AV Software

[Executioner]

I know this topic has been discussed before, but since the issue with Kaspersky has been published by the US government as a concern, I started to ask myself: is it safe to use this type of software from other countries, that in some cases, are questionable for holding personal information.

Russia is just one of the many prominent players in the global security software industry, with many of the most popular programs from countries around the world. Example include:
AVG & Avast – Czech Republic
Bitdefender – Romania
ESET – Slovakia
F-Secure – Finland
Kaspersky – Russia
Panda – Spain
Sophos – UK
Trend Micro – Japan

Does it matter? With all of the global issues and growing concerns about nationalism, buying stuff from the USA, I now have to question software, specifically, AV software. I'm currently using ESET Internet Security. I know that Bob uses the built in MS software, but it's always been at the bottom of every AV test. I rather pay for a little extra and better protection.

Using Wikepedia, here is the list of USA companies:
ZoneAlarm Extreme Security
Comodo Antivirus
Comodo Antivirus Advanced
Comodo Internet Security
FortiClient
iolo System Shield Antivirus & Antispyware
McAfee Antivirus
McAfee Internet Security
Windows Defender
Immunet
Norton AntiVirus
Norton Internet Security
Spyware Doctor with AntiVirus
SecureAnywhere AntiVirus
SecureAnywhere Internet Security Plus and Complete

I know our company using McAfee, and we never had any problems, considering the size of the company number of employees: 90,000. I've been thinking of switching to an American company. Thoughts???

[FlyingPenguin]

Honestly? Windows built-in Defender and common sense. If you want a bit more protection then get Malwarebytes Premium

[Executioner]

I already have Malwarebytes Premium, so maybe I should just stick with defender for windows 7.

[FlyingPenguin]

On Win7 defender is worthless. I assume u have Security Essentials installed? That's the same engine as Defender in Win8 & 10.

If you upgrade to Malwarebytes 3.0 premium, you can even do without Essentials. It's goid enough to use as your only AV, although it will co-exist with Essentials.

The other thing I highly recommend is create a separate admin account with a password and set your account as a standard limited user (password optional). That forces you to enter the admin password for anything that tries to install an executable, or make a change to the Kernel, registry, or OS folders.

They've shown running as a limited user stops 95 percent of attacks. That's what I'm doing on all my pcs and laptops nowadays, and recommend for most clients. It at least makes you aware a potential change is being made to critical files, and entering a password makes you pause and think whether you want to allow it.

[Executioner]

Also forgot to mention that I also run HitManPro Alert that runs in the background.