Anti-Virus Question

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K D

Well-Known Member
Dec 24, 2016
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Folks with Windows Based storage : What antivirus do you use? Are there any good free ones for Windows Server 2012R2/2016?

Till date I have been using Windows Server and hardware RAID based storage for my home servers. Two servers - Backup From Primary to the Secondary Server using SyncBack Pro for media and depending on the importance of other data several backups in other servers, external HDD, S3 etc. I've been doing a lot of research into FreeNas and NAPP-IT but I dont think I will be migrating my home server to a ZFS platform any time soon and even then probably not my media collection. I am very comfortable with Windows and any issues usually are resolved quickly. I'll probably do the switch in a few months.

OK Enough Rambling. I currently use Windows VMs running on Hyper-V in each of the servers to scan the shares periodically - One running Kapersky and one running Windows Defender.

Please recommend a stable and free (or low cost) antivirus solution to run on Windows Server.
 

Klee

Well-Known Member
Jun 2, 2016
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I run clamwin av , its free, NOT obnoxious , and works with windows server 2016.

Its not too feature packed but it does the job.
 

acquacow

Well-Known Member
Feb 15, 2017
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I just use the built in windows defender, does that not exist in windows server?
 

capn_pineapple

Active Member
Aug 28, 2013
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Honestly, I'm using windows defender. I'm currently running a Meraki Firewall which stops most things from getting in, what does get through is caught by windows defender.

I was using both a Sophos SG Firewall and Sophos@Home antivirus but from what I'm actually seeing, the added overhead of Sophos above windows doesn't justify itself anymore considering how good WD is. I'm seriously happy with my current solution. I will eventually shift back to pfSense and Windows Defender once my free meraki license has run out (3 years).
 

K D

Well-Known Member
Dec 24, 2016
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Thanks. I'm currently using Windows Defender in a Windows 10 VM that periodically scans the server file system. Will try ESET.
 

BLinux

cat lover server enthusiast
Jul 7, 2016
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i find most commercial AV/AM solutions too intrusive and resource hungry. in most cases, i find Windows Defender the least offensive.

that said, I've been trying out Immunet and it doesn't seem to be getting in my way. free as far as I can tell: Immunet AntiVirus
 

Net-Runner

Member
Feb 25, 2016
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Most of free AV soft behave like malware these days trying to install a lot of 3rd party shit along with AV install thus I would never install a free AV soft on the server at least. ESET is a great option, I am using it for my RDP farm for like 5 years already and totally happy with it.
 

BLinux

cat lover server enthusiast
Jul 7, 2016
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Most of free AV soft behave like malware these days trying to install a lot of 3rd party shit along with AV install thus I would never install a free AV soft on the server at least. ESET is a great option, I am using it for my RDP farm for like 5 years already and totally happy with it.
AFAIK, Immunet does not appear to install any 3rd party "shit".
 
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realtomatoes

Active Member
Oct 3, 2016
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i've been using avast business for a couple of years now. it's free and works on all my windows servers and clients. i particularly like how i can create profiles for machine groups.
 

BackupProphet

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Jul 2, 2014
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I find anti-virus software to be a huge security risk, they have too much system access, some lacks proper protection and may be exploited by scanning files. Those exploits will then have full system access through the anti-virus. Recently more and more attacks happens through anti-virus software.

Avast Antivirus: Remote Stack Buffer Overflow with Magic Numbers

My recommendation, improve your security practices and harden your system.
 

moblaw

Member
Jun 23, 2017
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I agree with mr. BackupProphet. With all the data-collecting going about today, I have zero trust in 9/10 softwarebased Anti-Virus. Especially with the escapades of Mr.McAfee, my concerns has only risen.

I get that, you can be infected with backdoors, keyloggers etc. To prohibit a miss-click from an average user, is not easy, because it's just every day concerns. But for that, you would create "virtual environments" with limited executables and read/write policies for every end-user.

And to begin with, your Network should/could be encrypted, segmented, and properly firewalled. So really, there are Things to set, only to ignore the point, that you're running without an AV-Suite. By the way, your network solution could also be your "all-in-one antivirus."

Zero-days still exists. In the end, we are at the mercy of code written. When running software, which we do everyday, we're all at risk. Our hopes can only be, that "intruders" will aim for an easier target. If we had classified/secret information hidden in software, it surely would just be a matter of picking the right people for the task.

Recommendations are hard, because everyone has them. I reason with Windows defender, but can't help Wonder, what it does with the scanning-informations. Just try to disable it, your Windows will freak-out in many ways. I once had a trial of ESET File Server Security, that I liked, but it was costly.