Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing Antivirus Software

 

Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing Antivirus Software

With more than a quarter of a million new malicious programs being detected every day, it is painfully clear that everyone needs the protection of a good antivirus product.

However, choosing the best antivirus software in 2018 is easier said than done. From barebones products to feature-laden security suites and everything in between, there are so many options on today's market that it can be difficult to know which antivirus software is right for you.

We want to make things a little easier. To help you narrow down your options, we've rounded up 13 mistakes to avoid when choosing antivirus software. So, sit back, write a list of potential antivirus products, and we'll show you exactly how you can start weeding out the unsuitable candidates.

You can safely cross antivirus software on your list if it doesn't meet the following criteria:

1. Detection Rates

When it comes down to it, the most important factor when choosing antivirus software is how well it can protect your system against known and unknown threats. Since there are so many vendors that can offer protection rates well above 95 percent (for example, test products in a recent AV-Comparatives review scored a median of 99.95 percent), there really is no excuse to go with a provider. offering poor security. Beware of any antivirus software that regularly fares poorly in independent tests (more on that later!), And feel free to separate repeat criminals from your list.

2. Layered Protection

As malware becomes more complex, it is no longer safe to rely solely on a real-time guard that simply scans files for known threats. Instead, look for antivirus software that incorporates multiple layers of protection into its defense system. A web protection component , for example, can be helpful in blocking connections to rogue websites and preventing malware from touching your system. Emsisoft Anti-Malware takes the multi-layered approach to the next level by using dual-scanner technology to maximize the chances of detecting and removing any suspicious software, and it also incorporates a behavior blocker.

3. SSL Inspection Practice

By mid-2017, more than half of the websites on the Internet had already migrated to SSL , a protocol that ensures that all website content transfers are encrypted so that no one can read the data that is sent.

While SSL is appreciated by all, it poses an interesting problem for some antivirus vendors, as many products rely on deep inspection of website traffic to detect threats. As SSL is end-to-end encryption, it is technically impossible to scan website content, unless the antivirus installs a local SSL proxy that simulates the actual security certificates of the websites. But doing that is a very dangerous way to use technology., since things can go wrong; at worst, it could trick the user into believing that a website is securely encrypted when in fact it is not. Emsisoft proves that protection against surfing can be done without damaging the concept of SSL security. DNS-based filtering is the way to go, if you are concerned about your SSL security.

4. Behavior Blocker

Signature-based scanners are great at detecting known threats (i.e. malware that has been seen before), but they are very ineffective when it comes to dealing with zero-day attacks (new malware). New outbreaks typically affect the world in a matter of minutes and can infect millions of machines before an antivirus vendor can even think of releasing a signature update.

To combat this risk, some vendors make use of behavior blockers, which can detect malicious behavior patterns and intercept offensive programs before they can make changes to your system. A good behavior blocker is the only technology that can reliably protect you against zero-day threats, and it should be a critical factor to consider when choosing antivirus software.

5. Privacy

Check the privacy policies of AV vendors. Some are collecting data about your computer usage to improve their products. While simple product usage telemetry is usually anonymous, some products can also upload suspicious files from your computer to the provider's scan cloud. You must be able to fully trust that the provider will handle your files in a responsible, ethical and safe manner. After all, a private document could be part of that burden, too. This is particularly relevant for companies dealing with critically private customer data (such as those managed by hospitals and doctors), as well as companies that fear any kind of industry espionage .

6. False Positives

Marking an innocent program as malicious is known as giving a false positive, and it's an important metric to think about when choosing antivirus software.

Why?

Well, if your antivirus mistakenly identifies a file as a threat, it will treat it as malicious, which probably involves quarantining the file or deleting it entirely. In many cases, this will damage the functionality of the software that the file belongs to and may render the application unusable. This is a constant battle for some providers; In the aforementioned AV-Comparatives test, a product identified more than 250 false positives in a test set consisting of 20,011 malware samples!

Many antivirus vendors solve this by modifying the detection threshold, but this can have the opposite effect and result in a reduced detection rate. Ideally, you want to find antivirus software that hits the sweet spot between a good detection rate and a low number of false positives.

7. Usability

Excellent protection rates are only part of the equation. While antivirus software doesn't necessarily have to have a beautiful user interface, it should still be easy to use for tech-savvy and casual users.

The best antivirus software balances form with function. Look for a product that has an easy-to-use interface that is logical to navigate and includes settings that can be easily adjusted to suit your needs. If your forward-looking antivirus software includes miles of menus and intuitive options that can't be figured out without multiple trips to Wikipedia, it might be time to cross it off the list.

8. System Impact

There is little point in choosing an antivirus product that has the best detection rates in the world if it slows down your system every time you run a scan. This is usually a problem with products that are poorly optimized and / or come with a bunch of extra 'features' that aim to tighten up security but do little more than hog your system resources. Good antivirus software should be sleek, efficient, and have little impact on your regular computer use. This means that you should be able to complete a scan quickly and it will not affect your PC's boot time.

9. Features

When comparing antivirus software, you may be drawn to products that come bundled with a full range of seemingly useful bonus features. For example, some security suites will come with a firewall, parental controls / content blockers, browser plugins, password managers, cloud backups, and many other security tools. While these products may appear to provide better protection, it's important to ask yourself: Am I really going to use these features?

For example, having a content blocker that restricts children's access to certain websites probably isn't necessarily if you don't have children, just as the backup components are redundant if you're already using a third-party backup service. Also, proprietary firewalls are generally considered superfluous these days, as Windows Firewall is now on par with most firewalls from IT security vendors.

Simply put, avoid antivirus products that come bundled with components that you won't be using. Keep your antivirus software slim, serious, and focused to avoid unnecessary bloat.

10. Comments

Unless you have a particularly strong interest in the antivirus industry, it's hard to keep up with the ins and outs of all the various security solutions on offer. Fortunately, you can get a pretty good overview of your options by looking at independent antivirus test results and user recommendations.

A number of third-party test groups such as AV-Comparatives, AV-Test, and Virus Bulletin, among others, regularly conduct detailed analyzes to discover how IT security products perform when subjected to malware. The results of these tests can reveal a great deal of information regarding detection rates and false positive rates, factors that should be an important factor in your decision. When looking at reviews, be sure to verify that it is from an independent source (that is, unpaid), so you can be sure that the results are fair and equitable.

If a product consistently scores poorly in these tests, it may be wise to steer clear. Alternatively, if the marketer tends to avoid these tests entirely, it is often an indicator that the product simply does not perform as well as their marketing team would have it believe.

11. Support

One factor that is often overlooked when choosing an antivirus product is the quality of the support team. Too often, a salesperson support system consists of little more than Chatbots, email autoresponders, and community / customer-to-customer support, none of which are particularly helpful in the event of a crisis. Many antivirus software reviews will include at least a few lines of support, so be sure to read this section carefully before committing to any product. If the product is poorly supported, you may need to consider removing it from the list.

Here at Emsisoft, we pride ourselves on offering super fast, no-strings attached emergency support, active forums, and email support from real people who are passionate about IT security.

12. Price

A quick search will reveal dozens of free antivirus products claiming to be able to compete with the premium options on the market. While these free options may be better than nothing (whether or not they're better than Windows Defender Antivirus is another matter altogether ...), you need to keep one simple truth in mind: there is no free lunch.

In many cases, using "free" antivirus software means that you are paying with your personal data, being targeted by in-app advertisements, or inadvertently installing some unwanted software package. After all, something has to pay for development work, servers, company infrastructure, etc.

You don't need to rule out free options, just keep in mind that product quality and support are often downgraded compared to paid options. You probably won't notice a $ 40 yearly subscription, but you will certainly notice when a new variety of ransomware encrypts your files and the Chatbots support system hears nonsensical scripted responses.

13. Free Trial

Reading reviews and independent tests are a great way to get expert insight into an antivirus software product, but even a perfect score doesn't necessarily mean the software is right for you. People have different needs and preferences, which means that the user experience will always be somewhat subjective.

With this in mind, the best way to accept an antivirus product is to install a free trial version yourself and play a game with it to see if it suits your needs well. Ideally, the trial version should offer full functionality to give you a realistic experience. If you don't have time to install and test several different antivirus programs, check out YouTube video reviews to see what the product looks like in a real environment and how they work with random malware samples.