Home Page : Anti-Virus Software
Anti-Virus Software
For protection against viruses and worms.
Page Contents
Anti-virus software gives protection against viruses and worms. In order to
be effective, anti-virus software should be regularly updated - otherwise it
will fail to give protection against new viruses. No surfer (i.e. PC or
workstation) should be without anti-virus protection. Serious thought should
also be given to installing Firewall software (which
protects against hackers and provides additional protection against some
viruses).
The following anti-virus products are free for personal use. There may be
some conditions attached to their use and definitions of "personal
use" may vary between products (although typically this means for personal,
non-commercial, non-profit use), but check their terms and conditions:
- AntiVir Personal Edition
- AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic from AVIRA. Private and individual use
of AntiVir Personal Edition is free. Free support and signature updates.
They also provide a commercial version for corporate use.
- avast!
- Free for home users using their pc for not-for-profit work. Evaluation
available for all other users.
- AVG Anti-Virus
- AVG AntiVirus. Free English Language edition for home use. This free
offer used to be open only to users from the United Kingdom, but is now
open to everyone. Other language versions and for commercial use, a 30
day trial version is available. Updates can be downloaded after (free)
registration.
- BitDefender
- BitDefender provide free anti-virus for both Windows and Linux
platforms. You can also get versions customised to your local language.
- Comodo AntiVirus
- Comodo anti-virus (they also provide a free firewall product), is free
for desktops and servers both for private and commercial use.
Whilst the Anti-Virus software listed here is geared towards personal use,
there are many commercial anti-virus solutions. If you know of other anti-virus
software that you would like to see listed on this page or wish to report any
errors on this page then please e-mail: feedback@cryer.co.uk.
If you ever wish to test whether your anti-virus software is working then
have a look at www.eicar.org/anti_virus_test_file.htm.
This site provides a download of a short harmless file that your anti-virus
software should flag up as the 'EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE'. Your
anti-virus software should either prevent you from downloading the file or
prevent you from then doing anything with it.
If you are after a standalone virus scanner - which will just scan your PC
for viruses but will not provide any protection from new viruses then consider:
- Stinger
- Stinger is a stand-alone executable utility from McAfee (Network
Associates), that will detect and remove some specific viruses.
There are also a number of so called "on-line" virus scanners. For
each of these you will need to agree to download and install their scanner
component:
Note: These scanners can be very useful but are not a substitute for
anti-virus software.
- Kaspersky
Anti-Virus Products
- Kaspersky Lab is one of the world's top anti-virus companies, and well
known all over the world as one of the leaders in the development of
advanced anti-virus technologies. Kaspersky Lab produce anti-virus
defence systems for workstations, file servers and application servers,
e-mail gateways, firewalls, and Web servers for both Windows and Linux.
- MicroWorld Technologies Inc. - eScan
and MailScan
- MicroWorld Technologies Inc. are the developers of real time antivirus
and content security products for desktops and Mail Servers. For full
details of their products see www.mwti.net.
- eScan offers real time security for desktops
against virus, spam, pop up windows, obscene material and hackers.
Privacy settings can be configured to secure personal documents. The
software allows remote installation and maintenance ensuring ease of
usability. The software stays on high alert with automatic daily
internet updates and comes with a premium of free 24 X 7 customer
support. eScan comes in various versions suitable for the requirement of
Home users, SMBs and large corporates as well.
- MailScan provides real time antivirus and
content security software for MailServers. The software also checks for
the attachments trying to make an entry into your system. It does not
need any port settings or a dedicated machine for installation. Provides
the administrator with an extensive reporting system. Stays on high
alert with a regular Internet Update and comes with a premium of 24 x 7
customer support. Available for almost all the popular Server types.
- Serious thought should be given to installing Firewall
software to protect against hackers and worms.
- Whilst it is not an anti-virus product, a related product worth
considering is 'Ad-aware'
(downloadable from www.lavasoft.de).
This is a free 'spyware' removal utility that scans your system for
known spyware programs allows these to be removed safely - Spyware is
often integrated with popular shareware or freeware programs and
installed on your system without you being aware. Another similar
popular product is spybot,
available from www.safer-networking.org.
© Copyright 2004-2008, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved.
