Keeping up with antivirus trendsIt has been no secret to those of us working in the IT industry that Norton and McAfee's security products have declined sharply in effectiveness these past few years. A new study done shows Avira and Avast, some of my personal favorites, catch and remove viruses more effectively as free software than do the subscription services offered by the corporate giants. Antivirus product trends tend to cycle up and down throughout each year, with one product boasting the best cleaning abilities for a while, and then a competitor outdoing them. Part of this is because the viruses they target have a lifespan of "in the wild" activity, after a length of time the viruses they were meant to target no longer are a threat, but instead new and more creative viruses. Even definition updates don't address the fact that sometimes entire new removal and protection procedures must be invented to deal with the changing virus landscape. The next time your antivirus subscription is up, take a glance at PC World or PC Magazine to see what the yearly shoot-out says is doing the best currently. And then check third party website shoot-outs too. All Articles |
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