Low Resource Security?

[millshalf]

Hey all,
I'm pretty sick of using antivirus etc. that cripple sys. resources too much.. and i was just looking for which apps have the lowest footprints?

For antivirus, i'm looking at NOD32. But i've also heard that the freeware Antivir has a very low footprint. Does anyone have a comparison between them, in terms of efficiency/protection and resource usage?

For antispyware - which has the lower footprint, SpySweeper or Spyware Doctor?
And whats the firewall that'll bug me the least?

Thanks all.

[metalbmx13]

well, I am not sure about the technical details, but Avast! Anti-Virus works good for me, It is free doesn't seem to drag the system down or anything so I would recommend it.

http://www.avast.com/

[CCSDUDE]

http://www.clamwin.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ClamWin
http://winpooch.sourceforge.net/

[siodine]

I personally haven't ever used anti-virus programs, and I've never been infected with anything. Not getting infected is basically just a matter of common sense, if you're downloading high-risk files like cracks use an online virus scanner like jotti virus scan (combines 20 different anti-virus programs like norton). The problem is, most virus scanners rely on MD5 hashes or code signatures which are a very weak way of detecting viruses.

So, some guy could download the source code to a very well known trojan, change a few things around, and now he has an undetectable trojan. So in the end I feel it's better to rely on your own "spidey-sense" instead of some anti-virus program. And it's served me very well.

The REAL problem for me though, are exploits in browsers, obviously they're going to be the easiest way to infect large amounts of people -- this is usually how you're infected with spyware and malware. The best solution to this is security through obscurity, use a browser that no one wants to target because of its small user base, that's part of why I use opera (http://www.opera.com).

[noneya]

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download
I have never had a virus and my system is really fast......

noneya

[hawkburn]

I've used NOD32 in the past and I must say its heuristics are awesome, and the virus protection is awesome, and you can't tell its running.

Recently I've also been using Norton 360 (which also includes a spyware scanner and firewall) and I haven't had any problems so far (I also havent noticed it running as well.)

[Malakai1911]

If you are looking for a light AV, Nod32 is definately best.
If you want firewall and anti-spam built in too, Eset Smart Security (from the makers of Nod32) is in beta and is light on resources.