(3 of 3) Open Source Software Review and Comparison: ClamWin Antivirus

             Now let us examine ClamWin free antivirus. This AV is designed for various editions of Windows and Windows Server, it is free and open source. You can schedule automatic scans, it does download and update its database automatically, right clicking on a file brings up the option to “scan with” and it can additionally be used to addin to Outlook and automatically clean any attachments that have malware in them (ClamWin, 2019). One capability it does not have is the ability to have it automatically scan a file when it is accessed (ClamWin, 2019). ClamWin is also sporting “high detection rates for viruses and spyware” but in my opinion this should be taken with a grain of salt. At first you might think that is a good thing, but one thing you do not want is a lot of what they call “false positives.” This is when something is flagged as malicious when it is actually something safe, then the program will proceed to quarantine it and stop it from running. From my experience, this can be particularly troublesome when you work on or repair computers and software because some of the tools can get flagged as malicious. But the tool is not malicious, it is just a tool and tools can be used for good or bad. The bad guys have access to the same tools the good guys do.

Comparison to Windows Defender

            Windows Defender (WinD) is the antimalware solution that was developed by Microsoft and it is included with Windows installations. ClamWin does have many of the features that your standard antivirus program does, but as with anything that is open source vs. proprietary, it has been my experience that in most cases, open source is sufficient but the proprietary versions usually have some nifty additional features and usually “handle the legwork” I like to say, that is they do everything automatically if you want them to. Where they differ is for one, ClamWin doesn’t scan files when you access them, but WinD does, and also can scan anything that gets plugged into the USB port before letting it access the computer which I find quite handy, I use WinD and I use this feature. One other feature that could be of quite importance is the “controlled folder access” This is something that ClamWin does not possess but WinD does. This feature prevents any app/executable file that either malicious or suspicious in nature from making any changes to files that are within any of the folders that are protected ((Microsoft, 2018).

References

ClamWin. (2019). About ClamWin Free Antivirus. Retrieved from http://www.clamwin.com/content/view/71/1/

Microsoft. (n.d.). The most secure Windows ever – and built to stay that way. Retrieved from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/comprehensive-security

Microsoft. (2018). Protect important folders with controlled folder access. Retrieved from https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/threat-protection/windows-defender-exploit-guard/controlled-folders-exploit-guard