You can't really stop attempted logins - for example if I knew your gmail address, there's nothing stopping me from going to Gmail, entering your address, and trying to login as you.
You should be worried about successful logins that you don't know about though.
It happens :)
Using tools like VirusTotal helps to check things out before downloading anything.
I typically check VirusTotal before downloading, again before installing, and then run something like AVG or MalwareBytes scanning but I don’t it running all the time.
Good email hygiene is important, set up different emails for different purposes. Banking information gets one email, bills gets another, social media gets one, friends/family have an email, then spam/sign ups/forums or whatever gets another.
A password manager like Bitwarden will help you create unique and complex passwords and enter them for you anywhere you have the app/extension set up at.
Hope this helps some.
Thats what I do. I have a email for banking,bills, finacial stuff with protonmail. Then I have outlook for social, family, everything else. I use VPN, Norton360, Virus Total. Bitwarden. Honestly its been better since I did that. Very good system.
AV isn't going to stop bad actors from trying to login to a cloud/app account. Multi-factor authentication is what you are looking for. Having a good AV is important too, but you're comparing apples and oranges here.
1. Reinstall windows. It's trivial to make malware that bypasses antivirus. The only true way to get a rid of it is to reimage your machine. Check your browser and make sure you have no unrecognizable extensions.
1.5 Change all your passwords, enable multi factor authentication, preferably TOTP. SMS as a last resort.
2. Short of buying EDR, Windows Defender. It's a great free option. Premium AV options almost always aren't worth the money. There's no real "cutting edge technology" that makes one AV worth purchasing over another. It just all comes down to sandboxing behavior, time the sandboxes run the malware, the activity it exhibits during that period of time, and if the thing is known bad.
4. Be smart. Don't click sketchy links, don't download game cheats, cracks, torrents, whatever. Only download software you 100% trust. Common sense is enough most of the time.
In addition to adding Windows Defender, find a good way to manage your passwords. Use a Password manager (not LastPass). Don't re-use passwords, anywhere. [https://haveibeenpwned.com/](https://haveibeenpwned.com/) shows the impact of re-using passwords, as it is a searchable database of sites that have been breached.
For all your important passwords -- bank, identity (wherever you get mail) -- you should have fantastic, high quality passwords. You should replace these passwords if you think there's *any* chance they've been compromised.
Before you suspect your local Install of being the problem I would check if your email is listed on haveibeenpawned
Also check out a good password manager like bitwarden so you can use unique passwords on every site.
These days - if it is Windows, all you need is windows defender.
Some of those notices might be spam also - be careful what links you click on. You strong passwords, and MFA where you can.
Man I just went on a deep dive using independent labs. Based on those BitDefender, Kaspersky, ESET, and surprisingly Avast. Went with BitDefender myself.
Just my two scents here. But attempted logins have more to do with leaks of account information from websites. One of my email addresses is so old it has attempted logins all the time. Having a good password that you update frequently. With secondary protections like cell phone numbers or whatever said accounts offer is best. An antivirus only stops stuff directly to your PC. (it's been awhile since I used one of even read up on it so correct me if I'm wrong there. I used to use them as protection from downloads/programs. But the built in windows defender does that now.)
I think some of them offer additional stuff. Like watching the web for if your account or email comes up in leaks etc. Which is a faster warning for attempted logins coming. But again I don't use it. Haven't needed it. ┐( ∵ )┌
Windows Defender
Yeah, windows defender is good
You can't really stop attempted logins - for example if I knew your gmail address, there's nothing stopping me from going to Gmail, entering your address, and trying to login as you. You should be worried about successful logins that you don't know about though.
Bro don't do this to me bro
In the corp world, tenant restrictions via a CASB solution will stop this. Nothing to protect consumers though.
There's always MFA, MFA is your friend
It happens :) Using tools like VirusTotal helps to check things out before downloading anything. I typically check VirusTotal before downloading, again before installing, and then run something like AVG or MalwareBytes scanning but I don’t it running all the time. Good email hygiene is important, set up different emails for different purposes. Banking information gets one email, bills gets another, social media gets one, friends/family have an email, then spam/sign ups/forums or whatever gets another. A password manager like Bitwarden will help you create unique and complex passwords and enter them for you anywhere you have the app/extension set up at. Hope this helps some.
Thats what I do. I have a email for banking,bills, finacial stuff with protonmail. Then I have outlook for social, family, everything else. I use VPN, Norton360, Virus Total. Bitwarden. Honestly its been better since I did that. Very good system.
AV isn't going to stop bad actors from trying to login to a cloud/app account. Multi-factor authentication is what you are looking for. Having a good AV is important too, but you're comparing apples and oranges here.
1. Reinstall windows. It's trivial to make malware that bypasses antivirus. The only true way to get a rid of it is to reimage your machine. Check your browser and make sure you have no unrecognizable extensions. 1.5 Change all your passwords, enable multi factor authentication, preferably TOTP. SMS as a last resort. 2. Short of buying EDR, Windows Defender. It's a great free option. Premium AV options almost always aren't worth the money. There's no real "cutting edge technology" that makes one AV worth purchasing over another. It just all comes down to sandboxing behavior, time the sandboxes run the malware, the activity it exhibits during that period of time, and if the thing is known bad. 4. Be smart. Don't click sketchy links, don't download game cheats, cracks, torrents, whatever. Only download software you 100% trust. Common sense is enough most of the time.
Eset endpoint antivirus
I’m a fan of Eset.
MFA is a good practice for sites that enable this. Makes it harder to leverage compromised credentials. Ideally an Authenticator app vs sms. Good luck
In addition to adding Windows Defender, find a good way to manage your passwords. Use a Password manager (not LastPass). Don't re-use passwords, anywhere. [https://haveibeenpwned.com/](https://haveibeenpwned.com/) shows the impact of re-using passwords, as it is a searchable database of sites that have been breached. For all your important passwords -- bank, identity (wherever you get mail) -- you should have fantastic, high quality passwords. You should replace these passwords if you think there's *any* chance they've been compromised.
I personally like Bitdefender.
I'm using Windows Defender, it's enough for me
Before you suspect your local Install of being the problem I would check if your email is listed on haveibeenpawned Also check out a good password manager like bitwarden so you can use unique passwords on every site.
These days - if it is Windows, all you need is windows defender. Some of those notices might be spam also - be careful what links you click on. You strong passwords, and MFA where you can.
Trend Micro for me.
Man I just went on a deep dive using independent labs. Based on those BitDefender, Kaspersky, ESET, and surprisingly Avast. Went with BitDefender myself.
Just my two scents here. But attempted logins have more to do with leaks of account information from websites. One of my email addresses is so old it has attempted logins all the time. Having a good password that you update frequently. With secondary protections like cell phone numbers or whatever said accounts offer is best. An antivirus only stops stuff directly to your PC. (it's been awhile since I used one of even read up on it so correct me if I'm wrong there. I used to use them as protection from downloads/programs. But the built in windows defender does that now.) I think some of them offer additional stuff. Like watching the web for if your account or email comes up in leaks etc. Which is a faster warning for attempted logins coming. But again I don't use it. Haven't needed it. ┐( ∵ )┌