antivirus

[jonro]

Just a question

What is the single best antivirus?

And another

What is the single best free antivirus?

[doctorgonzo]

There have been quite a few "what is the best antivirus" questions latey it seems.

IMO, asking that question means you are looking at things wrong. Antivirus programs help provide security, and there is no silver bullet when it comes to security, no "best" product. Security is a process. The best AV program in the world won't help you if you never run it or never get new virus definitions. It is also just one component in computer security. Focusing on AV but forgetting about a firewall, for example, is like locking your doors but leaving your windows open.

Personally, I have used both Norton AV 2002 and AVG. Norton is not free, AVG is. Both work quite well as long as you remember to update your virus definitions at least once a week. I also use a hardware firewall, a software firewall, Mozilla as a web browser, Lavasoft, and AdAware. I do backups frequently. All of those pieces are needed to provide good security, and with all of these pieces I haven't had any problems in a long time.

Think about your security processes instead of just products and you will be much better off.

[glc]

We have a System Security and Privacy forum here where this subject is constantly discussed. I suggest you read some of the threads in there.