cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Securing hardware, software and Internet

Yummy
Mayor / Maire

Does anybody uses any security software/apps on computers or phones?

VPN, antivirus, antimalware, ad-blocker, etc.

And if you do, which one and why? Cost?

8 REPLIES 8

@BKNS27 

 

I don't advise installing any antivirus apps on a smartphone, lol. It's a waste of time, effort, and money because it accomplishes nothing useful.

 

I do advise your sister spends an afternoon learning about online security if she's worried about online security. Maybe buying that random antivirus product from the public app store is the "right" choice for her - because it would make her more confident, if nothing else - but the only way to answer that question is (for her) to make an informed choice. What does she do online, where does she go, what kind of apps, tools, games, entertainments does she use - in short, does she understand what sort of "risks" she's going to be exposed to and therefore what sort of software she needs to install to minimize those risks?

 

Too many people don't understand what they're buying, they just blindly trust the promises or the brand or the pricetag. They've never had problems with these things before. They've always been sloppy with personal information and passwords, they'll happily install anything they encounter online if it looks good.

But remember that identity fraud/theft was essentially a nonexistent crime a generation ago. And that just throwing money at a random security app in the public play store is probably not going to add any security features which will be really used or really useful.

@Korth 

My sister have the old iPhone 6 with iOS 12.5.5 (latest update for this phone) for this phone.

She said she is limited for antivirus from the App Store. 
What app would you recommend for her to install?

 

The minimum I'd recommend for a typical Windows machine 

- Windows Firewall, it's "free", it's built-in so it's (surprisingly) better and faster than any other firewall software

- Windows BitDefender, it's "free", it's built-in so even though it doesn't do much you might as well enable it

- Brave browser, it's free, it has built-in scriptblocking, adblocking, pop-up and pop-under blocking, hijack blocking, phishing blocking, it has built-in TOR and privacy and anonymization features if you want/need to use them

- AdBlock Plus extension, it's free, it can easily filter out anything you don't want to ever see again with a simple right-click menu

- DuckDuckGo search engine

- a competent antivirus/antimalware, Avast and AVG are always the most popular choices because they're free, but paid/subscription choices are more lightweight and somewhat better security (I prefer F-Secure)

- a decent VPN if you need website (legal) anonymization or you want access to foreign-region web content, all of the "free" choices are utter garbage with hidden costs and problems, NordVPN is probably the best choice for most users

 

The minimum I'd recommend for an Android machine

- Bromite browser, similar to Brave but better overall in the "security" feature set

- don't bother with a firewall, an antivirus/antimalware, a VPN, etc on a smartphone. The performance overhead, impact, lag, and latency is too noticeable on a puny mobile processor with puny bandwidth and puny capacity, there's no sense in attempting to be invisible while you access the internet through a mobile tracking device, and fixing a corrupted/compromised operating system is as easy as a factory reset (which only costs you a minute or two, assuming you have a BACKUP of your contacts, messages, and other "important" personal data).

 

The reality is that if you use WinOS, Android, or iOS then you have no real control over "your" data, your "privacy", or your "security" - you get what they give you, complete with whatever telemetry (spyware) and whatever updates they push on you. GrapheneOS is a better option for mobile devices, though it only supports a small family of smartphones. A linux is of course a better option for desktop/laptop devices, though of course it imposes some learning curve which keeps most consumers disinterested.

 

The simplest method of keeping your machinery intact is being informed and "educated" about your options. Maybe NordVPN (or whatever) is the best choice for you, maybe it isn't - if you inform yourself then you will understand what all your VPN options are and what the differences are between them (NordVPN is the "best" overall for most people, it's not the best at everything for everyone) you can make an informed decision rather than rely on advice internet strangers.

 

And the simplest method of staying anonymous, preventing any hijacking or tracking or your activities? Minimize your presence online. If you need to work with files or data then save them locally (onto your machine), and save them with file formats which don't require an online connection to access (pdf instead of epub, jpg instead of webp, etc) - there are many extensions for these capture and conversion tasks.


@Yummy wrote:

@will13am wrote:

I just removed antivirus from my computer last night.


OH NO! I use only whatever came with Win 10 - MS Defender. I do not see any anti-malware software downloaded through Updates.

I cannot imagine stress recovering your Windows. I hope you keep OS on separate partition and data were not affected. But to reinstall all you use and set-up to your liking - nightmare work.

 

What anti-virus program did you use?


I was using the free version of bitdefender.  To be honest I find the host file blocking to be way more effective than antivirus.  Blocking clickbait is the most effective way of staying out of trouble.  I have this applied at the network level.  This might be why all the antivirus does is slow the machine down and cause boot failures.  Some of the rather questionable stuff that antivirus does these days, one wonders why it is not classified as a form of malware.  BTW, I disable MS defender by rule.  By using windows, enough of my personal stuff is sent to Redmond WA already.  

BKNS27
Mayor / Maire

@Yummy 

If your internet provider is Shaw, you can get free McAfee download on your desktop and laptop. The free McAfee for phone is only offered if you are on the fibre optic internet.

 

Telus offers a $6/$10/$15/$20 plans depending on how many devices with Norton 360.


@will13am wrote:

I just removed antivirus from my computer last night.


OH NO! I use only whatever came with Win 10 - MS Defender. I do not see any anti-malware software downloaded through Updates.

I cannot imagine stress recovering your Windows. I hope you keep OS on separate partition and data were not affected. But to reinstall all you use and set-up to your liking - nightmare work.

 

What anti-virus program did you use?

will13am
Oracle
Oracle

I just removed antivirus from my computer last night.  The early launch anti-malware feature corrupted and cause a failure to boot for which windows was not able to troubleshoot/repair for me.  Since this was the first experience, I had no clue that was the problem.  It took a lot of troubleshooting under extreme stress to find the problem.  Now that I know, never again.  I am going without antivirus because antivirus protection history is empty.  Problems created = 1.  Problems averted = 0.  Decision was an easy one.  

Vancouverbc2
Great Neighbour / Super Voisin

I have a subscription to NordVPN that I use mainly for my laptop when in public wifi areas. Occasionally I use the VPN on the cellphone if I'm on wifi in a public place however not if I'm connected to Public's data. I don't use any anti-virus or ad-blockers on the phone. I don't think the risk is there however I'm careful what apps I install and avoid apps that promise a lot for free. 

Need Help? Let's chat.