Who still buys anti-virus software

[pbf98]

Just curious who still pays for anti-virus protection these days. Why or why not?

I don't I find that there are free programs out there that offer just as good protection as some of the leading brands.

I use Malwarebytes (free version) and MS Security Essentials, and I have never had a problem. Maybe because I stay away from sites that you can't really trust.

I don't see the upside of buying something that there are multiple free programs that do the same thing.
Is it something that mainly just the people that don't know much about computers that are easily manipulated that pay $100 USD a year to protect their computer? Sure I don't get all the add ons that the software comes with since I use the free version, but I would never use it anyway.

So what are your thoughts?

 

[MoodyBlues]

Just curious who still pays for anti-virus protection these days.

What's anti-virus protection?

And why would anyone in their right mind pay...and pay...and pay...for it? And continue using a so-called OS that's rife with viruses, adware, malware, spyware...and needs third-party 'protection' as a result?

:rofl: :laugh: :rofl:

 

[Rxpert83]

I use kaspersky on my pc.

I usually get it in the gold box on amazon for $15 or so that will cover my whole family

 

[pbf98]

lol didn't even see that contradiction I made!

I just brought this up because someone was arguing with me that because their antivirus software they buy is $100 each year its better than mine thats free every year. I just don't get paying for it especially annually after a few years you could buy a new pc with what you save.

 

[Rxpert83]

lol didn't even see that contradiction I made!

I just brought this up because someone was arguing with me that because their antivirus software they buy is $100 each year its better than mine thats free every year. I just don't get paying for it especially annually after a few years you could buy a new pc with what you save.

If they're spending $100 I can see your side of it, but $15 to cover my whole family is no big deal for me. I know they're covered and I dont have to deal with it.

 

[Imfubared]

Its ironic how my Macafee anti virus starting senting me virus alerts, about a month before subscription was due.

Its was also ironic how their price offer kept dropping as it got closer to renewal date.
It was also ironic that I never ever ever signed up for auto renewal and yet they charged my card, said oops when I called and questioned it and said it would be two weeks to rectify so they have your money for free for two weeks.

Its was bs like that that I decided to go free.


I went to CNET, read the reviews and selected Avast Free. Been using it for 7 months and it works great. It has stopped malware and virus from my computer. They have a premium pay edition but they do not hassle you about it. Once in a while a short blurp pops up and then goes away.

PS, I love IOBIT products as well - defrag and malware hard drive cleaner software that is free too. Uninstaller, the whole nine yards. They too have a premium version and again do not hassle you about it.

 

[nickdalzell]

i have not used anti-virus since the 1990s. nowadays you got to be real dim to get a virus. the most common are trojans, and most get on your computer by visiting very questionable sites, clicking pop-up ads, or visiting torrent or warez sites. the last time a family member of mine got one was when my grandmother accidentally clicked one of those flash ads that pop up on some sites as she was Googling and it installed a virus that redirected to porn everytime you typed in an URL, changed her desktop wallpaper, and only booted the machine into safe mode, it was disguised as an antivirus software, called 'Win Anti-virus 2012' and in the end her computer wouldn't even boot--it even got the recovery partition. i fixed it with Puppy Linux (and she's the only other family member using *nix besides me) but she clicked the ad thinking it would dismiss it (she has poor eyesight and missed the little, awfully tiny 'x' button) but really you'd have enough protection using a firewall and common sense regardless of the OS you choose.


most malware has gone the way of the dinosaur. i do remember the Klez Worm, the Blaster Worm (would always shut down the system) and Bonzi Buddy! i also remember how vulnerable it was to have auto message preview in Outlook/Outlook Express. but those days are a bit done now. using P2P software (uTorrent, Bearshare, is limewire and KAZAA still going?) is the only other means i know of to get viruses, if you're into that kind of thing.

the last time I got a virus was also my own doing--it was my first Windows 7 laptop--and, you guessed it, i was on TPB using uTorrent. the next morning sure, the ISO had downloaded but my computer kept spamming multiple IE windows with pop-up ads every few seconds, until it ran out of RAM and locked up or BSoD'd. it's running Linux now

i also uninstall Norton, McAffee or any other program that comes out of box with new computers. mostly because it keeps blocking my games from accessing the internet (come on, Norton! Star Trek Online is NOT a 'questionable software!') and generally slows down the system

 

[CodeMonkey]

Malwarebytes free + Comodo Enterprise here.
I use Comodo because I can manage it centrally across the 5 Windows machines on my home network and because it's free for up to 10 machines

 

[Davdi]

Comodo free Firewall & A/V for when I absolutely have to (reluctantly) use Windows.
The rest of the time it's Linux. I can see a valid reason for using A/V in Linux. That's to scan ffiles & attachemtns you get via Email/Dropbox etc before passing the on to windows users.

My total of Linux converts so 2012/13 = Plumber, retired lady, door security guy at a nightclub and half a dozen fellow students.
Linux evangelist? Who, Me?

 

[mikedt]

most malware has gone the way of the dinosaur. i do remember the Klez Worm, the Blaster Worm (would always shut down the system) and Bonzi Buddy! i also remember how vulnerable it was to have auto message preview in Outlook/Outlook Express. but those days are a bit done now.

There's Conficker, CodeRed, Nimda, etc...I know them. Malware, trojans, worms and viruses are still very common here in China, and in SE Asia in general. I tend to only use my own PCs if I can help it...I'm basically TNO...Trust No One...when it comes to computers and operating systems....especially Microsoft.

using P2P software (uTorrent, Bearshare, is limewire and KAZAA still going?) is the only other means i know of to get viruses, if you're into that kind of thing.

I think Kazaa, LimeWire and Grokster were sued out of existance by the RIAA and MPAA, and domains seized by the US Govt. Bearshare seems to be a legal content destributor now. uTorrent is an open source bittorrent client. There are many other bittorrent clients as well. Many legal things are destributed via bittorrent, e.g. Linux distros. I frequently use the Transmission bittorrent client for my teaching materials. ISPs can filter bittorrent and block access to bittorrent trackers if they think they're been used for illegal purposes. People have been sued for downloading/uploading copyright infringing content with bittorrent as well.

 

[Bob Maxey]

Just curious who still pays for anti-virus protection these days. Why or why not?

My work computer will never see one single email message or unknown document. It will never connect to the internet, so I could care less about the virus issues. I am absolutely virus free and there is no way I can get infected.

Some Linux converts tell us that Linux is perfectly safe. No chance of a virus. Is this really true?

I do know that I can run four different scanners and find problems the previous session(s) did not find. Some malware crops up from time to time that was not discovered by the programs I ran to protect my day to day PC from malware and BHOs.

It takes several different scanners as well as regular def file updates. staying safe can be a full time job.

 

[Rxpert83]

My work computer will never see one single email message or unknown document. It will never connect to the internet, so I could care less about the virus issues. I am absolutely virus free and there is no way I can get infected.

Some Linux converts tell us that Linux is perfectly safe. No chance of a virus. Is this really true?

It's safety is in the fact that it's such a small market share.

 

[nickdalzell]

i do recall Kazaa being out of the box with trojans and other ad/malware. even its own fake 'anti-virus' client, all of which, at least from what i saw at the time, 'required' in order to install it. i used to use Bearshare in place of Napster when it went belly up, back when i used to burn the fire out of CDs for playing in my car--but now Android apps and the wireless FM modulators have made that a thing of the past. but then Bearshare had version 6 come out, which gave you only 5 free downloads then it made you pay- so i downgraded finding out it never worked anymore. that was the day i found Android/iOS apps (starting with simple youtube downloaders) to do the job for me--it started with that Coby tablet, then an iPod touch, and so on.

so far there is not many means for Linux to get a virus. most virii are designed for Windows and it's much easier for an ad online to behind-the-scenes download an *.EXE and launch it from a simple script (i wrote my own virus back during DOS/Win3.11 just to prove how easy it was--a simple batch file that automatically ran fdisk /mbr and script-rebooted the computer where it would complain about a missing OS) and since Linux lacks that simple EXE format and most Linux programs are usually *.gz or *.tgz files, with binaries being *.RPM or *.DEB and so on, not many viruses are going to exist that will install easily. that and despite all the product placement and advantages, Linux still holds only 1-5% of the desktop/laptop market of consumer tech (not counting servers/businesses here). in such, Linux can be considered its own anti-virus software.

 

[mikedt]

It's safety is in the fact that it's such a small market share.

Linux based OSs on PCs that is. Most PCs run Windows of course.

Android(uses the Linux kernel) that certainly has a huge market share for smart and mobile devices, and malware definitely exists for that. But AFAIK it's always the users who have to do something to get their Android devices infected by malware, like installing malicious apps or whatever.

 

[mikedt]

so far there is not many means for Linux to get a virus. most virii are designed for Windows and it's much easier for an ad online to behind-the-scenes download an *.EXE and launch it from a simple script (i wrote my own virus back during DOS/Win3.11 just to prove how easy it was--a simple batch file that automatically ran fdisk /mbr and script-rebooted the computer where it would complain about a missing OS) and since Linux lacks that simple EXE format and most Linux programs are usually *.gz or *.tgz files, with binaries being *.RPM or *.DEB and so on,

Actually they're all archiving, packaging and compression formats, just like zip, rar, 7Z, etc. They can contain anything, source code, binaries, scripts, images, etc. Adobe's proprietary Flash for Linux can be downloaded in yum, tar.gz, apt, deb and rpm, and they all contain the same binary executables. Same with proprietary Nvidia and ATI video drivers.

Linux and other *NIX OS executables don't have to have any file suffix at all, to tell the OS what it is.

not many viruses are going to exist that will install easily. that and despite all the product placement and advantages, Linux still holds only 1-5% of the desktop/laptop market of consumer tech (not counting servers/businesses here). in such, Linux can be considered its own anti-virus software.

I'm only installing software from the repos, or sources that I trust, like Google for Chrome, Adobe for Flash, AMD/ATI for video drivers, etc. I'm sure many other desktop/laptop Linux users do likewise, or they're compiling their applications and possibly the OS itself from source code.

Some Windows users just install software willy nilly, because it looks pretty, has a talking purple gorilla or something....and often Android(Linux) users will do the same as well. If you're careful and don't do that kind of thing, only install software from sources you trust, and keep Windows up to date and patched. I'm sure you can be safe with Windows. Unlike ahem....China! That's what happens when pretty much the whole country is running on pirated XP Professional with IE6.

China has a significant Android malware problem with malicious, usually pirated apps. Which makes it not much different to Windows here. Google certainly has no control of what goes on with Android here.

 

[jefboyardee]

On my PC, Comodo Firewall and Avast AV, both free. On my teensy Optimus, not a darn thing.

 

[alostpacket]

I would say Linux is pretty secure but it also runs (up to) 60% of servers.

Market share, when speaking of malware, should probably include any internet connected OS, but exclude mobile (mostly*)


Usage share of operating systems - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


*Mobile should be excluded here because phones are not as easily addressable and in the case of Android run another stack over the kernel, not the Linux OS in its entirety.

Incidentally Linux also run 90% of the worlds 500 fastest supercomputers.

(pretty graph)

 

[nickdalzell]

i was specifically referring to consumer end of the market. laptops, desktops, home computers. Linux so far, much like UNIX, has seemed only to take up the supercomputer, mainframe, minicomputer and other markets not related at all to what Microsoft has taken over. in the home computer market, it barely exists sadly. i would like to believe otherwise but when even mentioning its name i often get 'Linux?! what's that?' or 'oh that free operating system? it still exists?'

 

[kevincott]

Comcast has Norton AV free to subscribers, I pair it with MSE and still am careful about any file downloaded.

 

[xxkid123]

linux user now, not sure what I think of it

when I used windows I used a combination of a powerful scanning program and a less powerful live protection service, usually microsoft security essentials and malwarebytes. If I have, or think I have a virus, I'll go to safe mode and scan with malwarebytes to get rid of it. For general usage I had microsoft security essentials running. I went 8 months without getting a virus, and the only reason that ended was because I killed my hard drive and had to install linux instead.

 

[saptech]

When I have Windows on my computers I run Avast & Malwarebytes, that's it.

I wouldn't run Norton or McAfee on my systems if they were free. They probably was causing half of viruses coming out.

With Windows and Linux, one difference is, majority of linux users have to create a separate user account from Admin(root). Windows users mostly run it in Admin mode, big mistake and part of the reason Windows is prone to viruses etc.

If a virus infect a linux desktop user, it is contained in that users home directory and not able to access vital system files, etc.

 

[nickdalzell]

User account control was the worst thing MS could do. i wonder how long before people just dismissed them by simply clicking 'yes' to them thus ruining any such security they possibly could have offered? i mean they were excessive, one would pop up for something like setting the clock, or changing the desktop background. they were so numorous they just got dismissed...

UAC alerts were as annoying as Android ANRs.

 

[mikedt]

i was specifically referring to consumer end of the market. laptops, desktops, home computers. Linux so far, much like UNIX, has seemed only to take up the supercomputer, mainframe, minicomputer and other markets not related at all to what Microsoft has taken over. in the home computer market, it barely exists sadly.

But it's changing though, and rapidly AFAICT. People might not be buying the traditional Windows PCs and laptops for domestic use. they might be buying Android tablets(Linux), Android netbooks and laptops(Linux), Chromebooks(Linux), Apple iPads, Macs(UNIX), Android TVs(Linux), smart STBs(Linux), etc. Microsoft has changed as well....Windows RT. It's a locked down walled garden, approved and curated software only. Just like iOS. It should be extremely difficult to get malware and malicious software into Windows RT, unless it's rooted or jailbroken.

i would like to believe otherwise but when even mentioning its name i often get 'Linux?! what's that?' or 'oh that free operating system? it still exists?'

Think that's an old argument or a geek thing. Mention "Linux" to many Android users, they'll probably say the same thing. LOL. With the Ubuntu laptops available here, they don't have "Linux" anywhere on them, they have "Ubuntu operating system" or "Ubuntu OS", along with the Ubuntu logo. Tux is nowhere to be seen.

 

[Speed Daemon]

Think that's an old argument or a geek thing. Mention "Linux" to many Android users, they'll probably say the same thing. LOL.

Tell me about it...

ME: "...you see, Linux is the kernel that runs everything in the background, and..."

THEM: "Which Linux is best? Lubuntu, Bobuntu, MyBuntu..."

ME: "Oh God just shoot me now..."

 

[Crashdamage]

It's safety is in the fact that it's such a small market share.

No, that's a common misconception. Linux is safe(er) due to the basic design of the Unix OS it's based on.

Also, there are NO Linux viruses in the wild.

Linux user #266351. Android since v1.0