Robert said:
Well yes but some are worse than others. One Care can't even do a very good
job with known malware.
As long as AV software cannot detect *all* viruses, they are *all*
useless. Even if the best AV software were 99% efficient, that last
percent still contains undetected malware.
It suffices that *one* single virus slips through to cause havoc.
While I've gone long periods of time without AV on my windows machine with
no trouble, this is bad advice to be bandying around... the sort of people
who have to ask with help in this subject are the sort that probably don't
know enough to be careful and prudent.
Wrong! These people believe that AV software is the answer to their
malware problems, and they think that anything is permitted, because
their AV software is taking care of the bad things.
Even with AV software running on a PC, one still has to be very careful.
Should I mention phishing here?
I believe that the computer users should be *educated* on malware.
Don't just let them use AV illusionware and hope for the best.
I've likened the need for AV in the past to car safety features.
Antivirus programs are like a seatbelt or an airbag. They can usually but
not always do a job of saving your bacon when something goes wrong, but all
the seatbelts and airbags in the world will never make it 'safe' to crash
your car on purpose. And as for being a good enough driver to not need these
things, that might technically be true but even the best people have
accidents sometimes.
That is not quite the same, because you might be protected in your car,
and still have an accident, but be injured just a little bit.
But if only *one* virus gets through the AV software on a PC, that PC is
not just a little bit infected, it could be totally compromised.
That is the difference.
Thanks, I know that site quite well. You'll notice it actually links to one
of my old websites if you look around.
OK, for other users this information might be new.
Marco