Beware: Free Antivirus Isn’t Really Free Anymore

[Batu69]

Free antivirus applications aren’t what they used to be. Free antivirus companies are now bundling adware, spyware, toolbars, and other junk to make a quick buck.

At one point, free antivirus was just advertising, pushing users to upgrade to the paid products. Now, free antivirus companies are making money through advertising, tracking, and junkware installations.

How They’re Making Money Off Your PC

Here’s a quick summary of the ways antivirus companies are attempting to make money. It’s similar to how “freeware” applications on Windows attempt to make a buck by loading your computer down with junk.

• Changing Your Default Search Engine: Antivirus companies attempt to change your browser’s search engine to one of their own choosing. They then make money when you click ads on these search results pages. This may sometimes be branded something like “secure search,” but you’re actually just using an inferior search engine that makes the company money.
• Changing Your Homepage: Antivirus companies also want to change your homepage, driving traffic to websites that make money by advertising to you.
• Ask Toolbars and Rebranded Ask Toolbars: Many programs want to install the terrible Ask toolbar. Some companies use a rebranded version of the Ask Toolbar with their own name on it, but one that is still the Ask toolbar.
• Junkware: Antivirus companies add additional programs (or “offers”) to their installers that are automatically installed by default. They’re paid by the program’s creator if they can install the program on your system — as much as a few bucks per install.
• Tracking: Antivirus companies track your browsing habits and other personal details about you. Some antivirus companies probably sell this data to make more money, too.

Comodo Free

Comodo tries to change your web browser’s search engine to Yahoo! and bundles the GeekBuddy paid tech support software. It also bundles other Comodo products you might not want, including changing your DNS server settings to Comodo’s servers and installing “Chromodo,” a Chromium-based browser made by Comodo.

As the Comodo-affiliated PrivDog software contained a massive security hole similar to the one Superfish had, there’s a good chance you don’t want a bunch of other Comodo-developed software and services thrown onto your computer.

Ad-Aware Free

Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware pushes “Web Protection” that will “secure your online search” by setting SecureSearch as your web browser’s homepage and default search engine. Despite the name, this isn’t actually a security feature. Instead, it just switches your web browser to use a branded search engine that actually uses Yahoo! in the background — this means it’s powered by Bing.

If you prefer Bing, that’s fine — just use the full Bing website. You’ll have a better experience than using Lavasoft’s rebranded, stripped-down search engine.

Avira Free Antivirus

Avira encourages you to install “Avira SafeSearch Plus.” This is just a rebranded version of the Ask Toolbar, redirecting your search results through a rebranded version of Ask.com’s search engine. if you wouldn’t want the Ask Toolbar installed, you wouldn’t want this rebranded version of it installed either.

ZoneAlarm Free Antivirus + Firewall

ZoneAlarm also wants you to enable “ZoneAlarm Search” as your browser’s default homepage and search engine, along with installing a ZoneAlarm toolbar that is — once again — a rebranded version of the Ask Toolbar.

Panda Free Antivirus

Panda attempts to install their own browser security toolbar as well as change your browser’s search engine to Yahoo, and its home page to “MyStart,” which is powered by Yahoo. To Panda’s credit, they at least don’t attempt to trick you by offering you a renamed Yahoo search engine or home page.

avast! Free

avast!’s installer also tries to install additional software you might not want. We’ve seen Dropbox offered here in the past, but avast! attempted to install the Google Toolbar when we tried installing it.

Programs like the Google Toolbar and Dropbox are high-quality software you might actually want, so avast! comes out looking very good compared to the other options here. But even avast! has done done some questionable things in the past — witness the avast! browser extension inserting itself into your online shopping.

AVG Free

AVG has its own suite of obnoxious utilities, including the AVG Security Toolbar, AVG Rewards, AVG Web TuneUp, and SecureSearch. AVG has to provide instructions for uninstalling these things.

Oddly enough, when we attempted to install AVG Free 2015, it didn’t want to install any of these things on our computer. Because AVG has offered so many toolbars and other similar things in the past, we’re not sure if this marks a change for them or if it’s only temporary. We’re still wary of AVG’s free product.

BitDefender Antivirus Free Edition

BitDefender offers a stripped-down free antivirus. It doesn’t attempt to install any junkware or toolbars on your system, and we’re not aware of any time in the past that BitDefender Free actually bundled toolbars or similar junk. BitDefender is still pursuing the strategy of attempting to upsell you to the paid product.

MalwareBytes Anti-Malware Free

MalwareBytes doesn’t attempt to install any extra junk on your computer, although the free version doesn’t offer real-time protection. To their credit, MalwareBytes is offering a free tool that’s useful for manual scans — it even picks up and detects much of the adware other programs install — and encouraging you to pay for a more full-featured product.

This tool could be quite useful in combination with another antivirus, like Microsoft’s free Windows Defender or Microsoft Security Essentials solution. But it’s not a standalone free antivirus you can depend on, as it lacks the real-time scanning.

What Antivirus Should You Use?

Even the better antivirus solutions here may be obnoxious. Rather than pushing junkware on you at install-time, they may regularly pop up warnings and other messages, encouraging you to install other software or pay for services. They may be harvesting and selling browsing data and other information, too.

Some antivirus products are legitimately free. Microsoft’s Windows Defender comes with Windows 8, 8.1, and 10. It’s also available as Microsoft Security Essentials for Windows 7. This is a free antivirus product that’s essentially paid for with Windows licensing fees.

BitDefender’s product is currently solid, offering no junk. avast! isn’t perfect and does want you to install additional software, although it is high-quality software. AVG has been full of obnoxious junk on the past but seemed okay when we tried it — we’re not sure what’s going on there, and we’d advise avast! over AVG if you want a free antivirus like these ones.

Paid antivirus are also good options. Kaspersky and BitDefender consistently get better ratings than popular free antivirus applications, so they’re good solutions if you want to pay for something.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Antivirus companies have to make money somehow. Faced with many people who just want free antivirus programs and won’t pay to upgrade, they’ve increasingly turned to advertising revenue, software bundling, tracking, and other questionable practices. Think before you download - even if you download the free version of a legitimate company’s antivirus program, you may end up with junk you don’t want making your computer experience worse.

Credit to: http://www.howtogeek.com/

[dcs18]

This is not limited to only free AntiVirus - some other freewares contain unwanted payloads, as well.

[Batu69]

This is not limited to only free AntiVirus - some other freewares contain unwanted payloads, as well.

Absolutely correct.

[freeforever03]

Excellent post.

[jimbojet2011]

Who cares? if its free and some of them are really protecting you from some harm!

[dMog]

Who cares? if its free and some of them are really protecting you from some harm!

you are not getting the big picture here...these,,,well quite damn near all of the free software are installing stuff they claim to be protecting you from

[mona]

62% of the Top 50 Download.com applications bundle toolbars and other PUPs

//www.nsaneforums.com/topic/240823-62-of-the-top-50-downloadcom-applications-bundle-toolbars-and-other-pups/

[dcs18]

Who cares? if its free and some of them are really protecting you from some harm!

you are not getting the big picture here...these,,,well quite damn near all of the free software are installing stuff they claim to be protecting you from

I got to love Peeps who "do not care" - it is but only because of their "carelessness" that I am able to keep my family so well-fed and pampered. :pope: ^_^

[212eta]

I got to love Peeps who "do not care" - it is but only because of their "carelessness" that I am able to keep my family so well-fed and pampered. :pope: ^_^

:lol:

[jimbojet2011]

Who cares? if its free and some of them are really protecting you from some harm!

you are not getting the big picture here...these,,,well quite damn near all of the free software are installing stuff they claim to be protecting you from

I got to love Peeps who "do not care" - it is but only because of their "carelessness" that I am able to keep my family so well-fed and pampered. :pope: ^_^

If you people out there think you are safe well keep on dreaming

Antivirus is dead as already mentioned by Symantec

A good FIREWALL is the first solution you need to keep as good and best they can to keep the bad people out or in.

So keep your family well-fed and pampered Configurator :-)

[masterupc]

Who cares? if its free and some of them are really protecting you from some harm!

you are not getting the big picture here...these,,,well quite damn near all of the free software are installing stuff they claim to be protecting you from

I got to love Peeps who "do not care" - it is but only because of their "carelessness" that I am able to keep my family so well-fed and pampered. :pope: ^_^

Same here too... xD

Ppl who don't read what they're installing are the best!!

[dcs18]

Who cares? if its free and some of them are really protecting you from some harm!

you are not getting the big picture here...these,,,well quite damn near all of the free software are installing stuff they claim to be protecting you from

I got to love Peeps who "do not care" - it is but only because of their "carelessness" that I am able to keep my family so well-fed and pampered. :pope: ^_^

If you people out there think you are safe well keep on dreaming

Antivirus is dead as already mentioned by Symantec

A good FIREWALL is the first solution you need to keep as good as best they can the bad people out or in.

So keep your family well-fed and pampered Configurator :-)

Oh yes, my personal thanks to you - greetz fly out also . . . . . . . . . . . on behalf of my well-fed and pampered family (sweet dreams.) :lol:

[jimbojet2011]

Who cares? if its free and some of them are really protecting you from some harm!

you are not getting the big picture here...these,,,well quite damn near all of the free software are installing stuff they claim to be protecting you from

I got to love Peeps who "do not care" - it is but only because of their "carelessness" that I am able to keep my family so well-fed and pampered. :pope: ^_^

If you people out there think you are safe well keep on dreaming

Antivirus is dead as already mentioned by Symantec

A good FIREWALL is the first solution you need to keep as good as best they can the bad people out or in.

So keep your family well-fed and pampered Configurator :-)

Oh yes, my personal thanks to you - greetz fly out also . . . . . . . . . . . on behalf of my well-fed and pampered family (sweet dreams.) :lol:

-_-

[masterupc]

Who cares? if its free and some of them are really protecting you from some harm!

you are not getting the big picture here...these,,,well quite damn near all of the free software are installing stuff they claim to be protecting you from

I got to love Peeps who "do not care" - it is but only because of their "carelessness" that I am able to keep my family so well-fed and pampered. :pope: ^_^

If you people out there think you are safe well keep on dreaming

Antivirus is dead as already mentioned by Symantec

A good FIREWALL is the first solution you need to keep as good and best they can to keep the bad people out or in.

So keep your family well-fed and pampered Configurator :-)

Antivirus are not dead since they cover some of the things a firewall can't (and a whole lot of holes in the security of your OS).

Symantec can say whatever they want because their software is really bad and the impact in the pc performance is too high you can notice it right away.

If you have the knowledge to stay away from nasty viruses, then good for you, but 95% of Windows users don't know... (good for me!)

xD

[jimbojet2011]

Who cares? if its free and some of them are really protecting you from some harm!

you are not getting the big picture here...these,,,well quite damn near all of the free software are installing stuff they claim to be protecting you from

I got to love Peeps who "do not care" - it is but only because of their "carelessness" that I am able to keep my family so well-fed and pampered. :pope: ^_^

If you people out there think you are safe well keep on dreaming

Antivirus is dead as already mentioned by Symantec

A good FIREWALL is the first solution you need to keep as good and best they can to keep the bad people out or in.

So keep your family well-fed and pampered Configurator :-)

Antivirus are not dead since they cover some of the things a firewall can't (and a whole lot of holes in the security of your OS).

Symantec can say whatever they want because their software is really bad and the impact in the pc performance is too high you can notice it right away.

If you have the knowledge to stay away from nasty viruses, then good for you, but 95% of Windows users don't know... (good for me!)

xD

I'm well known that's why I post, only for the reactions :-)

[lurch234]

I got to love Peeps who "do not care" - it is but only because of their "carelessness" that I am able to keep my family so well-fed and pampered. :pope: ^_^

Nice retort to those oblivious "Peeps" my man. Retort: (noun) "wittily incisive reply to a remark"

[lurch234]

But seriously, its not just about the crapware they come with but its also the constant nags to upgrade to their premium product.

I was helping out an elderly man with a new Windows install and he needed a temporary AV. The damned thing kept nagging him to upgrade and I was lucky (or rather he was) to catch him, credit card in hand, just about ready to buy something I wasn't about to recommend. He doesn't have all his wits nowadays so these people can easily fall prey to those "free" AVs that you wouldn't buy in the first place!

[212eta]

Nothing comes for Free...

Especially, Security...

;)

[Kalju]

What to talk about it, even if more than 90% of medicines is a pure commercial.
Even the content of the labels, which are pasted onto, contains fake info.
All for sale. Money is important, and nothing else.

[BBs]

Well, you don't have to install any of the junkware... It is just an option. Would you buy a smartphone with additional 10-year insurance just because the website offers it with an extra checkbox while buying the phone? Just READ the god damn text before you click next and install bunch of useless programs...

[AlienForce1]

Well, you don't have to install any of the junkware... It is just an option. Would you buy a smartphone with additional 10-year insurance just because the website offers it with an extra checkbox while buying the phone? Just READ the god damn text before you click next and install bunch of useless programs...

As dcs18 stated in an earlier post (and not on that only - if you remember) because people like this exist , there is a lot of work for all of us who work in this field (IT) :)

[steven36]

Well, you don't have to install any of the junkware... It is just an option. Would you buy a smartphone with additional 10-year insurance just because the website offers it with an extra checkbox while buying the phone? Just READ the god damn text before you click next and install bunch of useless programs...

As dcs18 stated in an earlier post (and not on that only - if you remember) because people like this exist , there is a lot of work for all of us who work in this field (IT) :)

A lot in the IT filed just use Avast Free too my nephew when was in collage to become one that's all the computers in his class was using . If you notice who owns the marketshare for years is Avast and Microsoft witch are free. In order to get someone to install a paid something they must agree to pay for it . If someone is paying me to clean there computer from malware I'm going clean it and install Avast and MAM free if they dont have and antivirus already. I can only suggest that they buy one .But if you're being paid you always do what your customer or company wants be for real. The customer is always right 1st thing you learn in business.

If you're and IT you should at lest know how to install free programs and avoid the nasty 3rd party gifts . :lol: :P

I think the only thing Avast ask you do want to install is Google Chrome and you just tell it no is that malware ? :P

[steven36]

Most people come here and few sites that offers cracks , giveaways to activate there security programs . maybe 1 in 20 ever buy them . People who buy antivirus will buy them, People who use giveaways and cracks Most will never buy them . People who use free witch is the majority of users will keep using them. Its been that way every since I can remember . And year after year what ever is free owns the marketshare.

If we didn't have giveaways and cracks most of us would use free . I remember years ago everyone used free AVG even though it couldn't kill a virus it would only tell you that you had one if you were lucky . It caused more reformats than anything in history but still everyone kept installing it because it was free ,it was like that tell everyone switch to Avast witch is better. We called AVG (Another Virus Got By ) . Bottom line if you dont have to pay for it its still free there's no cost . If you uncheck the stuff before you install and t uncheck stuff like Joe post above .