I am 63 and have never

1. Had any type of malware that destroyed my computer

2. Had any type of malware that stole my personal data. My money is ok. Lol

3. I figured out last night that as far back as I can remember, I have had 2 trojans, 1 worm that Avira said it caught, and that is it.

I surf safe, but not church safe, and basically think your chances of the dooms-day events we hear haapening here, are slim, very very slim.

 

I am 15. I live on the wild side of things Which means I come across an infection every now and again

1. And I have never had malware that has destroyed my computer, although I installed some malware onto my VPC (deliberately) which gave it a nice knock

2. I have had a data stealing trojan, although it did not steal anything because I caught it immediately.

3. As far as I know I have no infections of current, but was once heavily infected (when I was 10 )

 

Deliberately download and install any and everything that may be malware from Adware to Viruts to Zango.

My Sandboxie/Returnil combo has come up trumps and I'm still here after gigs of samples.

So you could say I get infected several times daily - big deal and loving it.

 

x2 People worry waay too much about becoming "infected"
Hell I play,get infected,and I'm fixed back up in no time,ready for the next day

Bring'em on!

 

There is no doubt that the psychological factor of being violated plays a big role in creating a 'panic attack' situation at the thought of malware.

Personally, I have done more damage to my computers with configurations mistakes than any malware. This is probably the reason I have always prefered virtualizers and backup solutions to real antimalware applications. I wish we could apply the same recovery solutions when dealing with our own health.

 

What I always laugh at on here is when people say " Oh,I'm at 100% prevention against all malware now" Wow, I'm so impressed

It's so easy to reverse everything I never worry

 

10o% malware free by a reboot or image restore!

Keyloggers? nope,if I was playing with one,it's gone with a reboot try again.

 

Nope,as I use keyscrambler wow try again!

 

Dont make excuses bring it on!

 

The only serious damages I've ever seen happening were done by Windows itself (updates).

Other than that, maybe myself... At the very beginning, when I was a nullity with computers.

 

Why does that make you laugh, why is it funny?

Yes your right it is easy to reverse everything, this is the reason why people say Oh,I'm at 100% prevention against all malware now etc.

 

Very good points. I don't do anymore online banking for this very reason (although some banks will take responsibility in case of hacking). Credit cards companies won't charge you if you can prove that that the purchase was fraudulent.

With backup images it is a matter of developing a strategy: I have several USB drives and all the data is kept in there + several images. If and when I need to work with my laptop away from home, either I take one of the USB drives with me or I quickly transfer the data I need on my C drive. Basically my two laptops have the OS + the programs, which means at any time the whole thing can be replaced in a matter of half an hour. Last but not least I regularly burn to DVD my important data.

Securing computers has become a hobby (I think for most of us) which sometimes could develop into a dangerous obsession.

 

I have useing computers I think since they were "steam powered" well maybe not that far back but I have honestly only had one infection and it was totally my own fault. I forgot to disconnect the Internet during a reformat and restore and it connected before I had any security software installed. It was my own fault but that won't ever happen quite like that again. I know the malware is out there but I just don't seem to find it. I clean a lot of it off of other peoples computers so it is definatly there somewhere.With luck and a bit of expertise maybe I will keep on missing it.

bigc

 

I have been using computers for 30 years, was there when mainframes crossed the line from max 16 KB to 64 kb (as a maximum allowed memory usage for one program), bought a 8086 never cared about security until my son became a script kiddy (I think he was 12 or so).

Once cought him, when he used a open ports sniffer or sorts, to mess around on other peoples PC (innocent stuff, changing wall papers etc.).

Told him not to change stuff, stood there when he left a note "your friendly hacker was there" on the desktop with clues how to prevent this in future. Based on the desktop (spanish) I said to "hope the guy understands English" (we have Australian relatives so my son spoke English pretty well).

Promised myself to buy a NAT router to use as simple firewall, next weekend.

Next Saturday my wife put on her PC (that was the one our son was using), it displayed a message "never mess with a hacker", rebooted and the hard disk was erased after re-boot.

Since then always with an off line external harddisk and a partitioned locked network (so my Son can't access other PC's in the network), disk image and data backup software.

Had a Trojan once (test program which was on the Keyscrambler website), which I installed myself.

Both incidents show, your not untoucheable. On the other hand my mother had a AV which lisence was expired for two years and her PC was clean.

So all is possible for good and for worse.

Reards Kees

 

Have seen that exact phenom(?) on many occasions myself. Never ceased to amaze me.

 

On the other I do not expect her to visit porn sites or sorts (she is 75), just for e-mail contact and web based bridge. I reckon most of these servers can be trusted

 

Hi,folks:

If you have no fear, then NOTHING is to be worried about. But..
When you know too much , those privileged know-how will certainly drive you crazy.

If someone wants to steal your ID or financial data, he/she will hack into Uncle Sam's data holding tank--which contains millions of millions of your and my info, perhaps even more intimate ones. Even Your local utility/ cell phone company may have such info ready to be cracked on. Why so much worries on your Machine ?

Those extra protection apps add unnecessary weights on your delicate machine.

I used to have tons of gears for my baby, but not anymore; besides basic firewall(no HIPS), AV (with real time scanner), and on-demand AS, I just use virtulation/ sandbox apps... such as shadow defense, sandboxie, DW ....

And now I am a happy person; smooth sailing/surfing every single coming day !!

 

Come to think of it, age dose seem to be the common denominator in the equation.

Web based e mail and safe surfing habits, although unintentional, seem to be a big part of it as well.

Although I am very curious how they have managed to avoid drive-bye`s.

 

As I've often said here and elsewhere, what you do online and with your computer accounts to a degree whether you get infected or not. This is demonstrated by some of the replies here. Maybe it's me, but unless you're a malware researcher, I don't see the point of going looking for it.

I appreciate legitimate sites can fall foul of malware, but they are few and far between. If you ignore that as a possible method of getting infected, it's interesting to consider the ways you can. However, if you don't do any of those things, the chances are slimmed down somewhat.

Add to that the use of a layered approach coupled with commonsense is most likely the reason why there are groups of people here who say they rarely get infected or not at all. At least, the various scans that are run seem to throw up zero results from various reports.

All this serves to paint a picture of the varied kind of users we have here and on the internet in general.

 

Indeed.

 

That was always my idea also, until our hard disk was erased and digital photo's were lost. Now I have a off line external hard disk for this.

Also in Netherlands most banks use a token-calculator, which require your debit card pin code to identify your self and double public private encrypted key generated by the token (calculator).

Theoretically when you won't do on line transaction with your credit card but only use the banking system on-line pay facilities (with the token and your debit card), you will be protected against identity theft/froud (100%).

A Free Firewall (e.g. Outpost Free) and Keyscrambler Free would raise the bar for even getting in, or obtaining usefull info out. An free Antivirus would only be nessecary to prevent malware spreading to friends (by sending infected files/programs).

Cheers

 

When those of us who are security-aware begin to think that maybe we have too much security, there is always a nagging thought waiting to step in.... what if I currently have the perfect balance and combination of softwares, and any subtraction might result in infection?

We all read so much about people whose machines are infected, and we smile when we think of our own ease of operation and relative trouble-free environments. It's like a technological blessing to be unimpeded by malware, and it's a blessing that usually does not happen by sheer luck.

I believe that of the large and impressive group gathered here at Wilders to share and discuss and argue over their individual security softwares, one of the most common afflictions is boredom... boredom with our setups. Some people find a combo that is righteous and leave it at that, but others are discontented when nothing is happening. It's like everyone is loaded for bear but the bear isn't showing up. I'm reminded of the saying, "Be careful of what you ask for because you might get it". Some people here get bored because they have made their computers so impenetrable. I think this is probably one of the most difficult obstacles for many of us here to overcome. Here and there, now and then, we read of a member who claims to have stopped obsessing over security and has begun to use and enjoy his or her computer again for business and research and entertainment purposes. For the great majority of us, we like to think we are that way, but we keep showing up here at Wilders every day, pretty much "looking for trouble", in the sense that we are plugged into our computers just as much as they are plugged into the wall, and we thrive on knowing they are safe from interlopers.

Balance, I would say, is the key to an untortured, security-minded experience... balance between making the computer safe and using it for activitites that are not security-oriented.

 

lol this is funny, I had a good laugh while reading this.

while not good for your son to be script kiddie at the same time it would have been a good learning experience.

 

Page42, Your explanation of how a lot of folks at Wilder's operate is close to the mark. There are some days that I think I could operate with one security program, and then other days I think that the two-three that I have may miss some malware infection. Also the psychological effect that Osaban portrayed is accurate as well. But I'm seldom bored!!!

 

Twice I have had avast! notify me that sites I was visiting were infected with trojans. One site was encountered while searching for car trim components and the other while searching for lodging. Both of these instances opened my eyes to the fact that one does not have to be surfing the so-called dark side in order to run into trouble. I took the time to inform the webmaster of the lodging site that I had encountered a trojan, and he thanked me profusely. About a month later, on a revisit, avast! warned me again that the site was infected. Bottom line is, I disagree that common sense would have in any way protected me or prevented me from visiting these two sites. Even the most mainstream web sites harbor exploits from time to time.