FREE
ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE
Background - I
was asked to draft some basic advice for our corporate employees to use
at home. Legally I can't say - get AVG/ZA and ADaware so I've tried to
do it as comparisons. These haven't been approved yet and I'm open to
suggestions on how to improve them. They are pitched at a very low
level of IT awareness.
Free Personal Antivirus
comparison
When you read the news, you learn about many different forms of
electronic infection. The most common are:
• Viruses - A virus is a
small piece of software that piggybacks on real programs. For example,
a virus might attach itself to a program such as a spreadsheet program.
Each time the spreadsheet program runs, the virus runs, too, and it has
the chance to reproduce (by attaching to other programs) or wreak
havoc.
• E-mail viruses - An
e-mail virus travels attached to e-mail messages, and usually
replicates by automatically mailing itself to dozens of people in the
victim's e-mail address book.
• Worms - A worm is a
small piece of software that uses computer networks and security holes
to replicate itself. A copy of the worm scans the network for another
machine that has a security hole. It copies itself to the new machine
using the security hole, and then starts the process from there.
• Trojan horses - A
Trojan horse is simply a computer program. The program claims to do one
thing (it may claim to be a game) but instead does damage when you run
it (it may erase your hard disk or install other unwanted programs).
When the word virus is used in the rest of this paper it refers to
viruses, worms and Trojans.
What will a virus do to your computer?
A virus could be used to extract useful information from your computer
such as banking details or credit card numbers. It may do nothing
except attempt to spread to other machines which may cause your
computer to become slow and unusable.
What does Antivirus software do?
Antivirus software scans emails for attached viruses and will
monitor files as they are opened for signs of viral infection.
Antivirus software can also scan your whole machine for viruses. If a
virus is found by the software it will normally either remove the virus
or move the infected file to a safe quarantined area.
What does Antivirus software not do?
It will not protect against most spyware programs.
It will not prevent spam emails from being sent to you.
It will not screen out phishing emails or other illegal scam emails.
Antivirus software is only as good as its last update. Hundreds of
new viruses are made every day so antivirus software should be updated
every day if possible. If the antivirus software is not updated it will
not be able to detect new viruses and your machine could become
infected.
What software is available?
Many different companies produce antivirus software some of these
will be supplied with new PC but will often not allow you to update
without paying for a subscription. Some of the leading companies that
produce pay-to-use software include:
Symantec – Norton Antivirus
Panda – Panda Titanium 2006 Antivirus
Kaspersky – Kaspersky Antivirus 6.0
McAfee – McAfee Internet Security Suite
Trend – PC-cillin Internet Security 14
ESET – NOD32
There are companies which produce antivirus software which is free
to use. These products can be downloaded for free and also include free
updates.
Grisoft AVG
AVG is a very popular free antivirus program. It is very easy to
use and install. To download the program you must register with Grisoft
who will then provide a key to use the program. AVG will scan files and
inside emails. Updates are provided but these must be done manually
everyday.
Website – AVG Antivirus
Avast Antivirus
Avast is another very popular free antivirus program, It provides a
lot of the same functions as AVG but also includes automatic updates.
Avast has some known issues working with the popular ZoneAlarm free
personal firewall but these are highlighted during the installation and
an automatic fix is provided. To activate Avast you have to register to
obtain a key to use the program.
Website – Avast! 4 Home
Avira
Well regarded in terms of its ability to detect viruses and Trojans
but it is best suited to newer more powerful machines. The program
layout is a little harder to use than some other software. Similar
functions to most antivirus programs.
Website – Avira Antivir Personal Edition Classic
Trend HouseCall
HouseCall is a service offered by the Trend Micro Company which
also makes the PC-Cillin pay-for software package. HouseCall is an
internet based service which will scan your computer for viruses and
Trojans through your internet browser. The service is free but you are
required to have the latest Java software on your machine. This is also
free and links are available from the Trend website but the additional
download could take a little time.
HouseCall provides a good second check if you think your current
antivirus software is not working well. It does not provide protection
against email viruses and viruses within CDs and floppy disks and
should not be used to replace an installed antivirus program.
Website – Trend HouseCall
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Original Tutorial
by Aspman
for TheTAZZone-TAZForum
Originally posted on August 30th, 2006 here
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