proropke :
I just wanted to say that pc mag's get paid to say shitty antivirus like norton is the best :/
That's kind of a "duh" statement haha. Of course, software companies will pay reviewers/zines to say something good. From my experience, I've seen more problems with Norton than any 'neutral' reviewer has claimed... so I just overlook certain wares when I look at results. The rest of them I'll just take with a grain of salt.
Zkye :
However, it is best to stay away from stains, uhm viruses. You can get those usually from shady places (strong dc, torrents, illegal porn sites). It's easier to avoid them than to remove a virus after you got it on your computer. If you HAVE to download something suspicious, make sure not to open it before scanning it. You can use virustotal.com to scan suspicious files. Also, don't download email attachments if you don't know the sender. That's a really common way of spreading a virus.
If you can protect yourself, all you need is a light antivirus software which comes with a firewall. I've been using Avast for a few years and never had a problem with it. But if I have to run something that might contain a virus, I'll run it sandboxed or I'll use a virtual machine. If it is indeed a virus, at least it won't be able to spread.
First off, Avast has a pretty poor success rate; at least, when you give the computer to someone who sucks with computer security. My rule of thumb: if it isn't idiot proof, it isn't worth using. The protection provided by Avast is okay, but there are other free, and far superior, options available.
Secondly, straying from "shady places" is not going to do a thing for you. And no, it isn't easier to avoid viruses than to remove them. Common misconceptions, mate. I've been torrenting over a decade now, with ZERO infections due my my torrent/file-sharing activities. How do I know? I occasionally run scans with quality software, and I've not once come up with anything other than false positives (I challenged). If I've ever acquired infections over the years, they were ones that the security software couldn't find (ie: they weren't public knowledge, so there was no way to detect it). If a virus isn't publicly known, and there's no means to prevent/destroy the infection, then your security software isn't going to do a thing to protect you... because it can't. Also, plenty of viruses come from "safe" places all of the time. They can come from your ads on your favourite news site, click-jackers, or even from an attachment in an email that was sent from your friend/family member. Computer viruses are likely to be anywhere, but people don't seem to care.
I don't have any known viruses because I've learned what not to do. I rarely use email for anything other than website registrations, I scan remotely suspicious attachments, I avoid programs, like Outlook, that download your emails (the best way to threaten your computer's security with email), I use Iron and Aviator as my web browsers, I use AdGuard for advertisement blocking, I clean my system's temp files/cookies/everything at least once a week (every two weeks if I'm slacking), I clean out the registry just as often, I disable various things like the Windows Event Log (the best way for someone to key log you without using a key logger)... I'm a very paranoid user. There're a lot of misconceptions out there that many professionals purport because they don't care to challenge them properly.
Avoiding computer viruses would mean never connecting your computer to the internet, never sharing data with another computer (by any method), and only installing software that is bought on a retail disc. That's the cold, hard fact that nobody wants to admit; and I think it's because it makes the internet seem more scary than it really is. I blame the lack of proper education.
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