I am curious to know why you who still use an AV accept the sluggishness of todays products? A mere 5 years ago, when I was using an AV, they seemed much snappier than they do today. How come an AV is permitted to have worse performance on faster/bigger machines? Wouldn't you expect that as they go along, they would get better/faster/leaner? They are doing the same thing, looking for bits and pieces of files that flag them as known virii, etc. There hasn't been that much in the last few years added. Rootkits were out, trojans, worms, virii. What on earth makes them so bloated now? A few thousand extra definitions? That is my take on it. I don't use an AV. It is not the choise for everyone. But I don't use them for two reasons. The first is that IMHO they are bloated, and don't need to be. The second is while they might catch a lot of older threats ( a valid reason to use them ), they will always be playing catchup to the NOW. Sul.
"Oh I've got 4GB of RAM so who cares if my antivirus is a hog?!" Hear it often. Still, some are "lighter" than others. But you've basically said everything I feel. AV's are still relying heavily on blacklists and heuristics are a FP inaccurate mess, which uses just as much resources as ever. I still threw EAM on my mother's computer because an AV is about as much as people are willing to put up with. I even had to disable quite a few features because they were too invasive.
Yeah, ain't that the truth. The last time I installed Avast on someones computer, I think I must've turned of 90% of the software just to get a basic AV working how I thought it should. If I don't tone them down, they are actually quite bothersome, reminding me of the old days with HIPS type applications. For some reason no program can be what it was originally designed to be. Firewalls have to be HIPS suites is one good example. I would have preferred they leave it to me to find a HIPS to go with my firewall, if I even wanted one. I suppose it is for the good of the people though, this way they can not only screw up thier firewall rules, but also what is allowed to execute as well. lol. Sul.
In my case, two reasons: 1. I am a beta tester for Webroot Cloud AV (Prevx 4) and it certainly isn't resource intensive or sluggish on my system. It's so light, I hardly know it's there and the total memory working set is under 3MB, including the Identity Shield component which is a replacement for SafeOnline. 2. I have to use a real-time AV for my VPN connection to my workplace when working remotely from home. The software checks for the presence of real-time AV and refuses the connection if it doesn't find one. For me, therefore, it's a question of finding the one that runs lightest on my system. I don't rely solely on AV for protection though. As I've said previously, I primarily use virtualization and policy restriction/HIPS, with AV as a second tier.
Yep and besides taking an hour to toggle through the gui settings and now were seeing littles desk top gadgets telling us if system is secure.Standalone AV look like suites now IMO.
Simple - A good AV + A good FW + Sandboxie or Returnil, preferably Sandboxie. The ultimate armour plated shield. What`s the problem ? Why ask the question ? You can`t get any simpler than that. I have not had an infection as far as I can remember, not even a tracking cookie and you name it, I have been there - seen it - smelt it and felt it. John
Common sense and brain do not work well for me these days since good looking, ethical, and nothing shady websites could be hijacked and consequently infect me with some drive-by downloads. If common sense and brain could be subjugated by malware tricks then it is the end of the world as we humans know it. How can I say thanks in a situation like this... Take care guys.
A clean Image does not matter even if you do get infected the problem to worry about is KNOWING that you have gotten infected, if you know, just rewrite the hard drive with image problem solved
People who claim that they are relying mainly on their brain and common sense are playing into the bad guy's hand. In a 2011 Wired Magazine article entitled Burning Question, it is said that the number of malicious websites has increased by more than 100% (from 2009 to 2010), and the vast majority (80%) of those malicious websites were "legitimate" sites hacked to serve up malware. According to Patrik Runald, research head at security firm Websense, it’s now "slightly more dangerous to search for news than for adult content". This is because criminals are "infecting pages tied to top Google searches and Twitter topics".
Hello Wolfie, THAT simple statement is the Golden Egg of serious Internet fraud prevention. Bravo Wolfie, well done. No see, no talk, no print, no hear, anonymous ID and IP, no get = No Internet personal transactions and surfing on a matchstick, but water tight safe eh ? Millions of ordinary users will sob their socks off at this. Just imagine the agony, no ordering all those expensive goods while sitting on your butt in the armchair, or getting shopping delivered from the local supermarket, or worst still no Take-away Pizza deliveries etc. What an awful life, but look on the bright side - nobody is spending your cash in some bug-ridden country you`ve never heard of and you will not have a heart attack at your next credit card statement looking at all the goods you never bought. John
Dear Wolfie, I was part joking, part serious as usual and my wife does`nt understand me. Everything you say in the box above is 100% perfect. I myself do exactly the same as you do, I have no personal information on my PC. The only data is my IP (I sometimes hide this) and proper name and address in very rare cases where it is necessary and only on secure sites. I normally use John Bull which is an alias. I have never made a single transaction on the net, always get the data and do it by phone like you. I rely almost totally on Sandboxie to prevent unwanted traffic IN, but Sandboxie does not prevent information being hacked OUT - it does not prevent data theft. # If somebody corrects me on this, I will only be too pleased to hear from them. No problem, just thanks. # Spasibo Wolfie, take care, John
Same here banking I drive to the bank until the day I can no longer do snline purchase with prepaid visa,master card etc or a simple phone call. The thing is our personal information is already stored all over as it is the banks.IRS_TAX info,motorvehicle registration,doctors,jobs,etc.NO way to avoid unless you our a ghost,dont exsist so to speak.So if there systems are hacked,then were kinda screwed.
I have a second bank account, with no checks and only a debit card. I put money in there to do online transactions. I keep < $20 in that account. If I am ever hit, they will not get much. The only way I see this failing is if I put money in there for a transaction and it is stolen before I can order. Even if that is the case though, the bank would likely rectify it. I don't shun online transactions, but I am very picky about what I do. My wife has had here identity stolen 3 times now with a credit card she didn't even sign nor ever use. She transferred a small balance to a different card due to the low rates while she paid it off, and somehow the billing was sent to a different town, not once, but 3 times. The card was being used, my wife noticed no bills, called them, they told here they had been sending her the bills, etc. She got it cleared up, but even without online transactions, it isn't really any better I guess. Sul.
SBIE (free), WinPatrol Plus, Keyscrambler (free), MBAM (free), Comodo Time Machine, and XP firewall. In the event of disaster or the desire to start over, W2K, XP Home, Pro, and MCE, Vista Ultimate, and Windows 7 Enterprise images via Macrium and Paragon.
I am not good in math so I keep it easy, simple but effective. I've used NOD32 Antivirus + DefenseWall Personal Firewall + Virtual Private Network (VPN) As simple as that.
Yep, the AV is still using the archaic "blacklist" approach in their feeble yet overbearing (bloated) attempt to prevent malware infestations.
LOL it sounds like it was a loooong time since you tried an AV, and the one you tried wasn't very good at all
