Is AntiVirus Software Really Necessary?

Oh finally, a security expert with whom I can agree

Alrighty that closes that chapter hehe. I am not running an A/V at the moment and I have been careful with what I download, so I think I will be alright.

Note to self: Switch to Linux entirely

ZiPPy

Okie,

I know what I am bout to say, may not go down very well with a lot of people but seriously i feel, that as an end user, you can even do away with the personal firewall on your machine.

I'll give my reasons later, but i'd like to hear everyone's comments on it.

I agree with that 100% but only if I'm running behind a hardware firewall. Many broadband users nowadays connect using a router with a built-in firewall. The combination of that and the built-in SP2 firewall should be sufficient. The other reason for having a good personal firewall is for egress filtering (i.e. outgoing connections). However, if one applies common sense to internet usage habits, this should not be a problem.

Hi ppl,

though some of you think of A/V software as useless, I think when looking at the average-user-without-too-much-clue, A/V software can minimize risk when updated frequently. Most of you will have relatives or friends whose systems you'll have to maintain from time to time. I for myself can say that running A/V software saved some of these systems alot, coz it's easier to tell Joe Average that A/V _must_ run or all his files will go bye-bye, instead of teaching him not to surf on bad (pr0n?) sites or open questionable content.


greetz
.alx

The problem that most end users have is that as long as the lock or shield (or whatever the AV icon of the month is) is sitting down in the corner of their windows boxen, they have a sense of safety that liberates them and thus, they get click happy and cause hell for everybody else.

It is really a lose lose situation for everybody. If you put a SW firewall , antivirus and schedule windows update on their box, the end user typically feels a sense of invincibility. They think, "I am protected. I have armor that will keep me safe from the world." When we all know that is BS. Now, plug a box in with one of those three elements missing completely and they are really in for a surprise.

As admins, guru, geeks, etc., we are fortunate enough to know a thing or two about technology. Do I use AV at home? No. Do I use it in the office? Hell yes! I have been burned by ignorant users and admins to many times. My job is to protect the assets of our business and our customers. Thus, I am obligated to put in as many layers of defense possible.

I might be able to recognize malware but I'll be damned if I trust a bean counter that surfs the web and uses Excel all day to.

So yeah, use *nix. But I would never say AV is unnecessary. Especially when 90% of desktop users are sitting behind an OS that was built without any sense of security in mind.

But that is my $0.02.