Facebook Plunges Again
Tumblr 101: Tips And Tricks To Get Started
Avast responds to Symantec's jaded criticisms of free antivirus
He continues, "But then again why should a firm that makes a billion dollars a year off of paid anti-virus conclude that a free anti-virus product is good..." Many of you echoed that sentiment in the comments.
Steckler has plenty of good counterpoints, which you would expect from a guy that works for a free AV provider.
Hall slammed free programs for lacking targeted indentity theft protection. Not so fast, says Steckler. "Malware focused on stealing identity information is just malware." What about that "big gap" between the changing threat landscape and the defense provided by free apps? "[Hall] is wrongly assuming that antivirus products do the same as what they did 10 years ago," but they don't.
Yes, Mr. Symantec, Even free antivirus like Avast and AVG now use much more sophisticated methods to thwart potential threats.
And what about the expense of maintaining research staff to keep definitions current? There's just no way a free provider can compete on that front, said Hall. Steckler, however, points out that Avast isn't pouring millions of dollars into marketing as Symantec does. "While those firms may have hundreds of people in their marketing and sales organizations, we have just a few." He's confident their research resources are comparable to those of pay-only providers.
In closing, Steckler offers further reassurance for those who choose free protection:
"Our paid version does have some additional features-but the core security protection is very similar. Our upcoming Version 5 will also have additional features. But we do believe all users should have access to top notch security even if they can't or won't pay for it. That is why we have the free product.
So, don't worry that paid security companies claim your free protection is not good enough. It is."
I'm inclined to agree. What about you?So, don't worry that paid security companies claim your free protection is not good enough. It is."
Comments
26
Subscribe to commentsMysteriusAug 6th 2009 1:34AM
And for those that complain about Avira's nagging popup during updates, it's simple to disable using these instructions:
http://www.elitekiller.com/files/disable_antivir_nag.htm
I also set the daily scheduled update to "invisible" (no window comes up, not even minimized). Just "Start AntiVir" > Administration > Scheduler > right-click on "Daily Update" and select "Edit job" > click "Next" until you reach "Display mode" and select "Invisible".
That's
MysteriusAug 6th 2009 1:39AM
Hmm, DownloadSquad cut off my comment somehow.
I said that this one-time post-installation configuration can be done in less than 10 minutes, a good trade-off for a lifetime of strong virus/malware protection.
And that Microsoft Security Essentials is a close second right now, especially for 64-bit support, my only fear being that it might become too popular, by market or mandate, and become familiar to attackers.
bill cant fartAug 6th 2009 10:26AM
I thought you said "nuff said".
Dave BurkeAug 6th 2009 9:22AM
The friendly techs at Staples advised me to take advantage of a special deal on Norton 360 Antivirus with a recent PC purchase. Okay, whatever. This past Saturday night a Norton desktop popup urged me to upgrade to Norton 360 V3.
Twenty minutes and two reboots later I was upgraded to Symantec’s latest collective achievement. So I plug in my Zune. “Unable to load driver...” I plug in my iPhone. “iTunes does not recognize this device.” Thank you, Symantec!
I reloaded the Zune driver and somehow got my iPhone to be recognized, but I learned my lesson, no more Norton for me. Uninstalled and goodbye. The happy ending is that thanks to Twitter buds I discovered Avast and could not be happier.
idodialogAug 6th 2009 1:16PM
Reputable AV research sites rate both Norton and Avast very highly. Fact is they rate a bunch of AV solutions quite well. Point is that none are perfect or will ensure that you never get a virus or malware.
So what? Well Avast runs pretty lightweight, updates all the time, you will hardly ever have to look at the interface (which is pretty irrelevant really) and is highly configurable if you want to.
Norton is fine too. Way improved speed and footprint, though it still uninstalls leaving half a toolshed of rubbish behind. BUT it costs a lot of money (well its a lot when you consider the alternative is free)!
Then there's Microsoft Security Essentials. It's free too, and tho I hate to say it - its excellent. Final tech reviews aren't out yet but I'm betting it'll be a winner. Symantec has dug a bit of a hole because most of its criticisms of Avast (even though they a quite wrong) just cannot be applied to the MS behemoth. Where to now Symantec/Norton?
PureEmSep 9th 2009 2:40AM
Maybe I'm just a minority, but I actually use and LIKE Norton 360. Its WAYY better than the old Symantec Antivirus crap.
That being said, I lived off of Avast for a while and, crappy interface aside, its one of the best free antivirus programs out there.