Windows 10: Microsoft Security Essentials Scores Incredibly Well in New Antivirus

Do you mean that you do the Norton and MB scans one after the other?
Can't do the scans simultaneously to save time?

 

My thoughts exactly. I used MSIE/WinDefender for 3 years and not once did either program give me any warnings. But the size of their databases, and the amount of RAM consumed kept snowballing. So I changed to AVAST in 2014. It's blocked a couple of suspected Trojans, but overall, the internet seems to be more user friendly when it comes to viruses and malware than it was 5-10 years ago.

 

That's because site and server protection has been improved and also because of target for malware has changed to more lucrative spheres. What has seen growth, at least for us normal users are PUPs (it's not official but I consider them malware) and other "Sneakware" attached to another program. With some vigilance most can be avoided or/and cleaned afterwards.
The most dangerous of all is ransomware and can be avoided by some common sense but too many still fall for that otherwise it would disappear.

 

Of course you can't do TWO scans at the same time, both my programs scan at different times. Hours apart actually. With my system a full scan takes 5 mins for MB and about the same for Norton. That's not a lot of time, but everyones computer is different. So scan times will also be different.

 

May I ask, what anti-rootkit tools do people here use?

 

Can not agree with this part of your statement. I am sure there is just as much or even more than there was 5-10 years ago specifically due to the 'business' startups on the Darknet that specialize in this enterprise. This stuff hits the internet for a number of reasons - today it is mostly political or anti business. Havoc costs. The spiteful stuff has lessened but still exists. Most viruses and malware developers have set their sites on Android and Apple has been hit across their ecosystem more than ever before. The PC is still a target , whether you use Linux or Windows. No matter the OS or platform, the predators are invariably seeking the easiest prey and right now it is primarily the smartphone user. Viruses and malware are like the canaries in the mine - if the little birdie survives a sortie, then the coast is clear to send in the raptors. These birdies tear flesh from bone.

 

March 5, 2015. "CYREN Security Lab monitors more than 17 billion transactions on a daily basis and identifies cyber-attacks as well as malware distribution attempts. The company released a comprehensive report today, detailing that malware distribution attempts have increased by 159 % since the last report published at the beginning of 2014. At the same time, emails containing malware also increased by 50 %, which means that each day, email users would receive 50 % malware emails in their inbox. =====> "CYREN Receives ICSA Labs Excellence in Information Security Testing Award

 

I only open e-mails from sites and forums I have joined
All other mail goes to junk and I delete it without even opening it.

 

That's how it should be. If everybody would do that, they would eventually give up.

 

Yes, we who have been around for a while know not to open junkmail, however if you subscribe to something new for the first time it is likely to be sent to your junkmail folder. You are expecting it, so you open it. Many have a click on link to verify that this email is valid. The majority of these authentication links are valid. You are crossing your fingers and toes that it is so. Financial sites are the most vulnerable. Lots of people do online banking or investment trades these days. Many of these sites get spoofed and look exactly like the real ones - users are easily fooled. It is not always an email that gets them. Sometimes the most respected sites have ads that do not even have to be clicked on to download malware. You really never know.

 

Mabam checks for rootkits if the checkbox is checked but many like Mbams dedicated rootkit scanner "Mbar" to check instead .

Kaspersky's TDSS Killer is a superb rootkit scanner , Bleeping computers RKill is a super fast scanner to kill any malware processes that may be preventing regular scanners from being able to scan effectively so thats a great scanner to run first before others are used.

Sophos anti rootkit is a top notch rootkit detector but the most highly regarded by many is GMER but it requires a thorough knowledge on how to interpret the results.

Rogue Killer is another excellent program for detecting rootkit activity , as is Avast's aswMBR but these two should be run only when told by a certified and knowledgeable malware assistance tech .

One of the best all around scanners that many forget about is Eset online scanner , this one finds stuff that others often miss.

Mcafee's "Stinger" program is also very popular with people to run a complete scan with .

None of these have ever found anything on my computer for a very long time but they will if something is on your computer.

Using "safe mode" to run some of these scanners is recommend .

 

Thanks fredc. Excellent summary.

 

Thank you Sir, i know there's a lot more out there but the ones listed are by far the most recommended by the Malware techs at all the anti malware forums i have been a part of and observed over the years.

 

That was great info, but I thought HitMan Pro was suppose to be a good one too???

 

Your right Mike , forgot about Hitman Pro and it's a very good cloud based on demand scanner but the question i was responding to was asking about rootkit scanner's in particular and Hitman is more of a secondary all around scanner.

I would put Hitman Pro in the same category as Eset's on demand scanner , both excellent but not specifically for rootkit detection.