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Registered Member #162
Joined: Mon Feb 13 2006, 10:25AM
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 3141
I've recently got a Win8.1 laptop, the pre-loaded McAffe expired, I don't want to pay. On WinXP I was ok (I think) with AVG.
I got confused googling stuff .... help !
I've read that Win8.1 inbuilt security is good enough without additional packages.
Is Win8.1 secure (I know nothing is actually secure) without extra security?
If not which is a good free one? or is there no 'good' and 'free' ?
I have trouble remembering passwords, I don't need to protect state secrets, just email, online payments etc. something simple.
P.S I'd normally ask the guys at work but i've been stuck in bed for weeks again with back problems, so I'm playing the pity card for a quick response.
Registered Member #4266
Joined: Fri Dec 16 2011, 03:15AM
Location:
Posts: 874
Personal I would use a antivirius or malware, but use something like Zonealarm firewall, mainly because av slow the computer doown and , black hats test there viruis on ever av beffore hand.
Registered Member #53
Joined: Thu Feb 09 2006, 04:31AM
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 638
I have an MS Surface with Windows 8.1 and all I use is the build in MS Security Essentials/Windows Defender. As long as you are using a modern browser and not clicking "yes, ok, install" on every popup you should be fine. It takes active work to mess up Win 7/8/8.1 in my experience.
Registered Member #902
Joined: Sun Jul 15 2007, 08:17PM
Location: Pacific Northwest USA
Posts: 1042
as a security consultant in industry, the M$ tools are definitely NOT enough. Yes turn them on just as an additional layer, but don't trust them to actually do much.
Here is a good recent guide to comparing performance actual actual effectiveness of a few common free (or cheap) AV: ,review-2209.html
McAffe is a piece of junk though so glad you took it off. AVG and Avast both offer good levels of protection (I think AVG is a bit better in detection, but I personally use Avast for my non-enterprise stuff since it has more flexibility).
While most malware can be avoided by not clicking install to random stuff, some things are not avoidable by user intervention. Flash and Java based attacks are common, as well as Browser exploits that load malware. There have even been cases of malware being on mass distributed USB drives at events (IBM conference had this happen at their manufacturer/distributor level. Completely out of user control).
If you really want to go without an AV to stay lightweight (not a good idea, as you can at least have one and set the background scan priorities etc how you want), at least do some other protective measures. There is a tool called EMET. It is one of the few good security tools to come out of MS that is able to be used by non-enterprise users. It helps with protecting against exploits in common software by enforcing certain procedure. However, it takes a performance hit as well.
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Help! Windows8, what anti-malware to use?
