Can I run Smadav and Avast for dual protection against local and international threats?

Games Pedia - The strategy to run Smadav and Avast together for dual protection against local and international threats is an intuitive, but technically flawed, approach to cybersecurity. While you can configure them to coexist, the belief that you need separate guards for different types of threats is an outdated concept in 2025. This article dissects this strategy, explores the capabilities of modern antivirus, and reveals a more effective method for achieving true comprehensive security.

In the complex world of cybersecurity, we are fighting a two-front war. On one front, there are the international threats: sophisticated ransomware syndicates from Eastern Europe, zero-day exploits developed by state-sponsored actors, and global phishing campaigns designed to steal credentials on an industrial scale. On the other front, there is the persistent, grinding battle against local threats: common viruses spreading like wildfire through USB drives in an office, region-specific adware, and annoying malware that may not steal your data but will certainly hijack your browser.

Faced with this dual challenge, the logic of deploying a specialized defense for each front seems brilliant. You could position Avast, with its massive global threat intelligence network, as your sentinel against international aggressors. Simultaneously, you could deploy Smadav, a nimble specialist renowned for its prowess against local Indonesian and Southeast Asian malware, as your ground-level infantry, cleaning up infections spread through physical media. This strategic thinking is precisely what leads users to ask if this dual-protection model is viable. It is a thoughtful approach, but unfortunately, one that crumbles when it collides with the reality of modern system architecture and the evolution of malware itself.

The Strategic Appeal: A Global Sentinel and a Local Specialist

The attractiveness of this security model lies in the perceived synergy between two very different tools. Each appears to perfectly cover the other's potential blind spots, creating what seems to be an impenetrable wall of protection.

Avast's Global Threat Intelligence Network

Avast operates as one of the world's largest cybersecurity intelligence networks. With hundreds of millions of users, its network functions as a global, real-time sensor grid. When a new threat emerges in one corner of the world, it is identified, analyzed by AI-driven systems, and a defense is rolled out to all users within hours, sometimes minutes. This is its primary strength against international threats. It excels at identifying and neutralizing large-scale, fast-moving malware campaigns, sophisticated Trojans, and the latest ransomware variants. Its power comes from its immense scale and its focus on predictive, behavior-based detection to stop threats before they are even officially cataloged.

Smadav's Niche: The USB and Local Malware Hunter

Smadav, in contrast, built its reputation on a much more focused battlefield. It became an essential tool for many users, particularly in Southeast Asia, for its unmatched ability to deep-clean USB flash drives. In environments where internet access may have been less prevalent, "sneakernet" (transferring files via physical media) was, and still is, a major infection vector for locally spreading viruses. Smadav not only removes these threats but also often repairs the registry damage they cause, a feature many larger antivirus programs do not prioritize. This specialization created its identity as the go-to "local" malware hunter.

On paper, the partnership is perfect. You have a global air force and a local ground troop. What could possibly go wrong?

When Strategy Meets Reality: The Technical Collision

The brilliant strategy of a two-front defense unfortunately fails at the most fundamental level: execution. Both Avast and Smadav, when running in their default real-time modes, demand exclusive control over the same critical system resources to function. They are like two generals trying to command the same army using two different sets of orders.

The conflict arises from how they monitor your system. Both must hook into the operating system's kernel to intercept and scan every file that is read, written, or executed. This creates a technical traffic jam, leading to significant performance degradation, as both programs fight to scan the same file at the same time. More critically, it leads to a state of digital "friendly fire."

One antivirus may see the other's deep system integration and suspicious-looking definition files as a threat, leading to false positives, quarantined essential files, and system instability. Your meticulously planned two-front defense quickly devolves into an internal civil war, consuming all of your PC's resources and paradoxically leaving you less secure as the two guards neutralize each other.

Debunking the "Local vs. Global" Myth in 2025

The core assumption behind this strategy is that a global antivirus like Avast might miss a local threat, and a local tool like Smadav is necessary to fill that gap. In 2025, this assumption is no longer valid. The distinction between a "local" and "global" threat has become almost entirely academic.

How Modern Antiviruses Address Local Threats

A sophisticated antivirus engine today does not just rely on a checklist of known viruses. According to a Q2 2025 report from the SANS Institute on endpoint security, over 70% of modern malware uses polymorphic techniques to change its signature with each infection. To combat this, top-tier antivirus solutions like Avast rely heavily on heuristic and behavioral analysis.

This means they are not asking, "Is this a known virus from Brazil?" They are asking, "Is this program trying to secretly encrypt my files? Is it trying to disable my registry editor? Is it attempting to replicate itself onto a connected USB drive?" These malicious behaviors are universal. The techniques used by a virus spreading via USB in Jakarta are often fundamentally the same as those used by a Trojan delivered via email in Frankfurt. A powerful, behavior-based detection engine will catch the malicious action, regardless of the malware's origin.

The Data-Driven Reality: Detection Rates Across the Board

Independent testing labs like AV-TEST and AV-Comparatives provide the empirical data to back this up. In their comprehensive 2025 protection tests, leading antivirus products consistently demonstrate detection rates of 99.9% to 100% against thousands of real-world malware samples, including zero-day threats. These test sets are globally sourced, meaning they inherently include samples that could be considered "local" to various regions. The data clearly shows that a single, high-quality antivirus does not have a "local" blind spot.

The Diminishing Need for a USB-Specific Scanner

While Smadav's USB cleaning prowess was once a unique and critical feature, this functionality has long been integrated into mainstream antivirus suites. Avast, and even the now-powerful Microsoft Defender, include robust, automatic scanning of removable media. When you plug in a USB drive, your primary antivirus immediately scans it for threats, making a separate, specialized tool for this purpose largely redundant for everyday use.

The Right Way to Layer Security for Total Protection

So, if the dual-AV strategy is flawed, how do you protect yourself against both local and international threats? The answer lies in a different kind of layering. The goal is not to layer redundant tools but to create a holistic security posture with different types of defenses.

The question of can I run Smadav and Avast can still have a "yes," but only within this new strategy. You can keep Smadav installed, but it must be configured as a completely manual, on-demand scanner with all its real-time protections disabled. This turns it into a valuable second-opinion tool you can use to periodically scan a specific file or USB drive, without it ever conflicting with your primary Avast protection.

However, a truly comprehensive defense in 2025 goes beyond just antivirus. It involves:

• A Single, Powerful Endpoint Protection Platform: Your primary antivirus is the cornerstone of your defense.

• A Robust Firewall: To monitor and control incoming and outgoing network traffic.

• A Reputable VPN: To encrypt your internet connection, protecting you on public Wi-Fi and enhancing your privacy.

• A Password Manager: To create and store strong, unique passwords for every account.

• Consistent Software Patching: To close the security holes in your operating system and applications that attackers love to exploit.

• User Education: Ultimately, the strongest defense is a user who can recognize a phishing email and thinks twice before clicking a suspicious link.

This multi-faceted approach provides true "dual protection" and much more, covering threats from every angle, whether they originate from a server across the globe or a USB stick from across the room.

The desire to build a defense against both local and international threats is a sign of a savvy and security-conscious user. While the strategy of using two dedicated antivirus programs for this task is based on an outdated model, the spirit behind it is correct. True security in our interconnected world is not achieved by installing more software, but by building a smarter, more diverse set of defenses. By trusting a single, modern antivirus to handle all malware and supplementing it with other types of security tools and practices, you create a resilient, efficient, and truly comprehensive defense that is prepared for any threat, regardless of its origin.