Antivirus: Free vs. Paid Detection

[Sl@pSh0ck™]

Taking care of your system these days seems to be a less complicated task than it used to be a few years back. Now, protection against malware begins the moment you install your operating system. Windows 7 offers some basic security through Windows Defender and also provides a better solution under the shape of Microsoft Security Essentials, which is free of charge and can be installed on systems passing genuine validation. So, going with Windows 7 may be the winning hand after all.

But let’s not forget that more often than not, paid security software is the way out for most users. The reason behind this choice is given by the extended set of options such solutions come with, but also by the myth that paid antivirus comes with better detection and elimination capabilities. Although the engine is the same, there are some differences between the paid and free versions of security software of the same company with regards to the protection components offered.

In other words, the engine components available in the products are what you are paying for. Thus, free apps may have antivirus or anti-spyware capabilities, but a paying customer definitely receives increased protection for the system through a bunch of components (such as email scanner, web shield, behavioral analysis, etc.) not included in the free edition of the product. Moreover, there are currently no freebies with a EULA that extends their use to corporate environment. So, you are bound to run them for personal use only.

To blast the misconception that freeware antivirus is not equally talented at recognizing malware as paid products, we grabbed five antivirus solutions for comparison and threw them in the ring with 16,704 malware samples (trojans, backdoors, exploits, spyware, worms, etc.). The purpose of the test was not to reveal detection differences between the free and paid product from the same company, but compare a free product from one company with a paid product of another.

Read More: Softpedia

[Bizarre™]

Try CIS. The signature database may be a bit large, but definitely improving.

[chlorophyll]

:unsure: how did i miss this????

ok i didnt notice this??

my sincere request..remove my REPOST :lol: