Symantec, McAfee upgrade security software

October 24th, 2008 By Andrew D. Smith

Security software has improved every year, but it has always operated on similar principles. Until now. New releases from Symantec Corp. and McAfee Inc. challenge fundamental assumptions about how security suites work.

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• Ausjin - Oct 24, 2008
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  I usually go without virus protection and get rid of viruses myself after my system is infected, but I like this way of thinking. I will wait a while to see what others think through consumer reviews, but I may revisit the idea of having an anti-virus program on my computer in a year or so. Perhaps by then, there will even be free third party programs that operate the same way.
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• frajo - Oct 24, 2008
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  "And you will encounter malware."
  
  So I've been told for 15 years now.
  But I never have encountered malware - on my eComStation (aka OS/2) system.
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• paulthebassguy - Oct 24, 2008
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  "rather than repeatedly scanning unchanged files on your computer, it looks only at the tiny fraction of files that have changed since the last scan" - so, basically, all a potential virus writer would have to do is devise a way to make a file appear as though it hasn't changed for a while. Seriously, how hard could it be?
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• YouAreRight - Oct 24, 2008
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  Pathetic excuse for an advert.
  
  McAfee and Symantec have never been in the top anti-virus spots because they are and have always been useless.
  
  Enter NOD32, BitDefender and Kaspersky.
  The top three.
  
  "Even if you eliminate all delay between first spotting a virus and updating your database, there's still no way to protect against many unknown viruses"
  
  What a crock, that's what anti-viruses are meant to do, it's called Heuristics.
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• pravuil - Oct 25, 2008
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  Enter NOD32, BitDefender and Kaspersky.
  The top three.

  
  
  I agree with Kaspersky. When I used to use Windows, it was one of a couple of security apps I used to speak highly of. Problem I had with Norton was compatibility with the OS it was meant to be installed on. Too much bloat but at least they're trying to improve their product towards that direction.
  
  

  Pathetic excuse for an advert.

  
  
  meh, they have to inform their consumer base I guess.
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• Modernmystic - Oct 25, 2008
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  "And you will encounter malware."
  
  So I've been told for 15 years now.
  But I never have encountered malware - on my eComStation (aka OS/2) system.

  
  
  That's because if you're a crook or an agitator you don't write software that's only going to effect about a percent of the population....
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• CWFlink - Oct 27, 2008
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  I wonder to what degree these vendors are making noise now is because of the impact on OneCare on their revenues. ( onecare.com )
  
  I've been using this software for nearly two years now, monitoring the security of the desktop, media center, and two laptops at my home and my daughter's desktop 1200 miles away. It is cheaper than subscriptions to the other services if you have multiple PCs to secure.
  
  It seems to be a well integrated and virtually automatic system... the one annoyance is that I only need to be reminded about what it's done ONCE a day, not every time I log in!
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