Best All-in-one Antivirus & VPN Software?
 

What is your go to?

None for personal use. Totally unnecessary. For a business that is something different and since you're mentioning VPN, it sounds like your query may be applicable to a business?

I use Webroot Secure Anywhere. Doesnt have an outrageous footprint and protects you from most everything. Hasnt let me down yet

I'll bet "SILVER DOCTOR" would have weighed into this one :sHa_sarcasticlol:

Bitdefender 👍
 

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It's worked for me for years now ... and without a hitch ❗

Tip ... 👉 Never pay retail. It often comes on-sale.

Selkirk

I've been using this for about 4 years now, They have good sale prices

Two years ago I’d looked for a low cost but reputable VPN because I needed a fixed IP address to access a database from home. I also wanted access on the road. (Mainly though for home access. My IP address would periodically change and the database host would have to reset my address on their end. A fixed one wasn’t available to me via my residential TELUS internet connection. I wasted 5 hours one day on the phone with TELUS tech to confirm that. A separate business account/connection was the only way to get the fixed IP address).

Finding a provider with servers in Canada was the first hurdle. Finding one where you could be assured that they aren’t intercepting your data was impossible.

Moreover since so many VPNs seem to be used by far less than reputable users, meant that the VPN providers weren’t likely very reputable themselves and so assessing the reputation of VPNs was impossible.

Since then I hear things have changed for the better but I’d still want to heavily research the provider.

IVPN Best in show 2019

I've thought about using a VPN due to price disparities in online shopping throughout canada. See if it's true or not.

As for all in one software, I'd avoid. All in ones tend to do none of their functions well. Easier to get a good one of each and go with that.

Nobody has ever been able to explain to me why you should use a VPN at home for regular internet use, it doesn’t make any sense for Canadian consumers. There’s a lot of hand waving but very little tangible benefit.

Yeah, outside of my own unusual case above I see no need whatsoever. Just make sure your wifi is secure.

Bitdefender ❗ 👍
 

The most recent one I bought was on-sale at BestBuy.

I got the '3 year / 5 user' version for only $60. :47b20s0:

Selkirk

There are no "legal" reasons to do so for the private individual.

There are innocuous reasons, like my wife wanting to access US Netflix to see shows not available on Netflix Canada (note: still not legal). Didn't work out too well for her, about two months after signing up, Netflix blocked her VPN provider. So she swapped to another VPN provider and they were blocked within a week........LOL.

The other reasons are all illegal, immoral, or both. They range from wanting to download illegal copies of music and movies to child pornography.

For the most part, it's about hiding what you do on the internet.

If you have nothing to hide, it's a waste of your time and money.

VPN's were originally created as a way to safely and securely connect to remote locations over the internet. Data is encrypted at both ends and can be safely sent over an open network like the internet.

If you want to connect safely to your home network from outside then all you need to do is google about using the program Putty to create a secure connection to your home LAN. It's pretty simple and it's effective. You'll want to research creating a secure ssh tunnel. Done correctly, you connect with Putty to your home LAN, establish the tunnel, then RDP into your Windows box at home using the Windows based computer you've used to create the secure tunnel.

I appreciate your response but I think you’re missing the larger picture. A lot of the marketing we see promoting home VPN use comes from the US where there are two reasons I might consider using one.

The most obvious is Net Neutrality, if my ISP can’t inspect my traffic then they can’t prioritize it based on their preferred backhaul arrangements.

Secondary to most people but arguably a larger privacy concern is the FTC’s recent rulings that allow ISPs to collect and market usage data the same way service providers like Google do.

https://www.consumerreports.org/cons...l-information/

Neither of these concerns are valid in Canada, yet.

I would suggest you would qualify this advice some. In a lot of corporate environments this is a violation of the Acceptable Use Policy and with good reason.

Also as a long time Unix sysadmin, putty sucks. :)

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Bitdefender wins the AV "Product of The Year" Award ... yet again ❗ 👉 https://www.av-comparatives.org/test...y-report-2019/

Selkirk

maybe I am un-informed, but I always thought that having a VPN blocks you IP address and acts an another line of defence for hackers who want to find out your identity to steal your identity?

It seems as though most antivirus programs come built in with VPN software now, so I highly doubt antivirus companies would include this software if it wasn't beneficial in keeping hackers away.

This is basically correct, a VPN in this situation will obscure your IP address from a service you are trying to use, the service provider will instead see the other end of the VPN as the origin of the request. Imagine it like using a mail forwarding service, your mail goes to a PO Box and then somebody pulls it out, puts a new label on with your actual address and then drops it back in the mail.

However I don’t see how this does ANYTHING at all to protect your identity From being stolen online. I’ve worked in IT for 25 years, in my experience a lot of Anti Virus Software companies have much better marketing departments than they do engineers.