Hello keno-ken
I know you consider this answered but I would like to quickly throw my 2 cents in.
A couple things:
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is designed to run alongside traditional antivirus software. You should be able to safely use the paid version of MBAM with real-time scanning with any antivirus product. Having real-time scanning on will result in some performance loss but on any modern system this will be just about unnoticeable.
Using the free version of MBAM, I would recommend a scan every week or whenever something makes you suspicious.
One cool feature is the ability to add a context menu (right click menu) item to scan individual files. This is convenient if you need to open or run something from a less than reputable place (for example, I would scan any email attachment including Word or PDF files before opening them).
As far as antivirus software is concerned, when it comes down to it, they all perform rather similarly. Research spreads quickly so generally the databases are never that much different. Avast! Free Antivirus compares well with most paid solutions. Microsoft's products generally don't perform as well but in my opinion they're good enough (I use Defender and Security Essentials on all my machines). You can take a look at the benchmarks at
AV-Comparitives.
What I usually tell people is to have one antivirus and one antimalware and
only one of each installed, updated and enabled. There are a handful I would stay away from for various reasons (AVG
due to privacy concerns, Comodo due to
security concerns, Spyhunter
for various reasons, IOBit
due to a questionable history of stealing Malwarebytes' database). Other than those whatever you like best is fine. Since Avast! Free performs about as well as any paid product and is, well, free that would be my strongest recommendation.
As Bob mentioned, Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit is a good thing to have. It belongs to a relatively new group of software known as (surprise) anti-exploit software. Microsoft has a similar solution called the
Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit (EMET). This takes a bit of doing to set up but it is a very powerful solution if you are a relatively advanced user and willing to put a bit of time into the set up. As with antivirus and antimalware you only want one anti-exploit program.
Beyond Anti-X Software
There are many complementary programs that are designed to run alongside your standard security suite. Two of them you may want to check out are:
- WinPatrol - watches important registry keys and files for changes and prompts you before allowing them. The free version offers limited functionality.
- CryptoPrevent - applies policies that prevent common crypto ransomware from running. Ransonmware is a newer threat that encrypts your files rendering them inaccessable and demands payment to unencrypt them. Prevention is key with ransomware as most of the time you cannot recover your files even if the malware is removed.
There are also assorted software that addresses specific concerns. While not security software in the strictest definition they can nonetheless be valuable additions.
Adblockers
I'm somewhat loathe to recommend adblockers on a site that is supported by ads as I would hate to hurt TSG. That said, the rise of malvertising as well as the ever present threat of phishing or fraud means you should be blocking ads until the ad agencies clean up their act. Supporting the free sites you like is great but should not come at the cost of your safety. Many sites (
including here) may allow you to pay to remove ads or simply accept donations so you can still help support them.
As far as adblockers go
uBlock Origin wins hands down in my opinion. It is fast and good. You can install it can go or if you are an advanced user there are pages and pages of options and information to play with.
Adblock Plus is the most popular and probably easiest to use. Personally I don't agree with their monetization model (
acceptable ads) but some people like it so to each their own.
Assorted
Site reputation programs can help steer you away from shady sites. The two big ones are
Web of Trust and
McAfee WebAdvisor (formerly McAfee SiteAdvisor).
Unchecky is a program that monitors installs and automatically unchecks 3rd party/optional offers. These are a major vector for getting what's known as potentially unwanted programs (PUPs) that can range from useless (i.e. McAfee Security Scan) to actual malware (i.e. Conduit browser hijacker).
Password managers allow you to use strong and unique passwords for all your logons. This greatly decreases the chances of your accounts being hacked. I use
LastPass which has free and paid versions; I like it because the paid version is multiplatform and it automatically syncs between my devices.
KeePass is a well known free and open source solution. It is also multiplatform but getting it to sync across your devices takes a fair bit of setting up.
WARNING! This is very important.
Security software only does so much. If you download
free_photoshop_crack_LEGIT.torrent from piratesite.ru then follow the instructions to disable your antivirus to install it you're going to get infected. User behavior is number one when it comes to security. No program is perfect. Your antivirus will miss bleeding edge threats. You adblocker will fall a step behind the adblocker blockers. Site reputation programs can be gamed to make malicious sites seem legit. Unchecky may miss a check box if you choose Express rather than Custom install. Your password manager is only as good as your master password is strong. You get the idea.
Don't get lulled into a sense of false security after installing every security app on the market. A bit of caution and common sense goes a long, long way. I won't go into it since that's not your question but if you want to know more
Krebs's 3 Basic Rules for Online Safety is a good place to start.
See also:
How to Protect Yourself and Tighten Security by one of our mods, dvk01.
Stay safe out there
-capnkrunch