Re: Why Kaspersky?

From: nemo_outis (abc_at_xyz.com)
Date: 08/29/05 

Date: 29 Aug 2005 00:07:24 GMT

Kevin Reiter <tux@penguinnetwerx.net> wrote in
news:5uqQe.1890$bT1.823@fe08.lga:

> nemo_outis wrote:
>> To see why Kaspersky is arguably the best antivirus program out there
>> check out:
>>
>> http://www.virus.gr/english/fullxml/default.asp?id=69&mnu=69
>
> I would argue the phrase "arguably the best antivirus program out
> there".
> That debate is long-running and not something that should take up
> bandwidth on this list.

As for your "I would argue...," that is precisely what the term
"arguably" means in the sentence to which you responded.

As for inappropriate bandwidth usage, it is difficult to credit your
position as you contribute to the alleged problem :-) Antivirus programs
are an essential feature of computer security; discussing which one is
most effective is an entirely apopropriate topic for this group.

...snip...>
> While Kaspersky is good, I uninstalled it after I found out it
> disabled vnc viewer and a lot of tools I use on a daily basis. Even
> after I added them as exclusions, it categorized them as "hostile
> scripts" and denied access to them. After I disabled that kind of
> protection, the files were useless. The only *useful* way I found
> around this was disabling Kaspersky altogether - something I didn't
> like doing, but hey, I make money with these tools...
>
> The other thing I didn't like about it was the configuration. I
> normally don't spend that much time adding every single file I don't
> want scanned to a list, only to have that list ignored. I probably
> could have spent more time learning all the configuration options, but
> then again, I shouldn't *have* to. And removing the extra stream data
> after I uninstalled the software left a bad taste in my mouth as well
> - it should take care of that on it's own during the uninstall.
>
> Just my .02

Kevin

Yep, Kaspersky is not everyone's cup of tea. However, that it is the
best of breed by far at the core function of antivirus detection and
removal mitigates things to the point that folks put up with its warts.

As for ADS it has been a legitimate (if very weakly supported) feature of
Windows for over a decade. The Windows OS, Internet Explorer, and other
programs use ADS without apology (or even much by way of explanation).
It is therefore not unreasonable that an antivirus program should also
use the feature to achieve its goals. I do agree that the checkered
history of misuse of ADS (to hide malware, etc.) tends to taint ADS with
suspicion, but that is hardly Kaspersky's burden to expunge; they're just
using - entirely appropriately - an OS feature. However, I do agree
Kaspersky could have managed informing users about its use of the feature
and how to disable it much better than they have.

Regards,