The Biden administration announced a ban on Kaspersky antivirus software on June 21, citing national security concerns due to the company's links with Russia.
Tbh, uBlock Origin + brain.exe has been carrying the heaviest load for years for me. Windows Defender would catch 80% of the occasional slips where brain.exe wanted some risks, too.
If we're talking windows, ditch the OS. It's the virus itself at this point. It's like asbestos. We had some fun. It was useful. But now we all know that it is flawed from the start.
Nothing replaces common sense, but I've been using ESET for years now and have been really happy. Just the AV mind you, none of the other security suite bs.
If you’re using Windows, the built in AV (Windows Defender) is actually pretty great. Maybe run Malware Bytes every now and then, (as in, install Malware Bytes, run it, then immediately uninstall it again). Between those two (and healthy browsing habits, like using an adblocker, not downloading random .exes, etc) will keep you protected. No AV in the world will be able to fully defend against bad browsing habits, so it all really comes down to that.
But this is Lemmy, so you’re bound to get buried in “just switch to Linux cuz Windows is a virus” stuff. And while that may be true, it’s clearly not the answer to your question.