It might be time to stop using antivirus??

swarfega said:

@jimbo45 I don't get how MBM is so last century when they've just recently totally revamped the program. It now includes ransomware amongst others. Besides which you don't need ransomware software if you don't click on unsolicited emails and links.

Sorry but on this occasion I have to disagree with you.

Hi there

That's the whole point -- as you said if you don't click on unsolicited emails and links you don't get ransomware - so why bother defending against it when you aren't going to get it anyway.

I know this is a bit of a "trivial" debate - but I still find that those who seem to have every bit of A/V software under the sun always seem to have their computers riddled with all sorts of (malevolent) junk while others who just use bog standard WD never get anything.

Software cannot protect you against most of the evil stuff out there - and people often get lulled into a false sense of security.

I've seen in your own country places where the Road Safety people have actually reduced accidents by changing a stretch of seemingly safe road which seemed to have a higher incidence than normal of accidents to look a bit more dangerous - and drivers reacted positively reducing the accident rates.

There's examples too in Holland where they've switched off a whole slew of traffic lights and road traffic is safer and faster (including pedestrians and cyclists).

Moral of all of this is USE your own brain rather than rely on software - be careful what you download, don't accept "special offers" etc, don't go to strange links, never give away too much stuff on Social Media and treat E-Mail as if it's a Hand grenade with the pin taken out -- i.e CAREFULLY !!!. NEVER EVER give away Bank details to 3rd parties etc.

Billions of USD / EUR / GBP / ISL KR/ etc etc are made via Fraud, Scams, phishing etc. If people spent 1/20th of the time learning how to avoid being scammed rather than all this mugging up on essentially useless A/V software they would most certainly be better off.

Cheers
jimbo

I use Norton. It's my ISP's branded version of it. My Internet Service Provider is CenturyLink. I have never had a problem with my computers getting infected by using antivirus software. As an extra layer of security, I also use MBAM and SAS (SuperAntiSpyware). I run MBAM and SAS monthly to clean up all of my computers. I really think we should use any antivirus as we like whether it's Windows Defender or Norton, Kaspersky, Trend Micro, etc.

jimbo45 said:

it doesn't DO anything useful !!!!

I am not sure why you are so sure anti-ransomware software is useless.

Matthew Wai said:

I am not sure why you are so sure anti-ransomware software is useless.

Hi there

1) It doesn't do any good

2) who ever gets ransomware these days - and if they do what have they actually got installed on their computers

99.99% of this stuff is just SCAREWARE and I'll continue to say that BRAIN is always better than Software.

We never get ANY stats from these people who get Viruses etc on their computers of a) what they were doing, and b) what A/V software they actually had on their computers when they got infected.

I say again 99.9% of this industry for HOME computers is simply built on FEAR

Perhaps you should read the book the FEAR INDEX (based on the VIX -- stock exchange volatility index !!! ).

The Fear Index - Wikipedia

I really think it's time that most of this industry should just DIE AWAY --it's mostly USELESS and people should not be badgered into buying totally inappropriate products.

Anyway that's my last word in this thread --if you guys want to waste time and money on this stuff that's up to you.

SIMPLE BACKUP and RESTORE -- far cheaper and much more secure all ways round.

Remember : The Price of Education might be expensive - but the Price of Ignorance is Astronomical.

anyway on this thread --Over and Out.

Cheers
jimbo

dencal said:

Banks are loathe to pay out when monies have been withdrawn from compromised accounts, unless the holder has AV security installed.

Hi there

Doesn't WD count -- it's actually built in to the O/S -- and in any case if you get defrauded online chances are it's via phishing / email / scamming etc --nothing ANY A/V could defend you against anyway.

Definitely my LAST word on this topic (probably to the relief of many).

Still though ALWAYS TAKE REGULAR BACKUPS and USE COMPUTER SENSIBLY.

Cheers

and Góða nótt

Jimbo

jimbo45 said:

Hi there

Absolutely correct for HOME computers. WD is just fine.

Current set of protection is based on Last century's model -- we've moved a long way from pimply teens in bedrooms writing malevolent code "just for fun".

The name of the game these days is FRAUD or SCAM. No software can protect you against this sort of stuff.

WD is fine for most people -- Ms update it almost daily so it's likely to be more up to date than any 3rd party product and will guard against any people still wasting their time writing malware -- a diminishing group in any case..

I've long since thought the whole A/V industry was a bit of a fraud in any case basing it's main selling point on FEAR.

OK some viruses are still around but if people learned HOW TO USE COMPUTERS SAFELY and TOOK BACKUPS REGULARLY the whole problem of Malware and Viruses would disappear.

Learn how to avoid FRAUD and being SCAMMED -- this is far more prevelant these days --just look at Police crime statistics in most Western type countries (include places like Singapore, Taiwan, Japan in the mix too) where the largest growth (by far) is in Computer / Internet Fraud. In ALL of these cases (yes 100% of them) A/V software would have been 100% ineffective -- but BRAIN would have worked !!!!!.

Corporates - different considerations - Home users don't need to worry about DDOS attacks and other things designed to disrupt corporates - and make money out of them to fix !!!.

I think most people would worry more about their Bank accounts being emptied - or even their House being sold !!!! by Fraud than worrying about some stupid piece of Malware which a 10 - 15 min restore from Backup would get rid of.

There actually was a case in the UK where a person impersonated another in order to get a 100,000 GBP loan -- he took out a loan against the victim's house and got the 100,000 GBP and disappeared (of course).
Next thing is Bailiff's letters and Bank wanting to sell house to pay back the loan (which of course Victim never tool out.

I think in the end Bank agreed to forego the money -- but it shows by simply giving out too much data over the internet and not being sensible with passwords etc -- this is what can happen.

Cheers
jimbo

20 US or 20GBP are not big money and promise a little extra protection.

Haven't used anything but Defender since Windows 8.

Edwin said:

Haven't used anything but Defender since Windows 8.

Try to use Kaspersky Security Scan (it's like one time virus checker without installation) or anything else

you will be surprised