Anti-Virus Software Is Ineffective

[Humpty]

Fine looking lady and very clever to boot.Seems she hasn't heard of Sandboxie though.

 

Quote:

 

On your primary machine, what OS is running? What kinds of security software are you using?

 

On my primary machine, I run Windows XP x64. I don't use any anti-virus products to secure any of my machines. The reason?I just don't like their approach, which is to block only known malware. Needless to say, I also don't believe in all those AI-based Host Intrusion Detection Systems to stop the unknown attack vectors. So, I just try to be careful when surfing, use NoScript, never open suspicious e-mails or PowerPoint/PDF documents?

 

Of course, I'm still aware that it's not enough, as somebody can embed a very reliable and "silent" zero-day exploit for my .TXT editor in some README file. Or that they can find a bug in my Wi-Fi driver. Or an attacker can inject an exploit for my browser after setting up a man-in-the-middle attack in a hotspot at the airport.

 

Eweek article

[hazelnut]

Thanks for that interesting read Humpty.

While I agree 110% that she knows exactly what she is talking about, I sometimes get just a bit peeved when experts start saying we shouldn't use this or that, or that this or that approach is useless against the latest group of nasties.

The vast majority of users have neither the technical know how or knowledge to use anything other that what is on offer to us. Solutions that most experts suggest are ones that can only be implemented by experts.

She is in the great postition of being able to totally clean her system without using software because she is an expert -we are not.

[Humpty]

Thanks for that interesting read Humpty.

While I agree 110% that she knows exactly what she is talking about, I sometimes get just a bit peeved when experts start saying we shouldn't use this or that, or that this or that approach is useless against the latest group of nasties.

The vast majority of users have neither the technical know how or knowledge to use anything other that what is on offer to us. Solutions that most experts suggest are ones that can only be implemented by experts.

She is in the great postition of being able to totally clean her system without using software because she is an expert -we are not.

 

Nice to hear from another fine looking and very clever lady.

 

And I completely agree with you.

[DJpailo]

I would rather have some sort of anti-virus, because if I didn't and then somehow I got a virus I would think to myself, dam, why didn't I just install one in the first place...