Free Home User Security Software
Posted by Jaime Raphael Licauco, CISSP, GSEC on June 27, 2010
Because every Windows machine ought to have some form of Anti-Malware
Version 1.0
June 27, 2010
One of the most common questions I get asked when someone finds out I work in Information Security is, “What is the best anti-virus?” And my answer has always been, “It depends on your criteria….” There really isn’t a good definitive answer for that, especially since threats come out every hour and virus writers and their anti-virus counterparts are stuck in this whole cat and mouse game… in other words, at a certain point in time, you can say one product is better than another, but then what about in the next few hours? Also remember that Anti-Malware (as Google and a lot of other companies out there) can’t protect you from all the bad stuff out there, especially if its a targeted persistent attack. It’s but a layer of protection and won’t protect you from all attacks.
Sites that rank anti-virus products or sites that test files for viruses are the following:
Virus Total
European Expert Group for IT-Security
AV-Comparatives.org
AV-Test GmbH
Virus Bulletin
Top Ten Reviews: AntiVirus Software
One other common question I get asked is, “Can I protect my computer using free software?” And my answer would be, “You can reasonably protect a home PC using free tools as long as you practice good computer use habits (i.e. don’t surf high risk sites, be suspect of file attachments, not run in Admin, etc) and you use layers of defense.”
Avira AntiVir Personal – FREE Antivirus
avast! Free Anti Virus
AVG Antivirus Free Edition 9.0
Microsoft Security Essentials
Panda Cloud Antivirus
There are other anti-malware out there, however they are online only or don’t get high marks in some reviews. I’ll eventually include them here.
Also check out the NIST.org site on Free Anti-Malware
and PC World’s great, though dated, article on 15 Great, Free Privacy Downloads
Note: This will be a work in progress and I intend to have a page dedicated to free Anti-Malware and other Free Home User Security Software.
InfoSec Philippines 
J. Raphael Licauco said
Sophos Free Mac anti-virus
http://www.sophos.com/products/free-tools/free-mac-anti-virus/
Jaime Raphael Licauco said
Avast free antivirus 5: Good all-around option
http://mis-asia.com/reviews/articles/avast-free-antivirus-5-good-all-around-option
Jaime Raphael Licauco said
AVG 2011 Free Anti-Malware Review
http://thenetworksecurity.org/adware-and-spyware/bid-for-malware-programsand-get-the-products-for-fr/
Jaime Raphael Licauco said
Free online scanners:
http://www.kaspersky.com/virusscanner
http://www.eset.com/onlinescan/
Jaime Raphael Licauco said
AVG Antivirus for Android devices
http://www.avg.com/ww-en/antivirus-for-android
Jaime Raphael Licauco said
Windows Live OneCare safety scanner
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm?s_cid=sah
kreatures said
i just like to add another anti-malware for android users, i dont have one yet : ), you may try this https://www.mylookout.com/download. it has been updated to help protect against the current malware(hong tou tou that spreads for chinese users i think). hopefully this helps 🙂
Jaime Raphael Licauco, CISSP, GSEC said
Thanks for the post 🙂
Some Lookout Mobile Security review links:
http://www.androidtapp.com/lookout-mobile-security/
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,157477-order,4/description.html
http://www.pcworld.com/appguide/app.html?id=449285&expand=false
http://review.techworld.com/security/3240274/lookout-antivirus-security-review/
http://blackberrysync.com/2010/04/lookout-vs-smobile-security-shield-anti-virus-and-anti-spyware-is-there-a-difference-besides-free/
Jaime Raphael Licauco said
CNet recently (Feb 2011) did reviews for the free versions of Avira, AVG, and Avast:
http://download.cnet.com/windows/antivirus-software/?filter=licenseName%3D%22Free%22