The bad stuff.Īll that is to say one thing: if you don’t use third-party app stores on your Chromebook (or Android device!), guess what? There’s a very small chance you’ll ever need an antivirus. You know, the kind that uses legitimate apps like PayPal to steal money from you. More often than not, users are getting malicious apps from unmonitored app stores or even ones that promote piracy by offering paid apps for free-those types of stores are just asking for trouble. It’s not a perfect system-like any similar solution, some threats still make it through, though those are uncommon.Īnd really, when it comes to Android viruses/trojans/malware, there’s a common thread: third-party app stores. It scans every app that comes into Google Play for potential threats, then blocks anything that throws up a red flag. Google does a pretty good job of keeping malware out of the Play Store by using Google Play Protect. In fact, you need one even less on the latter. You don’t need an antivirus on Android any more than you need one on Chrome OS. So, I guess Malwarebytes’ thinking goes something like this: if there are trojans and malware on Android, you can have those same issues on Chrome OS! And while I’m ready to admit they’re not technically wrong, that also doesn’t make them right. The thing is, Android apps also run in a separate container (sandbox), so anything that happens within the Android environment can’t hurt the rest of the OS.
While admitting that Chromebooks are inherently secure, Malwarebytes also somehow claims that they “can still get infected.” This is presumably by Android apps because the version of software it’s marketing for Chromebooks is its Android app. Past that, Chromebooks get regular updates, bringing security fixes with each one. This, of course, isn’t recommended for the majority of users. The only exception here is if you’ve enabled Developer Mode, which disables Verified Boot and allows modifications to the system. If it detects an anomaly-which means any system modification-it will repair itself. Every time a Chromebook starts up, it checks the integrity of the operating system. If by some wild chance a type of malware comes along that finds a way out of this sandbox, Verified Boot continues to protect the system. And when you close that tab, the sandbox is killed with it. That means if the system identifies an infected page, the “infection” only exists within that tab it has no way of making its way to the rest of the system. Every tab you open-be those in the Chrome browser or a standalone web app-runs in a virtual sandbox. There are several reasons for this, but the main one is because of sandboxing.
Hence, an antivirus for Windows is necessary.Like we said earlier, there is no such thing as a virus for Chrome OS. Only Comodo Antivirus for Windows utilizes a default-deny policy to automatically block all unknown files into auto-containment where its behavior is observed till a verdict is reached. Windows PCs are threatened by zero-day malware that is not detected by traditional signature-based antivirus for Windows solutions.
Further, there are malicious Windows Antivirus solutions too. In fact, most are ineffective as they detect malware based on signature-based detection methods. There are hundreds of Windows antivirus solutions available in the market, but not all are effective enough.
The numerous features provide avenues for vulnerabilities and hence the PC requires Windows antivirus protection. Windows is the most popular operating system, and hence is the primary target of cybercriminals such as hackers. Without an antivirus, your Windows workstation or laptop is vulnerable to malware such as viruses, ransomware, Trojans, worms, spyware, and rootkits. A Windows Antivirus serves to detect, prevent, disarm and remove malware. Comodo Windows Antivirus ensures complete virus protection with advanced features such as Cloud-based Security, Next Generation Security, Auto Sandbox Technology and Unlimited Live Expert support for virus cleaning & virus scanning.Īn Antivirus for Windows is essential for all devices running on Windows operating systems.
Windows 7 OS Microsoft Security Essentials provides only very basic security protection for your Windows 7 OS installed PCs. Complete Antivirus for Windows 7 OS Protection