Do I actually need an Antivirus on my netbook?

I wonder whether I actually need an antivirus on my netbook. I do have a license for NOD32 and could use Avira.

- Windows 7 Pro. Only use it with "standard user" rights
- No Warez. Only reputable software (MS Office, Adobe Reader, Skype, Dropbox etc.)
- Browser is Google Chrome
- No P2P. Only use it for surfing, Skype and Office, uploading pictures and videos
- Every two weeks or so I scan with Eset Online Scanner
- Mail only online through Gmail and Yahoo Mail. Both scan for viruses (never got a virus by mail btw).

The netbook is simply quicker without an antivirus. Even when I had the supposedly light Avira installed, it was noticeably slower. I also disabled Windows Defender. It's not superslow with AV but it gets annoying after awhile.

My last virus was at least 6 or 7 years ago and I was doing warez and P2P back then. I'm a safe surfer. What would you do? Install AV and take the speed hit or continue without.

 

Though I'm not all that sold on Chrome security, I honestly think in your case you'll be alright without one. Do make sure to use an online scanner for downloads that you get. I think if Firefox with AdBlock Plus and Noscript was involved, I'd feel even more comfortable about telling you to go without an AV. But, I think you're alright as is. Just my opinion.

 

If you are safe surfer I think your ok. I might install maybe just sandboxie or Geswall if it doesn't slow you down to much. But that would be it.

 

Don't know, I like my current approach to security, Shadow Defender + NAV 2010 + WinPatrol + Router ( hardware firewall ) + windows XP firewall + Google Chrome ( with the appropriate extensions ) + the backup I have just made with Acronis 2009. Pretty light and feeling safe.

 

Read the post more carefully...netbook. You'd kill most of them with a setup like that Besides, it's HIGHLY unlikely a hardware firewall is going to be useful for a netbook.

 

Yes, you should install an AV or a sandbox, even safe websites can get infected/compromised and this is how most users get infected nowadays....

 

You know, maybe you SHOULD look into something like Sandboxie. It barely makes a dent in resources, and, whatever you manage to catch is gone with the cleaning of the sandbox. It won't kill keyloggers, but the simple way around that is to close out all browsers (thereby deleting anything bad that was in the sandbox) and opening up a new browser instance just for logging in to a secure website.

 

True but who needs anything more than a windows firewall with such a layered defense. Running on 455MB-500MB, right now I am reading 456MB. CPU usage basically nil.

 

Again, you're not getting it. YOUR layered defense is fantastic...but you don't have all that on a netbook....do you? Netbooks are for the most part fairly underpowered and don't have a lot of RAM. They aren't meant for heavy-duty computing.

 

Since you are already using a limited account you may want to consider a software restriction policy, here's a good quick and dirty guide to it. This makes your limited account even more secure.

I use LUA and SRP and have no real-time AVs installed (and don't get any malware either). What you can do is download SuperAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes and just use them as on-demand scanners once in a while for peace of mind. Between the two of them they have a very high detection rate and you don't have any resource hogs slowing down your system. My 2 cents.

 

Well then, nod32, not much to add I guess, it will surely jump to 400.

 

58115, you may wish to consider upgrading to Windows 7 Ultimate in order to utilize AppLocker. See AppLocker: IT’s First Security Panacea? to understand its role as an anti-malware solution. AppLocker should have a negligible impact on the responsiveness of your netbook (although I have not personally tested it).

 

Thanks for your replies! Lessened my doubts whether this is enough.

With the netbook I'm only online over 3G (T-Mobile). Unlike e.g. with DSL I don't have a real IP with that. I have the same public IP as several thousand other people at the same time. I guess that's basically like a large LAN behind a router. I think anything else than the Windows firewall is not needed in this case.

I tried Sandboxie but never really got along with it. I think Chrome has some sort of sandbox technology integrated.

 

Welcome, 58115

In lieu of your low security risk profile, I would agree with dw426 and recommend SandboxIE.
It, Windows FW, and manual scans of any DLs should leave you quite secure.

 

You may not NEED an AV, but I'd recommend some security implemention besides common sense.

NIS 2010 is said to be very light. Have your tried it ? For a trial you may have to give them your credit card number, so remember to opt-out in time if that is what you wish.

You can always run an AV on-demand only, and run a scan before you do something sensitive like making an online purchase.

I don't know about Google Chrome, I wouldn't install ANY Google software on my computer.

Maybe something like LUA+SRP makes sense ? You'd have to ask someone else.

 

@ Pleonasm

Applocker was a good tip. Windows 7 Professional seems to have it as well. I just opened the console...

EDIT: Bummer. The Window is there but I indeed need Ultimate or Enterprise.

@ Bob

Thanks for the welcome!

 

I think AppLocker is something like SRP. I just opened the console and will try now.

 

Even though you are a safe surfer I still recommend that you have some antivirus protection.

You should try Panda Cloud or PrevX they are very light...

 

install only peguard and use firefox 3.6 with noscript and wot

 

Prevx comes to mind. Make an image of it if you can. Install some on demand scanners and your good to go.

 

That's right, AppLocker is SRP with some extra bells and whistles. To me it also looks like it's quite a bit more complicated to setup. Setting up SRP with the Group Policies Editor is a no-brainer and works very well.

I would be hesitant to spend the money for an upgrade just to get AppLocker, but that's a personal opinion.

 

Similar, yes -- but much more secure. To better understand the limitations of SRP, see Circumventing Group Policy as a Limited User. As Microsoft says here, “Probably the biggest improvement AppLocker offers is that it's actually something you can trust. Frankly, SRP wasn't very robust.”

 

FYI -- Microsoft claims that AppLocker is easier to setup than SRP, because it can automatically generate the rules governing what applications are allowed to run (see here).

 

In a few years we will read - Frankly, AppLocker wasn't very robust.
The newest is always the best... as sales argument.

Cheers

 

Not just sales but for the simple fact that no matter how good the security is, someone either can now or will figure out how to later break it. Back to the topic at hand though