What anti-virus program do you use?

[riva2model64]

Originally Posted by painbringer

sthe other stuff that u use they all free??

I use Zone Labs ZoneAlarm, an excellent free firewall

[Jess]

Originally Posted by espire

Though it's true that anything could happen, even on OS X, the reason it gets viruses is not because of it's lack of popularity. OS X is built on Unix, just like Linux is, and all three of these are simply built in a way that security is much tougher. I'll explain:

The Kernel of an OS is the process that really does the low-level stuff. It talks with things like the graphics driver, GUI, and all the hardware. To take over an OS, you have to take over the kernel.

There are two main kernel types: Microkernels, and monolithic kernels. A monolithic kernel is one huge single entity that is in charge of all this. Though a monolithic kernel is easier to maintain and improve because it is all one and together, it also has a big problem with security. See, if a virus manages to exploit a security bug in the graphics engine (say, DirectX), it can metaphorically walk right over to the hard disk controller and tell it to wipe everything, or do something of equivalent evil.

A microkernel is worse than a monolithic kernel in that it is harder to maintain. It is made of many separate parts, and all of them must be worked with together, ensuring that each part will seamlessly communicate with the other parts. This hard work brings the benefit of performance, as each part of the kernel is very small, but it mainly gives security. If, again, a virus got control of the graphics engine (say, OpenGL), it would not have control over the other kernel modules, such as the hard disk controller. It would have to get past metaphorical checkpoints along the way, and though the virus was able to exploit OpenGL, it would not be able to exploit a security hole in every single process or module which it requires to do its mischief.

You probably guessed that Linux/Unix/OS X use a microkernel, while Windows uses a monolithic one. If so, you're right. It's unfortunate that a monolithic kernel is so hard to keep secure, but that's just the way things are. Until Microsoft makes a complete rewrite of its operating system (Like Apple did in ~2001), it will be plagued with security issues that the other operating systems avoid.

That's deep..... Deeper than any political or intelectual debate I've ever heard. Espire 'you got my attention'. Did you ever see the Tech TV (G4TV) special where they had a contest to see who could send a virous to either computers first (PC & Mac) and challanged all hackers & tech-savy listeners to give it their best shot (I wish I had taped this). I think Microsoft had just come out with their new windows and claimed it had all this security software & hardware.......... (G4TV-has nothing to do with Apple)

[espire]

No, I didn't see it, but I know my computers. On that note, I might say that the more you pay for your antivirus software, the worse it will be against many viruses, which are made to bypass the most popular antivirus solutions.

[Piblokto]

Originally Posted by RMJ

Tho... to spoil all fun... it can happen even if you have anti-virus since good virus passes it and does the damage before the anti-virus is updated to detect it.

You're right, if a real virus (or worm or anything) eventually comes to MacosX, Mr Norton and Mrs McAffee will be the last to know...
But anyway I use to backup everything important. Hard Drive failure can be very annoying... and more likely to happen than a virus.

[Fusoya]

Avast Antivirus

[painbringer]

so should i delete the AOL free anti spyware from my comp and go with AVG anti virus and spybot anti spyware instead and use the windows firewall as my firewall?????

[Ioku]

get nod32 anti virus (free) and kerio personal firewall 2.15 (the older version is actually better and easier to use than the newer) (free)those are what I recommend, in my opinion try to stay away from norton / mcafee because usually before a person releases a virus they will test it on the most popular anti virus software that and I find they take up a lot of resource usage slowing down my computer for gaming ^^

[Sir Wood]

Originally Posted by painbringer

so should i delete the AOL free anti spyware from my comp and go with AVG anti virus and spybot anti spyware instead and use the windows firewall as my firewall?????

I doubt anyone can really answer you without an unbias response. On my XP box, AVG, Ad-Aware and Zone Alarm met my needs. On my current Vista box, I run AVG and use the built-in Windows firewall and adware/malware scanner. I sometimes use online antivirus scanners to double check now and then. It really depends on how careful you are with your surfing and downloading habits.

Comparison of the popular antivirus programs.
http://www.av-comparatives.org/

Article on the 3 popular free antivirus programs.
http://antivirus.about.com/od/antivi...s/a/freeav.htm
Look here too: http://wiki.castlecops.com/AntiVirus_Comparison

There are also some online antivirus scanners if you have high-speed broadband connection. Just Google for "online antivirus scanner."

BTW, along with an antivirus program you should also have an adware scanner (like Ad-Aware & Spybot-S&D) and firewall for added protection.

A couple of notable software I've come across:
1. SiteAdvisor
2. CCleaner

[Bigbobo]

Anti Vir, Spybot S&D and Ad-Aware

Yeah I want McAfee

[painbringer]

Originally Posted by Sir Wood

I doubt anyone can really answer you without an unbias response. On my XP box, AVG, Ad-Aware and Zone Alarm met my needs. On my current Vista box, I run AVG and use the built-in Windows firewall and adware/malware scanner. I sometimes use online antivirus scanners to double check now and then. It really depends on how careful you are with your surfing and downloading habits.

Comparison of the popular antivirus programs.
http://www.av-comparatives.org/

Article on the 3 popular free antivirus programs.
http://antivirus.about.com/od/antivi...s/a/freeav.htm

There are also some online antivirus scanners if you have high-speed broadband connection. Just Google for "online antivirus scanner."

BTW, along with an antivirus program you should also have an adware scanner (like Ad-Aware & Spybot-S&D) and firewall for added protection.

A couple of notable software I've come across:
1. SiteAdvisor
2. CCleaner

kool thanks woodman

here's the free aol security suite that i use. anybody tried it out and have an opionion on it. i havent get any virus or spyware or anything while using it ...but its slow as hell.

http://daol.aol.com/safetycenter/