[Phil №❶]

I use Avast virus protection, but the "Safezone" section refuses to co-operate with any browsers, requiring multiple openings to get a screen and Chrome doesn't work at all. I need to do some work that should be secure, no keyloggers, etc. Does anyone have any advice, or a better method to maintain security.

Thanks 

[AlanHo]

I rely on MS Defender in Windows 10 plus the paid for version of Malwarebytes which intercepts malware in real time.
Malwarebytes | Antivirus, Anti-Spyware, & Anti-Malware Software

It costs me about $25 per year for 3 licences - this covers my desktop and laptop plus my wife's laptop. $8 per machine per year does not exactly break the bank.

I am aware that many people rely on free anti-malware programs - but I am of the old school who believe that in general you get what you pay for. When anti-virus software is free I wonder how the supplier funds the massive back-up required to keep it up to date.

My internet provider screens Email on the server before it is downloaded to Outlook. This weeds out a lot of the spam, pishing attempts and virus laden attachments.

I have had this set up for over 5 years and - touch wood - have never had a problem.

[Dazzler]

I've had an excellent run with Norton 360 the last few years. I buy it off Ebay. Currently $29.99 for a single licence or $46.34 for 5 PC licence.

Not saying it is any better than what Alan uses though!

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[Phil №❶]

It is possible for me to use safezone, but just a bit painful. I too have Malwarebytes & Avast, they are both licensed versions, forgot to mention that b4.

[Shambles]

Just stay clear of the internet, that's what I

[CraigB]

Personally I'd drop safezone and all the other addons in the centre column that come with Avast that can be unticked via the uninstall/change function, you could try the new beta version that is supposed to fix numerous issues NEW: AVAST 2015 R4 Beta (2015.10.4.2227)

I don't like chrome/Google for their underhanded data mining but also when infected Chrome is a bugger to clean up.

Malwarebytes is a good addition to a security setup and usually one of the first tool we run after an infection though I don't see a lot of detections from it anymore, most infection I see these days come from pages with infected advertising links so a good add blocker like Adguard or UBlock is essential these days, Adguard browser add-ons for Firefox and Chrome are free...the premium program version for Windows IE like I have is is paid.

If you are using Windows 10 then I'd suggest using the built in Defender which is rooted much more effectively into the system than previous versions of windows and combines cloud functions now as well, see more here in the pdf download http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=48723 it performs extremely well in prevalence tests.

Phil, if you right click on the explorer icon you get the option to use the 'in private browsing option" I'd use that option for banking and stuff.

[Phil №❶]

Thanks for the suggestions, much appreciated. My OS is win7 64

[CraigB]

Just stick with Avast and Malwarebytes then, Avast will detect keyloggers on its own without safezone if you have PUP protection activated...as will MBAM Pro.

[CraigB]

I am aware that many people rely on free anti-malware programs - but I am of the old school who believe that in general you get what you pay for. When anti-virus software is free I wonder how the supplier funds the massive back-up required to keep it up to date.

My internet provider screens Email on the server before it is downloaded to Outlook. This weeds out a lot of the spam, pishing attempts and virus laden attachments.

I have had this set up for over 5 years and - touch wood - have never had a problem.

Free AV versions are mostly funded by advertising though the company will usually have paid version as well which also cover the overheads.

As with Avast free version, it has exactly the same virus engine and definitions as the paid versions but will be minus some features such as a firewall ( not a big issue as the windows firewall is very good )

If you are using major email providers they also have their own virus/spam scanning, Outlook uses TrendMicro, Gmail use two scanning agents though I can remember off hand who they are

With email the safest option is to use webmail rather than an email client installed on the system as anything that comes infected wont have the chance to be opened on the system itself, with Windows 10 this has been improved if you use the Outlook email app as all the apps run in their own secure environment preventing anything making it into the rest of the system...Defender will also scan mail via the Outlook app and it works much better if User Account controls are set to default so that Defender can also check instances against the cloud.

[AlanHo]

Craig : I am using MS Office professional 2010 which includes Outlook and not Outlook 365 or whatever they call it.

I am using Windows 10 - so will my Outlook run in a secure environment?

[CraigB]

In short, no! the secure environment is only related to Win10 apps.

Though Windows Defender will still monitor what happens within your Outlook but to what extent it's capabilities are I don't know as Outlook 2010 isn't classed as modern software or embedded into the system, Malwarebytes is of benefit for you there as well, besides Malware it also monitors for PUPs ( potentially unwanted programs ) and PUMs ( potentially unwanted modifications ) and it does that monitoring far better than all the AV's I've come across

[Doggie 1]

Just stay clear of the internet, that's what I

Steve! Steve!
Are you there?   

[Shambles]

Sorry, I am unable to answer the post right now as internet access is not available.

[Phil №❶]

 

[The Gonz]

AVG AntiVirus Free Edition 2015