Gone are the glory days of the ‘Dot Com Boom’ and the virtual wild west, where websites were prevalent and public, search engine algorithms trivial, and huge percentages of websites, software, and subsequent systems infested with malware. A zombie epidemic of diseased robots that sought to turn the network malicious!
Sounds like a premise for a bad movie..
These problems were a natural hindrance and growing pain of online infrastructure and required an appropriate solution for internet culture to continue its journey into mass adoption and wider society. Enter the anti-virus.
The Anti-Virus
The anti-virus was one of the vehicles that allowed people to grow confidence in this new medium called the internet. It allowed a consumer level safety blanket which provided people a top-level bliss when it came to security.
Most everyone remembers the early days of anti-virus, from Norton and Avast, to McAfee.. these were the software that held a significant majority in the domain of network and web protection, and set the precedent in many ways for the array of products we see today.
When it comes to anti-virus protection, it’s important to consider a few things:
1. How sensitive is your data?
Although most anti-virus options offer a base level of protection, if your tendencies are to keep important personal information on your system for convenience, such as account data, financial details and the like, you’ll need to make certain you choose a software that is legitimate, well-rounded and covers all bases.
2. How do you use the internet?
To illuminate a sound anti-virus option, it’s helpful to consider your internet usage. For example, if your usage lies in the median as an average user (email and light surfing), much like an internet provider package, you can often afford a cheaper (and often free) anti-virus solution. On the other hand if your a company that holds sensitive customer information such as a financial institution, you’ll want to consider something that covers all bases and encompasses your unique needs.
3. Are you a member of a local network?
Another thing that is sometimes overlooked is LAN protection. For example, if your on a daisy-chain of computer systems at work and one of the systems is compromised, the chances of your system becoming infected is much greater. Considering this ahead of time, especially for a professional environment, can save a ton of time, money and heartache in the future.
Mac vs. Windows: What’s Safer?
The skinny is that Macs are typically subject to less malware infections because most malware are designed to target windows machines for many reasons. A prospective attacker stands to gains more bang for the buck with a windows system, for example.. on a botnet, a windows machine is more valuable due to better hardware on average.
With all this being said, both can be hacked equally, because a significant portion of infections are due to social engineering via email and advertising, which is platform agnostic. In simpler terms, the source of the problem starts and ends with user discretion.
Do Your Research
Make sure to do your due diligence and research before downloading any anti-virus software or softwares in general for that matter. Some products that claim to be anti-virus software can actually contain malware itself, and be the source of a trojan-horse entry point. What malevolent genius! Use a reputable software developer and publisher and read reviews.
A List of Reputable Anti-Virus Solutions for 2018
- Bit-Defender Anti-virus+
- Norton Anti-virus
- Kaspersky
- Avast Anti-virus
- F-Secure Anti-virus
Give us a call!
In a bad case scenario, if you have been the subject of an infection and one of the symptoms has resulted in loss of personal data, please contact us and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible, with the aim of retrieving your data and a solution that encompasses the future as well as the now.