Privacy concern Anti Virus software for Windows?

[Deleted User]

Kaspersky works for me and I've been using it for years, maybe since 2008 or so.

The Media and Western govts sure love to degrade Slavics, specifically Russians and pin everything on them.

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Stop getting Windows from Microsoft and get Linux. There is no spy, easy to use, legal and best of all.. ITS ABSOLUTELY FREE!

You're happy with Linux, good for you. Just don't try to force it on others.

I for example use Windows 10 and the majority of the programs don't exist for Linux though there may be alternatives, but I can't careless to search for them. I've used Windows since forever. I still remember Windows 3.1, 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP, and so on.

ME and Vista were terrible. ME kept breaking so many times that when we had 2000 it was a relieve.

 

[gohan123]

My personal recommendation for decent, yet unobtrusive, security, based on personal experience (which includes getting infected by ransomware on a PC that was extensively secured);
Don't use any version of Windows below 8.1 on a machine connected to the net... ever!
Avast Free version is good enough to handle the regular security of your PC. Combine it with Malwarebytes Free Anti Malware (the free version no longer has real time protection, so just be sure to run it manually a couple of times a week for peace of mind).
Make sure your routers firewall isn't completely open - "medium" security should be enough to allow for most common usage scenarios. Windows firewall is pretty much all I use as a system firewall these days. I used to use Commodo but it became a bit tedious to manage effectively.
However, I would recommend Commodo's Ice Dragon (their fork of Firefox) as a browser. Extremely well focussed on privacy and anti-tracking. Combine it with plugins like Ghostery to all but eliminate all web tracking.
Dependant on your connection and web usage I'd also recommend a decent VPN, but I've found that they can make the internet almost unuseable at times so only use 'as required'.

I'm also using avast + malwarebytes, but still on google chrome, used vpn a short time but it was more an annoyance.

 

[the_randomizer]

Kaspersky works for me and I've been using it for years, maybe since 2008 or so.

The Media and Western govts sure love to degrade Slavics, specifically Russians and pin everything on them.

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You're happy with Linux, good for you. Just don't try to force it on others.

I for example use Windows 10 and the majority of the programs don't exist for Linux though there may be alternatives, but I can't careless to search for them. I've used Windows since forever. I still remember Windows 3.1, 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP, and so on.

ME and Vista were terrible. ME kept breaking so many times that when we had 2000 it was a relieve.

I mean, Russia loves their unscrupulous game sites and MP3 discount sites, which software and music have been obtained via shady means, not to mention the fact they give out Steam keys illegal, can you blame them for not trusting them?

 

[Lacius]

The fewer third-party programs you're using, the fewer opportunities for privacy concerns. In other words, if you're already using Windows 10, then using Windows Defender is going to have fewer privacy risks than anything else.

In addition, Windows Defender is an effective real-time anti-virus program. It blocks 99.3% of real-world threats, it's unobtrusive, and it's resource-efficient.

 

[the_randomizer]

The fewer third-party programs you're using, the fewer opportunities for privacy concerns. In other words, if you're already using Windows 10, then using Windows Defender is going to have fewer privacy risks than anything else.

In addition, Windows Defender is an effective real-time anti-virus program. It blocks 99.3% of real-world threats, it's unobtrusive, and it's resource-efficient.

Seconded, been using it since removing Norton, which was a nightmare for my machine; damn thing either kept interrupting my screensaver/monitor sleep with nagging updates. Or simply took up too many resources on my setup, so I said "screw it" and went back to Windows Defender. Haven't had a single issue.

 

[Deleted User]

I mean, Russia loves their unscrupulous game sites and MP3 discount sites, which software and music have been obtained via shady means, not to mention the fact they give out Steam keys illegal, can you blame them for not trusting them?

Western media may had a point somewhere in time, but they were (and are) like the boy who cried wolf too many times so it's hard to believe them.

 

[spotanjo3]

You're happy with Linux, good for you. Just don't try to force it on others.

Haha. You are funny. I am not "try" to force it on others. Nonsenses. You are funny.

 

[D34DL1N3R]

If you're concerned about privacy and safety, you should not be using Windows 7 at this point. You are entirely self defeating in your approach to this. Upgrade to Win10 and just use Windows Defender.

I have to chuckle when people are worried about spying, privacy, etc. yet still use Chrome, still use a smartphone, still have social media accounts., still..............

 

[IC_]

If you're concerned about privacy and safety, you should not be using Windows 7 at this point. You are entirely self defeating in your approach to this. Upgrade to Win10 and just use Windows Defender.

I have to chuckle when people are worried about spying, privacy, etc. yet still use Chrome, still use a smartphone, still have social media accounts., still..............

and still use any version of windows

 

[D34DL1N3R]

and still use any version of windows

That's only because despite it's better privacy, Linux still sucks FAR more than Windows.

 

[bloodninja]

That's only because despite it's better privacy, Linux still sucks FAR more than Windows.

At least you are saying Windows still sucks.

 

[The_Debt_Collector]

If you want privacy, make three partitions on your hard drive. One Windows partition for work. Another Windows partition for gaming. A Linux partition for personal use.

Only use Windows when it is necessary for you to do so. Provided you don't go visiting dodgy websites Windows Defender is just fine. Don't use Windows 7.

 

[CORE]

Most if not all will Collect Data For Analysis it depends what goes on with the Data.

 

[MetoMeto]

people from the open source world have helped government agencies spy on users. It's not just Microsoft.

what people?

 

[ThoD]

The ONLY truly single best AV out there is the paid Kaspersky, it protects you from literally everything including offering ways to undo ransomwares and hidden spying programs like invisible keyloggers and it's pretty much the only AV that does that.

As for the rest, people are exaggerating about the "selling information", they don't give your credit card numbers or names you know, it's just what browsers you like using, what country you are in, etc.. People complain "oh, I need my privacy from the big bad companies, derp" and then go and use Chrome or Opera, as in Chrome, the browser that has sold profile passwords before and similarly to facebook sells a lot more info to third companies, and Opera, the browser that is "safe" because it has a VPN when in reality right in the VPN's terms of service it clearly states that THEY LOG YOUR DATA! Fucking hell people are idiots!

And the single worst AV out there is Panda no matter how you look at it, it offers THE worst protection against viruses/sniffers/keyloggers/etc. out of everything, it's even worse than having NO AV since half the time it flags wrong stuff while letting dangerous ones though! Panda used to be an amazing AV way back in the day around 2006-2009 with daily updates, good threat databases, etc., but now it's absolutely shit. Don't believe me? Let me tell you how fucking amazing Panda now is! If you get a virus and before it's scanned the virus asks the AV to disable firewall, Panda will disable firewall without even a pop-up message or user verification! It's THAT bad, you can get viruses without even knowing your AV got turned off!

Anyways, I digress, get Kaspersky, use Mozilla, maintain your PC often with cleanup software just in case, then if on dangerous sites a lot run a VM, end of story.

 

[smf]

what people?

one of the people behind tor for example.

 

[dAVID_]

one of the people behind tor for example.

Source?
Inserting a backdoor into Tor would be very difficult because of the fact that the source code for Tor is public, and can be inspected by anyone.
Also, it's in the best interest of the U.S. government to keep Tor safe because they use it themselves.

 

[smf]

Source?
Inserting a backdoor into Tor would be very difficult because of the fact that the source code for Tor is public, and can be inspected by anyone.
Also, it's in the best interest of the U.S. government to keep Tor safe because they use it themselves.

https://techviral.net/tor-developer-helped-fbi-hack-tor-users/
https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/20...-developer-who-unmasks-tor-users-for-the-fbi/

Tor has multiple weaknesses.

 

[ThoD]

https://techviral.net/tor-developer-helped-fbi-hack-tor-users/
https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/20...-developer-who-unmasks-tor-users-for-the-fbi/

Tor has multiple weaknesses.

About that "hack", it wasn't actually part of the actual Tor code, it was individual code that infected select PCs trying to track down a certain group of GaP/LL/Gateway users (for the love of god don't try and look those up) in order to run a honeypot. As for how I know, I've used that same code myself to run honeypots, basically steganography the virus into a fake post on those places, then whoever downloads it and tries to open it up gets infected without AV noticing it since it's not a real virus, it's just a simple command change to Tor so that it connects to node, then website skipping all relays (2-7) that should be in between, making it a joke to track down. The "insider help" was just so the code for this could be made as sneaky as possible. Also, all this was patched within a month by the Tor team. As long as you don't download dark web files and set NoScript to max security, you will never have issues.

But like I said in my post, if you want perfect protection, just run a VM that's not linked to the actual PC (meaning cut all folder connections), then you can just wipe the thing from existence then make a new one and you are safe no matter who tried to track you or what viruses you might have gotten since your real PC remains hidden.

 

[dAVID_]

https://techviral.net/tor-developer-helped-fbi-hack-tor-users/
https://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/20...-developer-who-unmasks-tor-users-for-the-fbi/

Tor has multiple weaknesses.

The user was de-anonymized via a malicious Adobe Flash plugin. Tor Browser comes without Adobe Flash by default, and the Tor developers suggest that you not install any plugins.
I hate pedophiles as much as the next guy, but using Flash through Tor (or even Flash in general) is generally a bad idea.