Is running a million security programs necessary?

And, to extend the analogy...

Home Security System
8. Fixed broken windows, preventing an easy entry point for intruders

Home Computer Security System
8. Fixed broken windows: kept both the operating system and especially all applications current through frequent and routine updates (because many threats leverage application defects, e.g. Adobe Acrobat)​

 

http://home.comcast.net/~xyxx1/site/?/photos/&PHPSESSID=cab75713e845e3a9628be9dc211011ba

 

Thanks by all means! Add to the analogy!

 

it make sense Escalader

 

Thanks, a bit different than my usual posts on FW rules etc!

 

Who runs a million security programs? Name him?

 

It's the dude on your avatar.

 

Ah yeah, "that" guy

 

Amen. I too have been in that situation. My X g/f, her mother and 2 siblings were ignorant to computer security. Naturally, they compounded this by making it a point to download every miscellaneous thing they could get their hands on from every corner of the internet. I reformatted them several times, tried to "idiot proof" them, but came to the conclusion that there's no such thing when stupid people are involved in the equation. They would even disable the AV's, firewalls, ect... because they "slowed things down" when they updated.

Computers are nothing but toys to these people. They want to use them for what their needs (email, porn, media, games, ect...), and anything outside of that comfort zone is foreign territory to them. To make matters worse they were unappreciative of the help I was giving them. Scratch that... would even act like I was inconveniencing THEM because they had to take a break from downloading junk onto their precious I-devices while I fixed them. I finally told them I flat out wasn't going to do it anymore, as it was pointless. The next time they broke one they had to pay to have it fixed by a "professional". When they got it back it still had problems. Believe me, they then learned to appreciate me real quick.

It's funny, I have a friend right now that reminds me exactly of the people Jedispork is describing, right down to the kids that mindlessly click on stuff while the gentle melody of Avira popups echo in the background. I also have helped him reformat a few times. Ok, forget helped... I pretty much did it all myself while he sat there munching on potato chips. I told him I wouldn't do it anymore unless he paid me, period. I've learned how to properly maintain a computer so that I wouldn't have to deal with such headaches. That becomes moot when you start taking on the problems of others... while they on the other hand just sit back, relax, then screw it up again no sooner than you finish.

Completely, 100% not worth it. No matter what type of setup somebody recommends to you, NONE of them can compensate for stupid people.

*End Rant*

 

lol, been there bro! I have been in almost the same exact situation a couple of times, then i simply decided enough is enough, and installed Deep Freeze.
Ah, its been 2 months, i have been to his place, but the pc was running fine!

 

you can always restrict file download with the regedit and the browser will be inmune to malware can they disable that? it works here

 

I also fix all my relatives and friends PC, it get annoying sometimes because it can take HOURS!!
And in the end i'm the most affected, returning late to home, no time to do HW etc and i don't charge a cent

 

Well I guess you've only yourself to blame then, don't you?

 

You could move to the other side of the country like I did!

 

good idea to move to another city

 

I don't think you understand these people. I could reformat their PC then yank the CPU out of the thing. Just from them sitting there starting at it it'll accumulate hundreds of pieces of malware.

It's actually amazing. I don't know how they manage to do it! I even ask them what exactly they do to screw it up... that one would almost have to "try" to get infected considering the state I leave them in when I'm done. Her answer: "I dunno".

It just comes natural to them, I guess.

 

natural lol

 

LOL @ dw426

IMO, it all depends on how you´re using your PC. If you´re installing lots of tools I can imagine that HIPS might become frustrating. On the other hand, don´t forget, all of these pop up alerts are here to give you a "second opinion" because AV´s can´t offer 100% protection. Of course you will need to understand why a certain behavior might be malicious or not. But it isn´t rocked science.

At the moment I always never install any new software (just once in a while I check some apps out via either Sandboxie or VMware), so I almost never get to see any pop ups. I use HIPS mostly to "sandbox" certain apps and to get complete control of the behavior of (trusted) apps.

 

Great minds think alike

 

One could further say that too much security software may mean increased vulnerability, due to the sheer complexity of the software and the probability that it contains holes of some sort. If you want to minimize your attack surface, it seems to me you don't want to go overboard.

Depends on the HIPS, some of them seem less annoying though all are very user-unfriendly. Unfortunately it's starting to look like they're all full of holes.

Last time I saw an AV in action... it failed entirely to protect the OS. So did Windows Defender. However, UAC and IE Protected Mode would probably have protected the user in that case. Which is why I recommend Vista and 7 users to keep UAC on, if only for Protected Mode.

Now on-demand AVs are very useful. But I'm beginning to get a bit suspicious of realtime AV protection.

Noscript is great except it basically breaks the internet, because every site and its sister uses Javascript for everything. Obviously that's not how it should be, and I can't blame the author of Noscript for that, but the problem still remains. So if you want the convenience of a functional internet without having to whitelist every website you frequent, you're back to the old untrustworthy realtime AV.

It seems to me that, aside from phishing and whatnot, people running IE 8 on Vista/7 machines with UAC enabled have basically got it made. As for the unfortunately irreplaceable (for me anyway) WinXP... I'm not sure what to think at this point. For XP users there are a bunch of solutions available, but they're all inconvenient, user-unfriendly, and most annoyingly cripple the OS in some way. Which makes me wonder if it's finally time to bury this OS. Shame that more than half the market still uses it, between its impressive stability, Vista's resource hogging, and Microsoft's gonzo prices.

 

Hmm... It seems I stand corrected.

On a whim I gave Noscript a try on my work machine (Ubuntu 10.04) and it's a lot more fine-grained than I expected. A lot more. Wilders for instance works fine other than a few quirks.

I shot my mouth off about Noscript, and I apologize; if I'd taken a look at it first I'd have known better.

And let me say, this extension is a *keeper*. I think I will find myself hard-pressed to use anything other than Firefox now.

 

Simply FYI, you can also use NoScript with K-Meleon, for exemple. (Not that I really need to use it because Proxomitron makes already for a good job on the script side also here.)

 

If you not running Linux you are probably the one who runs a million of security programs without knowing.

Thanks.

 

Running that many programs is not necessary. Linux should be your peace of mind.

Thanks.

 

Respect: being able to reformat your gilrlfriend, mother in law and kids

Now that's a man (lyrics from) -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5IOou6qN1o-