by Dave Moore, CISSP
08/20/2023
Computer virus. According to Lexico, “powered by Oxford,” (yes, the world-renowned Oxford English Dictionary), “a piece of code which is capable of copying itself and typically has a detrimental effect, such as corrupting the system or destroying data.”
What does that mean, “a piece of code?” It’s a program, a computer program, an application, or “app,” which, in this case, is designed to damage your computer.
People often ask me, “Who would want to do such a thing? Where do these viruses come from?”
The Internet bad guys, that’s who and where. In the early days of computing, say, in the 1980’s and 90’s, “viruses” were often pranks, “proof-of-concept” experiments to see who could be fooled into installing something that would mess up their computer. The damage was often minimal. Some more malicious viruses, such as 1992’s Michelangelo virus, were predicted to create a digital apocalypse, with computers being rendered useless worldwide.
Modern computer viruses are much more serious, affecting desktop, laptop, phone and tablet computers with equal ferocity. They are not to be ignored or trifled with. No longer the purview of adolescent experimentation, most modern computer viruses are written, distributed and managed by career professionals, organized crime experts who have one thing in mind: stealing your money. They use viruses as the key to your money lockbox.
Thousands of new viruses are released on the Internet every day. To the rescue come antivirus companies offering “anti” virus programs, programs designed to help you defeat the Internet bad guys. These companies have huge teams of researchers who spend every day, all day long, doing nothing but looking for the latest virus problems (now called “malware”) and coming up with ways to defend against them.
All antivirus programs miss something, though. It is impossible for any single product to defend against all problems. It would be like asking your family doctor to know everything about every medical condition that has ever existed, or will exist in the future.
I like the antivirus ratings from Consumer Reports because they have a multi-million dollar laboratory to test such things, and I do not. I have followed their recommendations for many years and have yet to be disappointed.
Which antivirus program is Number One? For most folks, the free antivirus programs from Avast, AVG, Avira and Bitdefender have been a wise choice. Those four products have rotated in and out of the Number One slot for a long time, but the differences between them have been minimal.
What has recently influenced my personal pick for Number One has been ownership. Who owns these companies? A few years back, Avast bought AVG. OK, fair enough, but things changed. When you do a side-by-side comparison of the inner workings Avast and AVG today, they are virtually the same program. Then, to muddy the waters even more, NortonLifeLock bought Avast. To make things worse, Norton also bought Avira.
For various reasons, I’ve not liked Norton products for decades. Them teaming up with LifeLock, a company with a sketchy history, made things even worse. Because of Norton’s poor privacy policies, that also knocks Avast, AVG and Avira out of the race, for me. That leaves one of the last, high-quality independent privacy-friendly antivirus companies left: Bitdefender.
There you have it. For me, it’s Bitdefender Free in 2023. Take a look at bitdefender.com/solutions/free.html.
Dave Moore, CISSP, has been fixing computers in Oklahoma since 1984. Founder of the non-profit Internet Safety Group Ltd, he also teaches Internet safety community training workshops. He can be reached at 405-919-9901 or www.internetsafetygroup.org