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Is Antivirus Software a Waste of Money?

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mouser:
I basically take Innuendo's view - the cost of running an antivirus program and firewall, in terms of money and cpu cycles, seems low enough that it's worth doing, even if the chances of it catching anything useful are slim.

I don't think i've ever in all the years I've used a computer, had a virus detected in a program/document that i didn't already view as too suspicious to run.  Except one or two cases that an item was caught on a compromised web page.

But I would never assume that something is clean just because an antivirus program doesn't detect something.  I view them only as a minor line of defense.

I think the point about antivirus software not catching brand new malware is just one more reason why it always pays to try to delay using new stuff whose source you are unsure of.  Let the other canaries go into the mine first..

Innuendo:
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. -wr975 (March 02, 2012, 01:16 PM)
--- End quote ---

When you can go to perfectly legit, big-name web sites, and get infected through an exploit in a banner ad... It's like you said. The days of just using common sense are long over.

vlastimil:
Years ago there was such incident with an old IE... There always is a chance of something like this happening again, but not a big one - keeping your software updated and using a non-mainstream browser should lower the chance of infection to a level I have no problem with.

timns:
These articles really irritate me. It reads as a case of being "contrarian" just for the sake of it. Maybe he had to find something to grind out to meet a deadline.

I'd file the article alongside such things as "why you should eat more salt" and "why it's ok to put your credit card details in email"

40hz:
When you can go to perfectly legit, big-name web sites, and get infected through an exploit in a banner ad... It's like you said. The days of just using common sense are long over.
-Innuendo (March 02, 2012, 03:50 PM)
--- End quote ---

Truer words were seldom spoken. 8) :Thmbsup:



These articles really irritate me. It reads as a case of being "contrarian" just for the sake of it. Maybe he had to find something to grind out to meet a deadline.

I'd file the article alongside such things as "why you should eat more salt" and "why it's ok to put your credit card details in email"


-timns (March 05, 2012, 02:01 PM)
--- End quote ---

Bingo. :Thmbsup:

(Besides, with excellent free products like MSE available for the download, what difference does it make? You can't waste money you haven't spent. :mrgreen:)

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