Is Windows Defender adequate for my needs?

[Pwndenburg]

I realize that it is likely not the best option out there and I have tried many. However, I use firefox with noscript and other security plugins. I stay away from pornography sites and other shady places. What would you recommend if any change at all. To be upfront, if this were Newegg I'd give myself a 1.5/5.0 tech rating.

 

[Ketchup]

Your browsing habits are usually the biggest factor here. More are more exploits are popping up with little to no warning, which is why all the big names are going with heruistics. They just can't get definitoins out fast enough to get these "sharks." The bad part of heruistics is false positives.

I said all that to say yeah, I am comfortable with MSE. But that doesn't mean I put MSE on a computer I just removed a dozen viruses from. I used to like Avira and AVG, but Bitdefender has a really good product this year.

I am sure people are going to come in and tell you to used this or that. It's up to you, but I am satisfied with*MSE*and a good ad-blocker for sites I am not interested in supporting.

 

[Steltek]

Your browsing habits are usually the biggest factor here. More are more exploits are popping up with little to no warning, which is why all the big names are going with heruistics. They just can't get definitoins out fast enough to get these "sharks." The bad part of heruistics is false positives.

I said all that to say yeah, I am comfortable with MSE. But that doesn't mean I put MSE on a computer I just removed a dozen viruses from. I used to like Avira and AVG, but Bitdefender has a really good product this year.

I am sure people are going to come in and tell you to used this or that. It's up to you, but I am satisfied with*MSE*and a good ad-blocker for sites I am not interested in supporting.

I'll second the Bitdefender recommendation. I have just finished moving all of my machines from Avast to Bitdefender. It is fairly light on resources and seems to be a very decent product.

 

[Pwndenburg]

I think I may getting a false positive through heuristics with malware bytes. Everyone in the pc gaming section recommended emuparadise for ps2 emulation. I downloaded the emulator and rom from their link. I ran malware bytes with the rootkits checkmark and its pinging on that software. I'm thinking thats a false positive. If it were real I would've been infected when I played it online at their site right? ROM was castlevania SOTN. I does not flag without rootkits checked though. I might be mixed up, but isn't a rootkit a bios virus that can mess up your whole rig?

 

[Pwndenburg]

By the way, I use firefox with adblock plus, disconnect, noscript, and Web of trust. I visit IGN/Gamespot regularly. They can now shove video ads down my throat. How are they managing it and do you know of other software. Thanks for all your answers by the way, they are greatly alleviating my stress over this silly little mostly likely ok ROM.

 

[Pwndenburg]

Got bitdefender going now, the emulator and rom are safely tucked away in their zipfile. If it doesn't alert I'm gonna pull the trigger🙂

 

[saratoga172]

I am using bit defender right now (got 3 pack on special for $20) and it's pretty good. Fairly light and runs well. Not a fan of some of the browser intrusion it has so I turn some of that off. Biggest safe guard are your web browsing habits and hoping you don't stumble across a site that's been compromised.

Can come from an email or even social media sites. Facebook was compromised a number of years ago (4-5 at least).

I do still like Norton though but they tend to be more expensive unless you snag it at the end of the year right before the new version comes out. I still use MSE (Windows Defender in Win 8) and again as long as browsing habits and what you connect are good you'll be fine. It's less likely to catch a hiding bug though.

 

[Pwndenburg]

That's the whole reason I'm a bit freaked out by this at best legal grey area of emulation. This is "shadiest" browsing habit I've ever engaged in. But, I really only want that one rom and I determined that its likely a false positive based on this community, WOT, and all for on-site votes. I think it'll be ok, but I too like Windows tools. Thanks for all your help, and I'll just hop off these sites after SOTN. No point in taking chances.

 

[balloonshark]

Keep your OS an programs updated. Firefox, Flash, Jave, pdf readers, etc. are constantly vulnerable so you need to be vigilant with updates. If you can get rid of some of them, swap them for alternatives or disable their browser plugins. If you find you need them often you can always reactivate them.

When you get a virus alert look carefully at the description for the type of "virus" as not all are created equal. For example a PUP is a lot less dangerous than a ransomeware.

If in doubt and the file isn't large (less than 128MB) you can always upload it to virustotal to be scanned by multiple scanners. Before I run I file I upload it to VT and scan every file I download with my AV and any other on demand scanners I have installed. Just be aware that false positives are common when using VT so put more weight in the better scanners results.

 

[Iron Woode]

I like Panda AV free edition.

 

[saratoga172]

That's the whole reason I'm a bit freaked out by this at best legal grey area of emulation. This is "shadiest" browsing habit I've ever engaged in. But, I really only want that one rom and I determined that its likely a false positive based on this community, WOT, and all for on-site votes. I think it'll be ok, but I too like Windows tools. Thanks for all your help, and I'll just hop off these sites after SOTN. No point in taking chances.

Setup a virtual machine and download it through that. Make sure it's isolated with no network traffic. Setup firewall rules and av and see if anything tries to phone home or if anything is caught on the system. It's a bit of work and a pain but the piece of mind is nice if it comes clean.

 

[John Connor]

NoScript is good, Sandboxie is good and I use Bitdefender free. Although I don't use Bitdefender on the gaming machine because it messes with debugging.

Use an EICAR file and see if Windows Defender of MSE detects it. LMAO!

 

[notposting]

Like others...the problem nowadays is like mentioned above, the attacks change to fast for a static definition list to keep up, heuristics run the risk of aggravating users with false positives, and "safe browsing" is a myth, imo. With all the various ad networks and linked images/etc on a site, you are connecting to a whole pile of data sources with every website.

I just run MSE/Defender, MBAM occasionally on the stray relative's PC when they need a checkup. And frequent backups. 😉

 

[Ketchup]

...and "safe browsing" is a myth, imo...

Care to explain that one?

With all the various ad networks and linked images/etc on a site, you are connecting to a whole pile of data sources with every website.

This is what using ad-blockers are for.

 

[TheRyuu]

and "safe browsing" is a myth, imo. With all the various ad networks and linked images/etc on a site, you are connecting to a whole pile of data sources with every website.

This is true to a certain extent.

This is what using ad-blockers are for.

To a certain extent this is also true but remember that adblockers like uBlock also rely on block lists which may be incomplete. This is why using an adblocker (like uBlock) in conjunction with uMatrix can be much stronger than just an adblocker alone.

uBlock's dynamic filtering also does this in that you can just block all third party scripts and iframes (you can also block all 3rd party requests but that is much more intrusive) but you lose the clarity and more finer grained controls that uMatrix will give you.

NoScript can also do this but since uMatrix works for Firefox now I really don't see a reason to use NoScript outside of simply enabling javascript globally in it so you get the other few special protections it gives you. The uMatrix interface is much cleaner and intuitive to use.

Also if you care about security you'll be using Chrome.