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Is Antivirus Software a Waste of Money?

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mouser:
Interesting points here -- nothing really new just confirmation that an antivirus program is not going to catch the newest attacks:

The problem is that most criminals are smart enough to test their attacks against popular antivirus products. There’s even a free website called Virus Total that lets you see whether any of the most popular malware scanning engines will spot your Trojan program or virus. So when new attacks pop up on the internet, it’s common for them to completely evade antivirus detection.

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http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2012/03/antivirus/

ha14:
Antivirus are kind of students they learn to catch later.

Innuendo:
I view anti-virus software the same way I view all security software (firewalls, anti-malware, etc.). I see it as being insurance for my computer the same way I have insurance for my car and home. You may grouse about the money you shell out annually for no visible benefit when things are non-eventful, but when disaster strikes that's when the investment shows its true value & you're glad you're covered.

Sure, there's about the same chance my PC will get infected as my house being hit by a tornado or a storm blowing the roof off my house, but I think I'll keep my bases covered, thank you very much.

Full disclosure: I'm a unique case. All of my security software has lifetime licenses so there's no ongoing yearly cost for me to run them & when I'm on the internet I behave like the digital equivalent of "looking for trouble." I go to a lot of those web sites your mother warned you about & yet, I've never been infected due to my layered security approach. Contrast that with friends and family who have gotten their PCs nuked by something simple as banner ad exploits.

vlastimil:
Well, I do not use any anti-virus software on a permanent basis and the last problem I had with a virus was many years ago. It is a desktop computer, there is a firewall in the modem and I am the only user. If I had a notebook with wifi and were traveling with it, I would consider using one.

Keeping software updated, not connecting to devices of untrustworthy origin, not opening suspicious email attachments or installing suspicious software, not visiting extremely dangerous web sites (or if then with Opera, because who would bother writing a virus for Opera?) works just fine - no antivirus needed.

wr975:
I used to be a "no AV, just common sense" user. But these days are long over. It's just too dangerous "out there". One wrong click or hacked homepage and it's over. Wasting hours of time to get rid of malware... I've done it several times. I don't want to do it again.

I'm running an antivirus (MSSE), anti-malware (Malwarebytes) and WinPatrol. They won't catch the latest and newest virus in the wild, but what are the chances of getting a 0-day malware?

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