The results matter to home users comparing security software, but they cover malicious-file protection and false alarms rather than every feature in each product.

Six products receive Advanced+​

https://av-comparatives.org/consumer-malware-protection-test-september-2026/

Bitdefender, ESET, G Data, Kaspersky, Total Defense and VIPRE earned the top rating. AV-Comparatives said these products combined strong protection with low false-positive rates, meaning they were less likely to incorrectly flag legitimate files as malicious.

• Bitdefender Total Security
• ESET HOME Security Essential
• G Data Total Security
• Kaspersky Premium
• Total Defense Essential Anti-Virus
• VIPRE Advanced Security

What the test covered​

The lab evaluated 20 consumer anti-malware products using about 10,000 malware samples. It looked beyond basic detection to whether products could prevent malware from compromising a system, while also measuring false positives that may interrupt users.

The tested field included free products such as Avast One Free Antivirus and AVG Antivirus Free, as well as Microsoft Defender Antivirus and paid security suites from several vendors.

How readers should use the results​

A top award is a useful comparison point, not a reason to switch immediately. Check the full report for detailed results, then weigh protection, false alarms, price, device support and whether your current product remains updated.

AV-Comparatives says the complete public report is available free of charge without registration.

What is your opinion of ESET anti-virus? I am looking for alternatives to McAfee.

Microsoft's newest software release for Linux is... Microsoft Defender for the Linux desktop. Microsoft Defender has been ported to Linux to "secure Linux desktops" with Microsoft acknowledging that "more developers begin to use Linux desktops" and thus bringing their security application and threat-protection product to Linux desktops to complement their prior ill-used Linux server support.

I went into a website from a google search (2nd option website is called roucet.-c-o-m). As soon as I got into the site, i realized I fucked up and clicked out. Now these popups (attached) keep popping up from my windows notification center.

Any advice much appreciated

Hi everyone. I fell victim to the teams interview link scam- in the process chrome ended up downloading a zip file which you can see in the attached screenshot. Defender did instantly quarantine it and remove it before I was ever able to click on it or do anything (I did not extract the file). Defender also grabbed a msteams file from the google cache but from my research it is just a webpage asset and shouldnt be harmful. I have ran many scans using Defender and Malwarebytes since with totally clean results each time. Offline scans and deep root scans come back clean as well.

In this case, do I really need to reinstall windows? I keep getting conflicting info in my own research.

Hello, can somebody help me find this file? I don't know if it's a virus or not.

Thank you very much.

Hello, I downloaded a graphic novel file that was tagged with a false file extension .cbz.exe extracted from a .cbz.7z using Winrar. And I ended up running the false exe file multiple times by double clicking (im pretty certain). My laptop is potentially infected in what I can only assume is an infostealer since running the file didnt result in anything so far.

This chain of events occurred around 5pm~7pm (gmt +8) on 15 Oct.

For what I did for remediation, I performed an offline scan with MS Defender, then downloaded MalwareBytes for a separate scan which flagged four files that were false positives (image in comments). I did end up deleting a few local temp files around the inception of this fiasco, but I restored them for the scan assuming it might help in any way.

**Keywords**

fabled-lily (Frst.txt)

stoic-scout (Addition.txt)

hashed-boss (Security.txt)

[Original download link (top green button is fake which is what I mistakenly downloaded from)]

https://uploadrar(dot)com/o5j2120wp8ef

This morning, I got on my PC to update a game, when I logged in, I got a Steam notification about a error and that it needed something updated, me, still waking up, accepted, it was after a few minutes I realized something might have been wrong, did some looking around on some subreddits and others don't trust it while some say it's safe, did I accidentally install something awful or is there no need to worry?

Please help due to my stupidity of not checking the unknown website of the game im downloading my messenger account started sending the mrbeast scam photos to all of my groupchats and chats, now i have disconnected my laptop and logged my messenger and other socials and my chrome out of that laptop but i doubt it did anything and i have deleted the application, the virus is probably still there, How do i get rid of it and also due to my unpreparedness i cant change my messenger's password due to it having the wrong number for confirmation that its me. Can my other devices be infected aswell? What to do please.

Instalei 2 vírus contra 4 antivírus vírus pvp lendario. Instalei um fake executor do delta para roblox e um fake de wave quero ver como o pc reage a tal virus

so i want to COMPLETLY get rid of kaspersky plus, my subscription gonna end soon, and i want to get rid of the acc and any files, also i saw somewhere it still runs in the browser, i use chrome, i would appreciate any help

the other 2 above have the exact same affected items but the status said it already removed.
my friend also got this at the exact same date and time

Have googled it, seems to be from app explorer that came pre installed on an acer pre built, app explorer has been uninstalled but these seem to be remnant files, but i've found conflicting info on whether they are safe to just get rid of and delete permanently

Hey everyone, ill try to keep this short as possible while giving most details

So a while back almost a month ago, while on vacation i believe i couldve been put at risk of malware on my laptop im unsure as bitdefender scans and others showed nothing wrong but it i felt uneasy

Now im back home and now i have some shady feelings on my desktop i havent seen the most common detections

So far ive checked with bitdefender online/offline scans

Checked firewall rules, TCPviewer outgoing traffic

Nothing really seems bad, and i dont usually visit/download sketchy things

Still i feel quite paranoid due to from my research some malware being inactive for a time before activing

Is there any real risk? Or am i just being paranoid

Hello everybody, I'd like to play this game that has been shut down but now has community hosted servers. I ran the launcher through VirusTotal and it came up with a 4/69 score.

I've downloaded things like before that may have positives because it has to inject things into the game or whatever however what's sounding my alarm is that you need a steam login which they say is for the in game name but is suspicious nonetheless and that everything in the game is free. If everything is free, who's covering server costs?

link: https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/4797dab6e2d47669665ec4de2f41a805afa3217a69a6777700f21610e49e2867/detection

​

Hey everyone, I need some advice because I'm honestly pretty stressed about this.

I was browsing moviesmod.com when a fake Cloudflare/human verification popped up. It instructed me to press Win + R, paste something using Ctrl + V, and hit Enter. Unfortunately, I followed the instructions without thinking.

Nothing obvious happened immediately, but I got worried and started checking Windows Security.

Here's what happened afterward:

A Quick scan initially showed no threats.

I tried running Microsoft Defender Offline, but my laptop's battery died during the process. After rebooting, I got a BitLocker recovery screen, entered the recovery key, and Windows booted normally.

Later, Windows Defender detected TrojanDropper:PowerShell/Cobacis.B, marked as Severe, with its status showing Quarantined.

A subsequent scan detected PUABundler:Win32/MediaGet, marked as Low and initially showing Active in my Chrome cache. I removed the unwanted item through Windows Security.

I've also enabled potentially unwanted app blocking and run a scan afterward.

I haven't logged into any accounts or entered any passwords since following the fake verification.

My questions are:

Does the quarantined Trojan mean that specific file is contained, or could it have executed other things beforehand?

If the scan has finished and I've removed the unwanted item, is that generally enough, or should I do anything else?

Is there any reason to suspect my personal files or accounts are compromised?

Do I need to complete another Defender Offline scan, or is that unnecessary if everything looks okay?

I'm using Windows 11 with Microsoft Defender. I'm hoping to avoid reinstalling Windows or factory-resetting my laptop unless there's a genuine reason to.

I'd appreciate practical advice from anyone who's dealt with this. Please be honest, but I'd also like to avoid unnecessary panic.

So a couple weeks ago, I downloaded a game, I shouldn't have (I believe it was the renPy infostealer), I was told I had sent people the Mr Beast crypto thing on discord, so I changed my password on a clean device, nuked my pc, changed passwords on everything, enable 2fa on everything, etc. Even after doing all this, I'm getting calls, saying they want to do a fraud check (this was obviously not from my bank so I didn't answer back). I had a text message as well, telling me my last few purchases, including a steam transaction I didn't make. So I checked my actual bank account, froze my card, and the steam transaction wasn't there. I'm just wondering if this is still the renPy attack, and how can I stop all this from continuing to happen. And yes, I've learnt my lesson about downloading games online.

This was on my old Windows installation. I've since reset the PC using Windows Reset and chose the Cloud Download option, so Windows was reinstalled from a fresh download.
Since then I've:
- Changed all my important passwords
- Added 2FA wherever possible
- Signed out/revoked sessions where I could
- Created a new email address and started moving my important accounts over to it
- I haven't signed into that new email on the pc
How do I know if I'm safe now? Is there anything else I should do or check to make sure the malware is gone and my accounts are secure?

I went to this email noreply[@]nedm[.]asus[.]com, clicked on this link: https[:]//omicard[.]asus[.]com/HL/3fe5324/510f0143/0/0.249731a/16eb7a9/16ec8c2/d/1170/800/64[.]htm, and then signed up with my Google account. I later then contacted Asus customer services and they say that the email is not theirs

The problem is that when I scan the link in virustotal, they said that there is nothing wrong with it. It just sends me to the official website. https://www.virustotal.com/gui/url/bf76d01e4af939e1dea7b5fc7ccb7b24fcc22e4a23d83f49fc5b847b5a0efafb/gti-summary

It's been like five days, I tried to change all my passwords but some were personal info for others so I couldn't.

How do I know what does this link do? How severe is this?

What should I do?

Hello! When I first encountered with this extension it was automatically blocked due to malware, policy changes, or blah blah blah. I HATE malware or anything malicious on my pc due to expensive accounts on steam and battlenet which all has cookies onto the edge browser.

I panicked, I removed the browser then made a page a week ago regarding it. (Another subreddit) and was told to reset my pc then install malwarebytes and adware (also malwarebytes) and it shows zero. Which I followed, then I installed Ublock Origin Lite (OFFICIAL DEV and original from the Ublock Origin from chrome) and the Jedge extension is back again. I panicked again and uninstalled it, made brave as my default browser. Changed all my passwords AGAIN and I didn’t touch edge since.

I did a windows defender FULL scan and zero threats, then I deleted the Microsoft extension filed and empty my recycle bin. I was told to do something in registry but I didn’t know how to do that.

What I am asking is this, what is making this Jedge extension come through Microsoft edge? I have nothing malicious nor do I click on links. I have Steam, Battlenet, Roblox, Epic Games. No random zip files or exes other than those.

Hello, I need help with something that may be on my computer.

Malwarebytes has been a godsend since it previously quarantined files labeled "riskware|.|flash" , and so I had Malwarebytes delete it, but it came back. I need to know what to do because my Malwarebytes trial is ending soon and this morning it quarantined more files.

It said that the origin file name was "ECBNOJOCKCGFOHPOPBPHHGEFKFBIGCEJ" which , but when I looked into my Chrome extensions, I found no matches. Even when I enabled Developer mode. I went into my file browser and I didn't find a match under the files on my computer.

Yet here it is in the Malwarebytes report.

I took screenshots of the report, and I need to know what to do. Malwarebytes won't protect me forever. I need to know a more permanent solution.

Please help.

Hello, I recently downloaded a graphic novel from Mobilism and in a series of very stupid decisions on my part, I ended up running a file of what I can only assume is a silent InfoStealer of sorts.

The website itself had no issues, but me being careless and downloading from one of the dud button links, then subsequently extracting the file from a .cbz.7z file to .cbz.exe (where I didnt notice the exe extension at first). Where I proceed to run it without anything happening. While researching why the cbz readers couldn't recognize it, I realised my mistake of running a sketchy app file.

I've done a offline scan of my laptop using Windows Defender, a Malwarebytes quick scan and changed the passwords on most of my relevant accounts. I'm currently performing a deep scan with Malwayrebytes and so far, no hits on anything pertinent.

[Original Website (the top green button is a dud)]

https://uploadrar(dot)com/o5j2120wp8ef

[Virus Total Scan of the website]

https://www.virustotal.com/gui/url/d10c9ec8baad4482122b6894dd651510cea7b2b691c9b4d6957a3251efb2a8e4?nocache=1

[The real file (.cbz) downloaded from the bottom button/link was an ordinary file without any issues]

https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/d8d73ee4c57bfdaf5a9b347beefa3aa8dfb64247fd5f5481e972982537425b56

At the moment, nothing seems out of the ordinary but I was wondering if I need to reformat my laptop to be safe? But I don't have an easy way to back up the amount of files I have at the moment so I'm somewhat reluctant.

I uploaded the 7zip file I downloaded from the .org site on virustotal and 1 vendor of 71 flagged it (SecureAge). Should I proceed?

https://www.virustotal.com/gui/file/d54bf805f9f3704d1e8db2fa3498ae7ef2df0312b40b558e7c71c734430a665d/detection

So I got a random notification that my Defender isn't up to date. I opened the notification and there was a pop up about IT admin not giving permission but it quickly disappeared. Infected or bug? Asking because there is a bug going on recently