While Symantec and McAfeeare widely viewed as the best anti-virus solution for your small business network, they still do not offer a 100% guarantee that their software will stop every threat. Since you’re not guaranteed total security with any product, you may want to consider a free anti-virus alternative called Clamwin.
One of the great things about Clamwin is that it is legal to use it in corporate environments. The free versions of anti-virus, like AVG and Trend Micro, are not licensed for business use.
Before you jump ship on your current anti-virus solution, you need to be aware of some of the pros and cons of switching. The best part about Clamwin is that it is completely free. There is no purchase price, no annual subscription fee, nothing whatsoever. It will automatically update itself without user intervention, and you can schedule virus scans to happen at a time when you are most likely away from your computer.
So what’s the downside? The biggest drawback to Clamwinis that there is no server component for central deployment and management. This places more responsibility on your users and/or IT staff to make sure that everyone is staying protected.
The other thing to be aware of is that Clamwindoes not have an auto-protect component. I don’t necessarily consider this a drawback because your computer will run a great deal faster without an auto-protector constantly using your processor and RAM. Without the auto-protect, the only time that viruses are caught is during the virus scan that you schedule. To keep yourself safer, you’ll want to make sure that you don’t have administrative privileges on your computer. Doing this is a highly regarded security tactic anyways, and should be considered even if you’re using a program like Symantecor the others.
If you don’t need the server component, and you’d like to save your business hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year on anti-virus, consider using Clamwin.
