I am tired of being told.

Today something hit me and it wasnt a bag of dung. A poster made light of a post i had made about avatars and suggesting certain software. I finally came to see the point. Enough for that and I apologize.

What I am tired of it not being able to put my faith in one product and calling it a day. i am tired of being told it wont work. I am tired of being told that i need multiple items to stay safe. Safe from what? Myself? maybe. I am tired of seeing how the so called reality to people popping in here realize, they can not leave their screen doors open because of.....

Why cant we choose one product and be safe and secure. I know why but i am not about to spend 30 minutes explaining because in the end it is pure BS. You can buy one product and be perfectly happy and safe, that, is the reality. The chances of you getting a piece of malware are basically zero if you are what most refer to as a average computer user. I am tired of hearing from so called experts here that I need this and this and this. What is it based on, because that is not true and is a out right lie.

You can choose any product here that fights malware and be perfectly content and safe. You do not have to even think that what others may say is even close to reality. Boy, I am rolling. But the reality is we create a mass hysteria by posting test results, personal test results and the like. Nuff said because I will be bashed like heck for this, but i really, dont care. If you actually read this post remember this. There are good products here, choose one, and you will be fine. Catching just 60 percent of malware is perfectly fine because what they wont say is, you will never encounter the other 40 percent anyway, or your chances are very slim. No, they wont tell you that.

All I can say is, first I dont recomend any product, nor will I ever, but this site was created for a sole purpose and that purpose and/or product is great. But even if you decide to go another route, pick one and move on because you do not need 30 blankets to keep your ass warm in the winter. Just one electric one.

 

Well said, Jeff
I believe single is content with their security before they enter forums like this. Here it is where tests are posted and someones security is being questioned.
People are getting insecure. It's a natural human thing to be distracted from something you are happy about. Almost the same as advertising I guess.

Let's be safe and Happy

 

There was a point in time, not sure exactly when, when I had a similar 'experience' and after that I stopped caring about matousec avc etc. tests.

 

You know, you are a pretty level headed and nice person. I have watched you here and at the Kaspersky forums and you are always straight forward and not pulling curtains over folks eyes like some.

 

Well, use a product (or not), but put your faith in yourself.

I think I sort of said that (long version, no product works too) here. Perhaps it's too obtuse...

That's a part of the point of this, although I never considered the issue of what fraction of stuff is really floating out there (it was outside the scope of the numbers), but the punchline doesn't change.

Well, there;s nothing wrong with recommending things either.

However, all things in moderation. It's a time tested formula....

Blue

 

Agree with you Jeff, just never said it because of people potentially shouting about it and saying I'm naieve posibly etc.

If people feel the need to use 3-4 security products constantly, so be it, its upto them. If people want to change AV because of bad results in a test a FP or malware getting through, feel free, its none of my concern and I dont care what other people are using.

I've had one software protecting me on both my systems for years with no problem at all of malware - unless I intentionally go looking for it.
Does it mean I will never get infected with my AV? Probabily not.
Thats where the other solutions come into play. I'm comfortable with 1 product protecting me, but others are more comfortable with more software protecting them to prevent more infections - thats upto them at the end of the day.

The annoying thing is though when people feel the need to mention/list in posts all the products they use when it is of no relevance to the thread - which frankly I dont care about, whether its 1 or 10. Its not too much of a problem though, its more of a minority of users who feel this need.

At the end of the day, people use what they want and what they are comfortable with, and it should not matter or make a difference to others.


PS, I do think many users on this forum are overly paranoyed about their security setup with so much software, but they probabily think I'm exposing myself to high risk... just goes to show people have their own opinions - just let others do what they want and you do what you want - its not of your concern.

 

at this time i feel the same trjam
i had X antivirus in my machine but people here said it was not recommended and bloat so i ditched my 2 year license. then i tried many others and none satisfied my need and took me to another level of security.
i heard about this superb firewall beating everything else 99%999999999999 and so i put it in my machine and i find it very heavy and stupid .
Now i am back to my old buddy and my old firewall and i am feeling fine again
thanks for opening such a thread

 

Jeff, I have to agree with you completely because I have thought this way for quite a while myself. Well said.

bigc

 

At the end of the antivirus software addiction all road lead to Rome (which is Avira in my case).

 

You won't see me jumping around like a fart in a whirlwind, running from one product to another, changing my set up constantly. I like staying with what works... and the one I trust the most is myself.

 

But fueling paranoia is such fun.
Unfortunately many here are a bit over zealous about recommending a myriad of security softs. without even questioning the user's:
Risk profile.
Computer knowledge (or lack thereof).

Blue's links above are an excellent starting point for those developing an interest in such matters.

MHO: In many cases (if not most), a patched system and minimal security app.s will suffice.

 

Jeff ,you have said a mouth full. " Thats a hot one", most people are scared of. You run what you feel good with, I use what I feel good with and if I buy a product and later find I don't really like it I surely don't run it into the ground. It just didn't run right on my pc. So I removed it thats all not running to this forum putting down the product. Most of the time I read alot here and post every now and then. But I had to put my two cents in here.

 

Right on Jeff.

I used to be into the switching almost daily and taking stock on someone else's tests, running multiple apps thus bogging down my system and basically spending so much time changing and testing different security apps and setups that I wasn't getting time to do things on my computer that I enjoy doing. Now, after taking stock of my actual risks due to my surfing habits, and deciding what I had tried for apps that I liked and trusted the most and after reading Blue's excellent article I am back running a simple but SAFE FOR ME setup and enjoying Free Cell again.

 

Great discussion! Another take on this is that you could do what I did recently and buy an Apple computer. (Macbook Pro to be specific.) After a few weeks, I am still suffering from security app withdrawal. Luckily, I still have a Windows desktop. Even on that machine, though, I greatly simplified my security and have not changed a thing in a few months. That is a record for me and it feels great.

 

This thread has actually come at a time when I thought to myself about a month ago that enough's enough. Having spent (and wasted perhaps) my time in uninstalling one security app to go and try another and so on so and so on it suddenly hit me that the amount of time and energy that took was not only unhealthy but damn right frustrating.

So now, for the last month, I chose one app which I'm very happy with and for some strange reason I feel like a weight has been lifted. I no longer worry about am I fully protected?, will I get infected?, are there better products out there? because at the end of the day I'm happy with the product and the decision I made to use it and keep it.

If I see tests made or reviews written on other products that state it's best thing since sliced bread, well, I don't care anymore. More time for me to do what I like doing with my pc rather than constantly worrying about should I or shan't I try something else.

So it's good to hear others here choosing that path also.

 

In truth, a lot of us, even you trjam, could use no products and still be secure; LUA, SRP or Surun, Win firewall, alternative browser, brains...that's mostly about it. I feel confident in my own abilities to use no security product but it's a kind of hobby, maybe even mental illness of mine to play around with all kinds of products and various combinations of them.

 

As a hobby it's ok but when it becomes an obsession.....

 

Most of the security apps on my computer came from recommendations at this forum. Who better to recommend? There have been times when I installed an app on recommendations, and found after a while that it wasn't as good as advertised, so tried a different one on a different recommendation that was great. Then there are the times when you stumble on a thread and find out about a real gem like FD-ISR. Now if I didn't read recommendations at Wilders, I would have never even knew about FD-ISR and continued along getting into binds I couldn't get out of. So if you use a product that you like, you should by all means recommend it.

 

I'd like to be able to use one product and feel safe with it, but the last time I used a combined suite, it failed to do the job, repeatedly. Between this and other experiences, I lost all trust in signature based detection software and decided that a default-permit based security policy was not what I needed. That said, I've been relying on the same 3 apps for nearly 4 years now, SSM, Kerio 2.1.5, and Proxomitron to enforce default-deny. Their combined load is 5.3MB of memory usage and 17MB of disk space, half of which is test configurations. I was considering adding SandBoxie but have concluded that I don't really need it. Some people will say 3 apps is too many but security suites can't be looked at as one app either, not when they have 4 or 5 running processes.

There's far too much emphasis on the security software, especially the latest and most feature laden and not enough on formulating a basic security policy, then selecting and configuring your system and software to match and enforce it. Lately there have been some good threads on LUA and SRP, but whether it's built in tools or 3rd party software, a lot of people would be doing themselves a favor if they'd learn to configure what they have to enforce the security policy that they should have had to start with instead of just jumping from one setup to another every few days. The latest and greatest is badly overrated as are most of those worthless test results and comparisons. The 3 apps I use are unsupported, and according to some, obsolete and vulnerable, but they combine to make a nearly bulletproof package. I have no reservations about recommending them for users interested in using a default-deny security policy on a compatible system.

 

You do have a point Twl. Most of what I have learned about security and backup apps and general online safety has come from here.

 

I think it has become an obsession with some of the members here.

 

Now what would ever make you think that.

I will admit tho.....I was addicted but voices of reason, and writings of Zanetti have helped calm my obsession as of late.

 

If only avatars could protect a pc,if only changing avatars could fool malware,if only one av/as satisfy the restless,if only a layered setup could be the golden bullet,if only tired souls listened to sane advice,if only people remember what they wrote moments ago,if only weekly posts cringing with morality usher winds of change,if only....

 

Well said Trjam