[blitzkreig]

Anti-virus programs crucial but not foolproof

http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/story/140154

[occiput]

A good article, but i was looking for a catch and there it was.Quote"There isn’t really a one-size-fits-all solution for every single situation, but in most cases we currently install the anti-virus/anti-spyware combination from Webroot"unquote. The gentleman was plugging for Webroot? That's a shame, because there are so many very good products available which can whip webroot to a bloody bath.

[Jason08]

Maybe he was just looking at the fact that it helps protect the computer.

[SIR****TMG]

Most freeware programs versus the pay version of the same program are less powerful because of how they attempt to detect malicious code. Most basic programs use signature-based detection, while more sophisticated programs add behavior-based analysis to better detect newer exploits

[Gizzy]

No security is actually fool proof some just protect better than others, though I do consider blacklist scanners one of the least affective, but everyone is used to them so they're the most used way of protection, and they do protect well enough for average users.

@SIR****TMG - Not sure I believe that part of the article since the only differences in paid/free is usually the number of updates a day it gets and/or some features that may or may not give added protection, also avira has a beta out now with a behaviour blocker that as far as I heard is supposed to go into the free version.

And its not very easy for AV's to have behaviour blockers because there's a good chance of FP's and then people will think it's too confusing and not use it.

[1002richards]

FWIW ... In addition to Comodo and Avast, I do all my surfing in Sandboxie to add an additional layer.
http://www.sandboxie.com/

Richard