Debate: Did spending $250 on a premium antivirus actually save my cousin from a ransomware attack or was it just pure luck?

Last month my cousin dropped $250 on Bitdefender after his buddy got hit with ransomware that encrypted all his family photos, but I'm wondering if the same thing would've happened with a free version or if he just got lucky timing wise, has anyone else had this kind of split experience with paid vs free security software?

2 comments

2 Comments

vera_sanchez1d ago

250 bucks on antivirus? I dropped $300 on a fancy firewall router once and still got crypto'd because my dumb cousin clicked a "free iPad" ad. Your cousin probably just got lucky and didn't click on the shady link that week. These premium suites mostly just give you fancy popups about things Windows Defender already blocks for free.

the_vera1d ago

Yeah @vera_sanchez basically nailed it. I've been using just Windows Defender for like 5 years now and the only time I got malware was when I downloaded a fake Spotify crack. Paid antivirus is just paying for extra headaches honestly.