Avira, company that specializes in providing antivirus, firewall, antispam, and recovery solutions against malware infection to Windows and Linux users, was curious to find out how users of antivirus software handle updates. So back in December it launched a survey on its free-av.com site. The company asked users how they update their security software solution.
About 18,000 people responded. They provided the following answers. 37% or 6,448 respondents said that they rely on the automatic update feature included in their antivirus application. These are the “set it and forget it” type of users that ensured the antivirus program is set up so that it will download updates automatically without bothering the user about it.
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25% or 4,384 respondents said they have disabled the antivirus application’s option to automatically update itself because they prefer to manually check for updates. “Perhaps this is a legacy of the old days when virus scanners required large amounts of computing capacity, and many people switched off automatic updates to reduce further system disruption,” said Avira.
20% or 3,604 respondents said they trust the antivirus application to do its job – they never check to see if the application is indeed working or if it is up-to-date.
17% or 3,007 respondents said they also rely on the automatic update feature – but they also check to ensure that virus definitions are up-to-date. These users trust the antivirus application to do its job and to update itself. But they are more on the cautious side and ensure the antivirus is doing it job.
1.4% or 245 respondents said they do not bother with updating their antivirus application because they have someone who takes care of it (a friend, or family member).
"The most important thing about reliable virus protection is that updates should take place as often as possible. That’s why Avira recommends enabling the automatic update, while die-hard manual updaters should run the update function several times daily. For optimum protection, Avira recommends that all users should choose a security solution that can be relied on to protect against viruses, while also able to filter infected websites and prevent programs from gaining unauthorized access to the computer," explained Avira.
Avira, company that specializes in providing antivirus, firewall, antispam, and recovery solutions against malware infection to Windows and Linux users, was curious to find out how users of antivirus software handle updates. So back in December it launched a survey on its 
