Topic: Is Windows Defender enough to be secure? (Read 182 times)

This answers all my questions.Thanks everyone for providing answers I really appreciate that.
Locking this topic now.
Regards

Linux is better than Windows because it is open source and the backdoors and vulnerabilities are found fast and fixed fast unlike Windows that can take ages or never happen! but it is still not 100% safe as long as it is  connected to the internet and you still have to follow the security precautions.

first of all you should not have any coins or any valuable information for that matter on your hot computer that has access to the internet. it doesn't matter what you do, your data is at risk when you connect to internet.
secondly having AntiViruses are like the last defense to have on your computer. the first thing to do is prevention, as they say it is better than cure! it means you never visit shady sites, you never download and install any application that you don't know.

Yeah malwarebytes is good. And you can run electrum on your raspberry pi, remember to write down your seed first. I think it's probably better to use the pyinstaller for that (I assume it works). There is also a way to make it so you have a watching only wallet on your computer and can take the RPI offline but that might be a bit overkill. I'd still suggest importing your master public key/extended public key into a Windows wallet if you use your windows machine quite a lot.

Yeah,you are probably right.Actually I do have a raspberry pi,I was wondering if it is judicious to stop using wallets on windows (Electrum in my case) and switch to linux (raspbian in my case)?In meanwhile I'll try and install MalwaresByte.

I personally use Norton by Symantec. To be honest, they all do practically the same thing, my nortoon includes backups and a few other features though which is quite nice for ~$30 a year for 10 computers.

This might be a useful thread for you to look at: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.39787162

Remember that you also need to scan dodgy websites on virus total, not only the stuff you want to download. A malicious cookie/php code can transfer every file on your computer to a company's server without you knowing it or place a piece of tracking information in your browser or your entire computer and act as a keylogger.

Some antiviruses also, like norton, don't allow for .exe files to be run that have been used by less than 5 users in their community which does make you reconsider what you download when you run it.

If you're using a bitcoin wallet, remember to whitelist the blockchain and client itself so the AV doesn't interfere with it.

Running a sandboxing vm (I assume that's what you are referring to with sandboxie) is not a great solution. I'd suggest getting another computer, even a raspberry pi will do the trick, just to secure the stuff you want to access in sandboxed mode. Or use a different login as I suggested with non-admin privilages. Alternatively, you can make a strong 15-20 random character password and put it so that you only open it using "safe mode with networking" in windows as that will kill a lot of additional processes (don't ever use your browser in this mode other than to use sites you know are definitely safe - like ones you use to update your client).

If this answers all of your questions, you might want to lock this thread as these types tend to attract spam.

Windows Defender alone is not enough.

You need to use Windows Defender (antivirus) and Malware Bytes (anti malware/spyware) at least. They are a simple combo which will deal with most threats.

However, you need to be careful with your habits online. Avoid downloading piracy products from shady websites. Avoid these adult videos websites which are full of virus. Avoid to download cracks for software.

If you download something suspicious, sent it to https://www.virustotal.com, which will scan your file, before opening.

Also, get a hardware wallet if you store coins in your daily computer.

I usually use virustotal website to scan any downloaded file before opening it,and if I doubt an .exe being malicious I run it Sandboxed using Sandboxie.

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I don't really know what anti-virus to pick other than Windows Defender since pretty much all of the free versions have annoying messages and/or ads.So I guess I'll have to buy a licensed one.Which one do you recommend/use?
Regards

No! Nothing is safe, but windows defender is definitely one of the least safe on it's own.
There are many antivirus software, pick one for yourself. Also consider changing your broswsing habits, if you're likely to get a virus it usually your fault that you have it. If you use sites that are "too good to be true" or "too good to be free" then avoid these on your normal computer. If you really need to use them, make a separate, non-admin login.

Hello,
I just wanted to asks if having Windows defender antivirus active is enough to be safe from malwares that potentially steal coins/fake versions of wallets or should I get another antivirus?If yes,what anti-virus do you recommend me to use?
Regards