WD.... is it really that bad...?

davidhk said:

P.S. I am one of those using WD only. Not even free edition of Malwarebytes.
I have 5 computers , all same setup. That's about 3 years now. No virus issue at all.

Just out of curiosity, I have decided to install Malwarebytes with the intention of keep it as on-demand protection when the 14 days trial is over.
Just to see if it helps anything at all...… other than catching a bunch of PUPs.

davidhk said:

P.S. I am one of those using WD only. Not even free edition of Malwarebytes.
I have 5 computers , all same setup. That's about 3 years now. No virus issue at all.

You have no virus issues with known viruses defined in the theat library. Of course, we could be unaware of any sophisticated viruses quietly infecting the PC in the background and reporting back information of interest.

essenbe said:

No, I would never disable an AV to visit a page. That's why you use an AV. There are some applications most AV's will hit on that are legit. They hit on them because of what they are. We sometimes use apps that will bypass passwords or change them for example. AV's will hit on that, which is a good thing. Under normal circumstances, you would not want an app like that on your PC.

Hi there
@essenbe

Not quite right in some cases

1) you might want to test an AV program for its effectiveness so visiting a known bad site is a legit way of testing

2) if you sandbox the computer then it's OK too.

I agree with you when using a computer that you use all the time then OK - but on VM's / sandboxed systems etc then it's probably the only way to really test nasty viruses and AV software with actual practical samples rather than just laboratory tests which are in any case an artificial controlled environment.

Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 said:

it's probably the only way to really test nasty viruses and AV software with actual practical samples rather than just laboratory tests which are in any case an artificial controlled environment.

I don't have a printer so when I want a hard copy I put in on USB and go to a local Internet Café to print it.

Every single time when I get back my USB key is infected, usually with this, (which is a description not the virus itself obviously) Anatomy of a virus: iTunesHelper.vbe. WD always finds it, or something similar, before I even have a chance to reformat it.

So they do exist still but don't seem to cause much of a problem - touch wood. If AV vendors want to test something in real life they could do worse than go to a Internet Café in my experience.

CountMike said:

Just write protect USB after you put files on it. No more malware can reach it.

Sorry if it a dumb question but how? Do you need to buy a special USB with a switch like on a SD card?

Hi there.

the only way you can guarantee 100% write protect is if there's a hardware switch that physically disables write. If you simply disable write via software a clever rogue program should be able to get into some sort of kernel privilege to bypass the write protect or go to some direct hardware routine outside the basic control of the OS.

However the principle is sound -- write protect the device.

A better way to print something from an internet cafe would be first to email the file to yourself then print the email from the Internet cafe. (obviously the file to be printed can't be too large --or simply split it).

Cheers
jimbo