Spyware promotions are in the same category – however you must use good anti-virus, malware and rootware software

Updated January 15th, 2009 see end note.

More than 50 million people have been tricked into paying for virus software that doesn’t work or they don’t need. We all need virus software on our computers as more people try to hack into them. However, the fear of viruses and malware is an industry in itself.

Scam artists are using every trick in book and a few new ones to trap unsuspecting people. There are phony sites called “Free Download Virus Software”, “Best Virus Softare”, “TopTenREVIEWS”. There are so many bogus sites it’s hard to keep up with them.

So for the record, here are the top virus software programs that work and are not a waste of money.

They have been reviewed by reputable sites like PC World or CNET. We have used all of the ones listed (except G-Data) and they work, some better than others but that relates to speed not the ability to keep your computer virus free. We don’t recommend Avira, which is free, because it took too much of the CPU processing when it was working.

Free virus software – Avast Home

Virus software to purchase – Symantec Norton, Trend, Kaspersky, G-Data, and Bit-Defender.

To stop malware, the best product and still free is Adaware.

If have one product or the other, it makes no sense to switch based on reviews or fear. If your annual license is running out you might change but usually the benefits are negligible. I used to change every year just to try the different products but have stuck with Avast for three years. Free is good.

We have no relationship with any of these companies, other than as a user.’

Update – After the revelation that 20 major sites had been hacked, we gave this topic another look. The latest PC World story said that Avast had fallen behind on Malware and Rootware detection. So we downloaded the top rated program Kaspersky and ran a scan. It found 4 instances of the same backdoor Trojan. We have switched. Again Kaspersky has been one of the top 5 for many years and trades first place with Norton and McAfee in differing reviews. None of the products caught the Chinese attacks on Google and Adobe.

Related story – Google Hack Attack Was Ultra Sophisticated, New Details Show @ Wired