If you have been around in the technology sector for a great deal of time, you might remember a couple of headaches named NIMDA and SIRCAM. Back when these viruses started popping up on computers I was working for a technology solutions company. Basically they would sell products and services to individuals and companies. They are all across the globe now and chances are you have one or two within a 50 miles radius of where you live.

One of our major clients was a hospital in the area and I remember spending an entire weekend walking from office to office, computer to computer with a bootable CD-ROM that the techs were using to clean machines of the dreaded virus. There was a number of tools on the CD that you had to run in a specific order. It was tedious to say the least. Especially towards the end as the CD-ROM had more and more scratches in it and the machines had an increasingly difficult time reading it.

One of the things I always despised about AV software is the fact that it slows down your computer so much. Back in the day, everything was slow, so it didn't seem like that big of a deal (sometimes), but now, it would be mind numbing to me. The other issue with a lot of them was just the fact that they didn't work. Sure they might catch something, but they could never fully clean it, not as long as it was burrowed down into the OS and Microsoft wouldn't allow the appropriate access or changes to the file system.

Then Microsoft got smart and came out with their own antivirus. Just in time for viruses to not really matter anymore. Things had fundamentally shifted towards malware and all of that good stuff. I still installed the Microsoft AV (when you had to before it was integrated into the OS) and for the most part I was happy.

I swore I would never pay for antivirus software again.

And for the most part, I haven't . Where I work, we rely on the built in Microsoft AV. A lot of people do. In fact, if you have a license that supports SCCM, you can also manage that AV software. Personally, I find SCCM a pain in the butt to setup and use, so I am just running my AV software stand-alone.

It has worked great! I can't remember the last time I actually had to deal with a real computer virus. I am not talking about malware or the popups that people get that says they have a virus but really it is just a bothersome notification setting. I am talking about a real computer virus.

Unfortunately, times change and the big monster under the bed these days is ransomware. It might not be exactly the same as a virus, but it is equally as devastating. The problem we once thought was only applicable to large corporations with deep pockets has now become the scourge of small businesses, schools, municipalities, and all manner of industry.

Thus, here I am investigating end point solutions for the computers under my supervision. As I said, I really have little desire to deal with SCCM even though I already have licensing for it. I would prefer some form of managed solution so I can see what is going on from a central console. I used to really love SOPHOS back in the day, but it was pricey and I am waiting to see if that is still the case.

I've never been a fan of AVG or AVAST or some of the other "free" programs out there.

So yeah, here I am 20 years after seeing an actual virus evaluating AV software again. Asking for pricing...

Seriously, I swore I would never do this again...

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