Bob, I hear you, I’ve seen alot of compromised machines and I am familiar with the type of behavior that causes such problems. I’ve stopped downloading/installing/scanning/uninstalling any AV program “just in case.” Like my visits to the doctor, good genes and good lifestyle render the outcome quite predictable.

And to the Mac user who cheered about the secure nature of Apple’s OS, you need to wake up: Apple ain’t issuing security updates just for sport. Macs are quite suseptible to compromise. Your good surfing habits and the fact that you are using a marginal OS have you reasonably covered.

1. Make sure you have all the latest security patches for your operating system (whether it’s Windows, Linux, or a Mac OS) and all applications like Quicktime, Acrobat Reader, etc.

2. Always use memory-resident antivirus on Windows, and it’s starting to be recommended by those “in the know” for Macs and Linux, as well.

Without both of these things in place, you will end up with some nasty software on your computer sooner or later, if you’re using the Internet at all.

For many of the newer security holes, all you have to do is open a compromised website, and your box is compromised. You don’t have to “click on something” or “run a program.” All you have to do is look at a page in your web browser, and it’s game over if you don’t have Antivirus and the latest security patches.

And these don’t have to be random “www.evilhaxxors.com” websites; there have been plenty of nasty things hosted on facebook, myspace, financial institutions, and even a high-profile (in the security community) compromise of the Miami Dolphins’ website. (http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/originalContent/0,289142,sid14_gci1242107,00.html)

Many of you are saying, “I don’t run antivirus, and I’ve never had a virus!” How do you know? Today’s “viruses” (a small subset of the larger “malware” category) are often designed to be stealthy, sitting in the background doing nothing more than hiding and stealing your banking, credit card, and email information the next time you log in.

Without antivirus running, you may never know that your computer has been compromised until it’s too late (kind of like saying, “I never go to the doctor, and I’ve never gotten cancer!”)

Please, for your own sake, and the health of the Internet (your infected computer is being used to send me spam and try to infect my computer) , run antivirus software all the time.

(And in case you were wondering, I do *not* work for any antivirus company. I work in information security, and my job would be a lot easier if there weren’t thousands and thousands of infected home computers on the Internet right now.)

Perhaps on your personal home machine, you don’t need anti-virus. If you are confident enough to use your machine and avoid viruses like the plague, then that’s fair enough. But after working in a school, I can tell you that anti-virus has its place!

We have the W95.Nimda virus (I think that’s what it was called) infect ALL of our machines - a network with 12 rooms spread far apart, and more than 200 computers. Can you imagine shutting the computer network in a school for a week, and the havoc it causes? The teachers weren’t at all happy, and more so we’d have to restart the whole process of “cleaning the machines” everytime somebody would switch a computer on DESPITE OUR NOTICES TELLING THEM NOT TO.

What it comes down to is the knowledge of an individual. Not everybody knows what to be wary of, some users try sticking floppy disks in CD drives because they “couldn’t find another slot”. I run a PC repair business now, and I think many of my customers would be lost without anti virus software. Saying that, I always recommend AVG free edition because of its weight on the system - I feel its a very awkward compromise on system performance.

Having said that, I also use Zonealarm firewall and periodically run free spy-ware clean-up programs.
I think my ISP, Media Com High Speed Internet scans everything. Also, I use Gmail and Google scans all inbound e-mail. My feeling is that these service providers are already cleaning things up before it gets to me.

I suppose I could do a once a week scan with Avast! just to make sure.

Wish me luck and Merry Christmas!

Sam

Destructive code?
I think it’s an exaggeration.

As far as i know, it works like this:

*you visited a website with a picture like this for example: (^_^) *

*(^_^) picture will be stored in your computer*

when a you re-visited that website that contained (^_^) picture, you can be identified by that website that you visited their website even if you deleted the cookie session with that website.

How can that be a destructive code?

If there’s anything behind it, i am willing to listen and know.

And this is the AntiVirus Link: http://www.clamwin.com/

Best luck And Regard

Muhammed

I am really so tired of being hacked, Virused, etc…

So here is what i made i am using SpeedUpMyPC, Spyware Eraser and Registry Booster from uniblue thos r very effective for speeding ur PC and Keeping it clean from Spywares and Register Hackers.

But for the Viruses I use clamwin free AntiVirus .. belive me these compinations made my PC powerfull, Safe, Stable and the Best is I didn’t chang my XPWin since last Feb.

Hope u can be as safe as i am .. My Regards

Muhammed

I recently switched to Kaspersky AV with Internet Security, but i’m about to uninstall it in favour of Avast!. Kaspersky is extremely secure, but uses too many resources and seems to increase my internet usage considerably. It also took me 9hrs 30min to scan my pc. Avast is nice and lite and works. For firewall I simply leave it to the router, and check active connections every now and then for trojan like activity.

I don’t use A/V.. couldn’t care-a-less. I run firewall, nd the secutiry setting are up almost to max. I never search for rubbish on the net, so 99% of your worries are put to rest. Keep the money, and if you ain’t great on the computer monitoring side of things, spend a 100 bucks, its your money, waste it if you wanna :-/

Good for you!

Thanks for your comments.

Louie,

I definitely understand your standpoint and the concern in your case. I guess in a scenario such as the one you describe, it might also be a matter of what software you use for e-mail and web browsing, and because Microsoft software is so widespread, it is often the most affected one.

This taught us many lessons. The most important was anti-virus software is essential. Can you afford to lose your entire desktop investment? Hardware and software? Our estimated loss was 25 million.

Most anti-virus companies, governments, and corporate leaders create virus’s. That is why anti-virus companies release updates twice a week. It is the casual hacker, however, that gets all the bad press. Have you ever heard IBM or our government being blamed for virus distruction? Chances are you won’t.

My own company had its own “investigative reporting” team that lead a virus group. There target was our competition. Destructive code can be planted in a picture. You open a website that has the picture and bang, you are infected!

So opening mail and attachments with great care is no guarantee of a safe and secure environment. Don’t be fooled. Be as safe as you can be. Have a ‘live’ anti-virus program running all the time you are logged on. It’s for your benefit.

Thank you for your comments!