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Immunet: Safe as a 2nd AV?
An interesting blog by Brian Krebs:
"Security experts have long maintained that running two different anti-virus products on the same Windows machine is asking for trouble, because the programs inevitably will compete for resources and slow down or even crash the host PC.
... But an upstart anti-virus company called Immunet Protect is hoping Windows users shrug off this conventional wisdom and embrace the dual anti-virus approach. Indeed, the company’s free product works largely by sharing data about virus detections from other anti-virus products already resident on the PCs of the Immunet user community.
... I’ve been running Immunet in tandem with Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 for the past three months, and have haven’t noticed any impact on system resources or stability issues. Immunet’s creators are especially proud of that last aspect of the program, and say it’s due to the fact that the program does most of its scanning and operations “in-the-cloud,” – that is, not on the user’s system. "
Full read: http://krebsonsecurity.com/2010/04/immunet-a-second-opinion-worth-a-second-look/
Haven't tried this yet, but Krebs does know his security stuff.
joe53
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May 18th, 2010 19:00
k27:
Thanks so much for your tests.
My only question is (being a bit confused, is), did you compare
a) avast! (alone) vs. Immunet (alone), or did you compare
b) avast! (alone) vs. avast!+Immunet (both running resident)?
I guess what I'm asking is, did Immunet augment or degrade avasts's protection in your testing. No need for any quick reply.
AFAIK, the Flash Scan looks for malware by scanning your system registry and running processes only. Obviously not a substitute for a full AV on-demand scan.
-----------------------------------
1972vet:
Thanks for your input also. Until I read Kreb's article, it was gospel for me also to only use one resident AV (and indeed I still follow and recommend this practice). It's my nature to explore new ideas, so I follow this one with interest.
But I really appreciate all the expert input from all here.
kevin27_b3d29f
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May 19th, 2010 00:00
joe53,
The only test I run was opining the malicious files with BOTH Avast and Immunet running together, the reason for this is that Immunet is meant to be running hand in hand with another AV.
For point of intrest, I have already tested the infections listed with Avast on its own and I can gladly say that Avast block and quarantined every one without problem, when I tried with Immunet running, avast did not warn about some but when I checked the Virus Vault, everything was in it.
Not quite the case with Immunet, the main thing that worried me was the fact that list listed TDL3 in its report as "legitimate program has been installed"
As 1972vet stated, we will not know of conflicts until I have time to disable both AV's and then run a scan with each one (which I plan on doing tonight) as soon as I have something to post, I will post it here.
Hope that helps,
Regards
K27.
Anonymous
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May 19th, 2010 10:00
I too would also like to extend my thanks, to K27, for taking the time to perform these tests, and to 1972vet, for a very informative and well explained post.
1972vet
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May 19th, 2010 14:00
kevin27_b3d29f
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May 25th, 2010 15:00
Sorry for the Delay, the last week or so has been an hectic one,
I have been running both Avast and Immunet on a Vista system that is infected with TDL3 and some random Trojans, apart from the expected slowness from the infections (not to bad really) and the very annoying redirects, there seems to be no real conflict between the two AV's.
That does not mean thats a good thing.
I have run scans with Avast while Immunet is enabled and although Avast did not flag the second AV's drivers, Immunet did slow down Avast's scanning time quite dramatically, (Avast found and quarantined what it needed to)
I also started a scan with Avast and then started a scan with Immunet, while Avast was busy finding stuff, (very slowly), Immunet (also very slowly) found nothing and still reported the Rootkit as being a legitimate program.
I have not had enough time to run a diagnostic tool to see what exactly Immunet puts on to the system, or more importantly, what it leaves behind after an uninstall. I hope to get around to this over the bank holiday weekend, (fingers croosed).
If anyone has any other test they would like running with the two AV's or another AV other than avast please let me know and I will happily give it a whirl, or any other infections they would like tested is also fine.
I'm now going to run Avast and Immunet on a clean system to be certain that the slowness was solely due to the infections and not and two AV's. Will post back soon.
Thanks
K27.
joe53
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May 25th, 2010 18:00
Thanks, K27.
For the record, I do not run Immunet in real-time alongside my resident AV. It's an interesting concept, which is why I raised the question. My experience is that it is "do-able". Whether it is wise is a different question. I follow your posts with great interest.
joe53
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June 17th, 2010 19:00
To all:
I am reliably informed that Immunet Protector Free 2.0 now installs the Ask Toolbar, pre-checked by default, and also includes ads. A (perhaps) intriguing new concept, now seduced by the dark side.
I've uninstalled it, and regret I ever mentioned it. (Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained ...)
ky331
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June 17th, 2010 20:00
Joe,
there's no need for you to feel badly about having mentioned immunet...
it was given an initial positive report by BillP in his blog of 28 March 2010 http://billpstudios.blogspot.com/2010/03/winpatrol-plus-50-off-for-malware.html , where he wrote:
"I’m also intrigued by new free software called Immunet but I’m still evaluating its effectiveness. I can confirm it works well when paired with WinPatrol PLUS".
a view which I then reported in these Dell forums http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/virus-spyware/f/3522/p/19330099/19688381.aspx#19688381