SIGforum
malware protection

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https://sigforum.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/320601935/m/1870026815

December 15, 2025, 02:35 PM
konata88
malware protection
do you guys use windows defender bafs and automatic sample submission? seems like it's supposed to protect your computer but also seems like there might be privacy concerns.

what's the general recommendation between protection efficacy and privacy concerns? yay or nay?



"Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it." L.Tolstoy
"A government is just a body of people, usually, notably, ungoverned." Shepherd Book
December 15, 2025, 06:24 PM
Pipe Smoker
I’ve used Malwarebytes (free version) on my MacBooks for more than ten years. I’ve never suffered an infection. I don’t have any privacy concerns either. I think that it’s available for Microsoft too.


Serious about crackers.
December 16, 2025, 03:15 AM
calugo
Ive been using Malwarebytes also for several years without complaint in conjunction with an anti-virus program.
December 16, 2025, 05:06 AM
Rey HRH
Acronis, which I use for back ups, come with malware and virus protection, so that’s what I use.


"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
December 16, 2025, 05:10 AM
xantom
All my PC's are on 11 and I run with Windows Defender for real time protection. I have Malwarebytes free version to run periodic scans as well.



"We've done four already, but now we're steady..."
December 16, 2025, 09:20 AM
sjtill
For a Mac and iOS devices, Malwarebytes is all I use. I keep updating OS's from Apple quickly because they are good at catching bugs.


_________________________
“Remember, remember the fifth of November!"
December 16, 2025, 10:40 AM
architect
I was a network security consultant for over 30 years until I retired. I do not use any A/V products, except occasionally on a trial basis because I feel there is at least as good a chance that the A/V product has unpatched vulnerabilities as the system it is intended to protect. Having a firm faith in the duplicity of my fellow man, I am not at all uncertain that some of these might be intentionally placed in an A/V product.

I do run penetration tests on my various systems from time-to-time, and protect my home LANs with firewalls. I do not do egress "sniffing" at this time, but am considering implementing it. I also run a local DNS server that blackholes various domains that have been found to be suspect by various security researchers.

Being careful is a much more effective defense than any A/V software. If you are counting on the latter to relieve yourself of having to pay attention, you have already lost.

And. oh yeah, I don't run any Microsoft products.
December 16, 2025, 11:19 AM
onegeek
quote:
Originally posted by konata88:
do you guys use windows defender bafs and automatic sample submission? seems like it's supposed to protect your computer but also seems like there might be privacy concerns.

what's the general recommendation between protection efficacy and privacy concerns? yay or nay?


To answer you, no I don’t submit. Nor does the company I work at.

Might it help Microsoft Defender? Sure.
Is it more likely that it will get data mined by Microsoft? Yes.