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Author Topic: Guess how useful virus scanners are?  (Read 4051 times)

Tuxman

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Guess how useful virus scanners are?
« on: July 29, 2014, 10:11 AM »

MilesAhead

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Re: Guess how useful virus scanners are?
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2014, 02:17 PM »
The anti-virus industry kind of reminds me of purchasing health insurance.  Unless your purchase is subsidized, it seems not to matter if you purchase catastrophic, all inclusive, or any coverage between.  The actuaries have it figured so there is no "smart buy." You get ripped off royally no matter how you try to amortize it.

Some problems I work on Windows forums, after some Q&A exchanges the poster then relates the fact that he or she is running 3 or 4 overlapping products simultaneously.  It's lucky the machine runs at all.  If you don't know how the machine works I guess the scare tactics can be quite effective.

The trouble with arguing against AV on forums, other than that the interest on the other side is vested, is that to make your point you have to give away your disaster avoidance/recovery strategies.

It's kind of like trying to ban the "Genuine Placebo" ads in the back of magazines.  The magazines get revenue to run them.  You get nothing out of pointing out the folly(except the joy inherent in pointing out follies of course.)   :)

40hz

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Re: Guess how useful virus scanners are?
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2014, 03:08 PM »
he trouble with arguing against AV on forums, other than that the interest on the other side is vested, is that to make your point you have to give away your disaster avoidance/recovery strategies.

Except for here! Most (all?) of us here freely provide the very same advice and assistance we'll charge our clients to get.

Gotta love DoCo. :-* :Thmbsup:

MilesAhead

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Re: Guess how useful virus scanners are?
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2014, 03:15 PM »
^ I meant "give away" as in, let the enemy know my defenses.  It just feels funny posting "Hey!  I don't run a real time shield!"  Like putting a target on your own back.  :)

Just paranoia I guess.  :)
(Scare tactics work to some extent on everyone?)   :)

40hz

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Re: Guess how useful virus scanners are?
« Reply #4 on: July 29, 2014, 04:12 PM »
I meant "give away" as in, let the enemy know my defenses.

Ah! I see...

Well, I'd like to see any non-pro break through mine even if they did know my setup.

And I'd be very (albeit pleasantly) surprised if (even not knowing anything about my setup) a real professional cyber-baddie couldn't get through.

 ;D

MilesAhead

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Re: Guess how useful virus scanners are?
« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2014, 08:18 AM »
The only real bad attack I had used an IE helper object.  I knew something bad was happening, but I had a new computer going through first setup and the one being attacked, on a kvma switch.  The switch quit working so there was no way to gracefully shut down the new machine.  Rather than risk munging the Preloaded Vista x64 on the new system I let the old machine get hosed. Not that big a deal.  I just installed XP Pro that I was meaning to put on soon anyway.

But that experience is the main reason I avoid surfing with IE or browsers that use the IE engine.  ActiveX and BHOs are too wild west for me.  :)