Do people still get viruses?

Discussion in 'other anti-virus software' started by ando35, Aug 2, 2017.

  1. ando35

    ando35 Registered Member

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    I have not had a virus since 2008 and I don't know anyone who has.

    Is malware still even a threat?
     
  2. NormanF

    NormanF Registered Member

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    Just because you don't get sick doesn't mean other people don't.

    Same thing with computers; you may never contract malware yet its real and other users' computers do fall victim to it.
     
  3. Krusty

    Krusty Registered Member

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    Viruses, not so much these days, but there is a plethora of other forms of malware released every day.
     
  4. itman

    itman Registered Member

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    With worms "coming out of the ground again" and slithering into every network device.:D
     
  5. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

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    Yes there's like a flu outbreak every year.
     
  6. Trooper

    Trooper Registered Member

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    For me no, not at all. For others yes. Have you not seen the news this year since Wannacry? :eek:
     
  7. kram7750

    kram7750 Guest

    Viruses are no longer really "prevalent" in the wild anymore. These days, malware is typically surrounded with the aspect of generating a profit therefore malware authors focus more time on developing attacks to steal/enforce payment as opposed to just utter destruction. An example of a prevalent threat linked to profits would be ransomware, or a banking Trojan (where the attacker will attempt to steal credential information to your bank accounts).

    A virus is just a type of malicious software. There are tons of other malware types such as (but not limited to): rootkits, back-doors and spyware.

    Of course malware is still a threat. Malware stands for malicious software therefore any software which has the intent of doing something malicious (or does something malicious even without the intent factor) will be eligible under the definition.
     
  8. NiteRanger

    NiteRanger Registered Member

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    So is an AV still relevant in today's context for real-time protection considering that there are other ways to secure the computer like running SRP, sandboxing, whitelisting, BB, HIPS etc
     
  9. Trooper

    Trooper Registered Member

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    Guess that is up for discussion to be honest. But in my opinion, yes. Though this will vary for every individual. You need to decide what works best for you.
     
  10. NiteRanger

    NiteRanger Registered Member

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    Like to explain your stand?
     
  11. Trooper

    Trooper Registered Member

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    Well I know some people who still use a third party av (me being one of them). But to be honest, if you are safe, have multiple layers of security either using Windows built in features or things like Appguard, VS, Sandboxie etc, there is the train of thought that you don't really need to use an AV.

    As for me at home, I run one but it is a shared computer so better safe than sorry. At work of course we do because I can't control what end users will click on. Heck, this past Friday one of my end users got infected with ransomware. Not fun. In any event, I think it is a personal choice and will vary based upon a person's technical knowledge or at the very least, has had some sort of training on what to look for. In my neck of the woods, I recommend it to everyone since the do not know how malware and windows work, or would know what to look for even until it is too late and their entire machine is encrypted by ransomware.
     
  12. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

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    Brain.exe can make mistakes, especially after long period of no sleep or intoxication. AV is mostly automated, and usually can make the right decision for you. Less stress for me.

    Also, AV (especially VirusTotal) are used many times to determine whether to execute the download, to allow/deny/sandbox when prompted (VoodooShield), etc.
     
  13. Minimalist

    Minimalist Registered Member

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    Lately I don't encounter malware at all - also I'm not looking for it :)
    Friends and family also don't get infected any more and I didn't have to clean up computer for a long time.
    OTOH our customers do get infected but only now and then...
     
  14. kram7750

    kram7750 Guest

    Yes but it depends on the situation.

    An inexperienced user probably won't understand how to use SRP, sandboxing or BB/HIPS properly. They might not even know much about white listing. In this situation, a home AV/IS suite would be most appropriate for them, but hopefully they would still make good decisions.

    With an experienced user they may just use UAC, SmartScreen, and add some third-party software like Sandboxie/Comodo Firewall (for the sandbox), VoodooShield, AppGuard or ReHIPS. There's tons of good software out there which an experienced user would know how to use properly as an alternate to relying on an AV system.
     
  15. ArchiveX

    ArchiveX Registered Member

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    Go visit Bleeping Computer,
    Geeks To Go,
    and the rest Malware Removal Fora
    to answer your question. ;)
     
  16. Osaban

    Osaban Registered Member

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    MS Windows Defender is doing a great job.
     
  17. Overkill

    Overkill Registered Member

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    Yes there's plenty of threats in the wild, but my computers are well secured with a layered setup and I always enable shadow mode (shadow defender) when a family member is using our main desktop.
     
  18. Trooper

    Trooper Registered Member

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    It is getting better. It has stopped some ransomware from even getting downloaded onto the computer. Tested it at work. Impressive.
     
  19. illumination

    illumination Guest

    If you disinfect/repair systems for others, you will know that there are still threats out there, but for home users, it is, at least in my area, rare to see the more serious sides of malware. What I mean is, it has been a long time since I have seen a rootkit, ransomware on any of the machines I tend too, mainly PUPS/Adware, of course Social engineering is common, those like "your OS license has expired, or please call this number and allow me to remote your system, convince you to let me charge you $400 for malware you do not have while I trash your system and or plant something".

    Basically if a user learns safer habits, they may not ever see an infection.

    Over the last 7 years, all the products I have used or tried, all have one thing in common, no infections. This is from habits and not the products.

    If you watch major break outs, they are associated generally with corporate/businesses, home users will probably never see these type of problems because they are not lucrative like a corporation.

    There is plenty of fear mongering on this subject, enough to keep everyone full of it for quite some time. It is good to research and learn, but leave common sense attached and allow experience to accumulate and guide you.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Aug 3, 2017
  20. xxJackxx

    xxJackxx Registered Member

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    I can't say that I have ever had anything that would be called a virus. I have had a couple of drive by downloads over the years, none of them recently. I run AV, but my biggest concern at this moment in time is ransomware. Offline backups are the best recovery from anything.
     
  21. TairikuOkami

    TairikuOkami Registered Member

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    Same here, my friend has no AV, he knows nothing about security and he has not got any malware for years either.
    I do not even believe in malware, unless you download and run it by yourself, since 10 is so much secure than XP was.
     
  22. RockLobster

    RockLobster Registered Member

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    The activity most people associate with virus is from the era when the buzzwords were Napster, copyrights, file sharing bit torrent etc. Hence why virus was concentrated in the file sharing community and websites that supplied cracks, keygens etc.
    So these virus, designed to spank copyright breakers would trash their computer and be easy to detect.
    That was then, today the buzzword is surveillance. Virus designed for that won't be trashing anyone's computer it will be all about stealth, hiding its presence so not to alert the user. They could probably circulate for months or years before anyone identifies it on their system.
    You might expect such virus to target and weaken systems that enable privacy by patching crypto dll's, TLS ciphers, things like that.
     
    Last edited: Aug 3, 2017
  23. Trooper

    Trooper Registered Member

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    Agreed. Ransomware is the big one these days. I have layers setup so I feel I am pretty protected, however I am still using a third party av.
     
  24. Firecat

    Firecat Registered Member

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    Trojans, Backdoors, Ransomware, Adware, Spyware - still common - especially in computers that are "protected" by the famous "cloud" solutions like McAfee, Webroot, Trend Micro, Symantec and no-name AVs like NetProtector and FIRE.

    Some of the aforementioned products might do well in testing, but I have had the displeasure of disinfecting a number of computers (some of them my own) due to getting infected critically when internet access is not available. I would not recommend them for the life of me, but to each his/her own.
     
  25. ance

    ance formerly: fmon

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    No - except Ransomware.
     
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