. I've never really understood it. Avast was originally advertised as being a good antivirus that used relatively few resources, but over time it just became bloated.

[@XXLcze]

It happened to me twice that Free Avast made laptops of relatives to start Extremely slow for some reason. First time i had no idea what was causing it but second time it was quick fix.

[@timrim9405]

@@XXLcze Opinions about Avast based on personal experience are often extremely biased simply because Avast changes a lot. It can be slow for a week or month and after that become super fast. Sensitivity of this antivirus also jumps like crazy and for example right now they are extremely aggressive against scam ads and links... All new independent tests puts Avast above Win Defender but when you use Avast you are a bit like a lab rat bombarded with some sh..t to harvest data. I think that AVG is way more stable but I kinda like whole drama and beta test experience around Avast xD

[@TheSpotify95]

Nowadays Avast is so intrusive (and also difficult to get rid of) that it's more of a problem to the end user than the viruses it's meant to protect you from. Seriously, don't install it.

[@Tomas9970_1]

@@XXLcze I know that by default, Avast scans every file that is being created or accessed by the user, which causes 100% disk usage on computers with HDDs and makes them almost unusable. Disabling the file shield fixes it pretty well but for some reason, Avast likes to automatically re-enable the disabled features.

[@VSN-wb2ly]

It's still okay but better option exist

[@axel_blaze_csgo]

I've used most of the antiviruses here in the list and I would highly recommend to use ESET Internet Security OR ESET Smart Security. These all other ones are good enough for viruses, malware detection while ESET also provides additional features like LiveGrid, Ransomware Protection, Phishing attack protection, Banking browser protection & security, Network IDS, etc. While Bit-Defender is also one of the best one, but ESET is the most light one I've ever used, it even works with very low end laptops & PCs.

[@PrimeIsCrime]

To me Defender has just been fine enough. If you know what you are doing with your computer, defender will just do.