Two Years Without Antivirus: The Results

[aPanzerIV]

Hello all,

About a year and a half ago, I made this thread:
http://www.computerforums.org/forum...r-security/antivirus-necessary-me-226788.html

I started to question the necessity of antivirus for an average user, as even Avast! was getting quite bloated and somewhat intrusive.

Today (03-01-2017) marks two years since I removed Avast! from my laptop, which I use every day to browse the web, read e-mail, download and play music, and preform work related tasks.

Since then I've removed it from all of the other computers I use on a daily to weekly basis. Even windows defender is disabled. These systems ranged from measly Pentium 4's to my gaming computer with a Q6700 quad core. On all of them I've noticed better responsiveness, no annoying popups, and no viruses.

I just completed my weekly scan on my laptop with Malwarebytes free edition, and Spybot Search & Destroy. Both of them came back clean.

This isn't for everyone, since 2015 I've eliminated a lot of web activities that would have made this experiment riskier, such as torrenting, SVN, and lua in general. I've been distancing myself from the IT field as of recent (not necessary) so most of these things became redundant for me anyways.

I'm happy with the results though, and for now, Avast! is staying uninstalled. (And my post count is no longer 666!)

 

[Technician1]

I am not sure what the purpose of this post was. I don't think anyone thought Antivirus was necessary if you only do safe things on a computer. The reason for Antivirus software is to help when you have to do something that is not guaranteed safe on your computer.

 

[AMD_man]

The best Antivirus is your common sense!

 

[iPwn]

If I was a white girl, I'd tell you I can't even....

Statistically (and I unfortunately cannot find the source), an unsecured system will be exploited within 24 hours of connecting to the internet. Now you may never know you've been exploited, and many systems with AV software run in an exploited state. The goal of malware isn't always to disrupt your activities (i.e. they don't want you to know it's there) and will do just about nothing noticeable to the end user. If I'm a bad guy, I want to harvest your data without you ever knowing... only the script kitties make annoying malware.

Is it necessary?
CERT's tips

The best Antivirus is your common sense!

False! Think of security as an onion. There are many, MANY layers needed to keep peeps out, and at the end of the day you're not keeping the good, persistent ones out. Period. If you could, companies like Adobe and Target would've never been exploited. Not to the mention the office of personnel records for the DoD...

Just because you don't know something's there, doesn't mean nothing is!

 

[Technician1]

One of the latest and most damaging ones in use now is ransomeware.
However the idea that good judgement is a good defense is True. Stay off the internet to stay safe. That's good common sense.

 

[AMD_man]

If I was a white girl, I'd tell you I can't even....

Statistically (and I unfortunately cannot find the source), an unsecured system will be exploited within 24 hours of connecting to the internet. Now you may never know you've been exploited, and many systems with AV software run in an exploited state. The goal of malware isn't always to disrupt your activities (i.e. they don't want you to know it's there) and will do just about nothing noticeable to the end user. If I'm a bad guy, I want to harvest your data without you ever knowing... only the script kitties make annoying malware.

Is it necessary?
CERT's tips



False! Think of security as an onion. There are many, MANY layers needed to keep peeps out, and at the end of the day you're not keeping the good, persistent ones out. Period. If you could, companies like Adobe and Target would've never been exploited. Not to the mention the office of personnel records for the DoD...

Just because you don't know something's there, doesn't mean nothing is!

No matter how many protection layers your "onion" has, if you are irresponsible you´ll get infected. It´s pretty simple really. Persistence with persistence. If you have a persistent hacker, hire a persistent programmer, or whatever you need to keep the hacker out. At the end of the day it´s your own fault.

 

[Smart_Guy]

I don't use third party antivirus too. Windows Defender and firewall are all I use and I keep updated. I also keep an eye on traffic and I don't use personal logins in my comps. I do believe I'm vulnerable tho. The other day I had that virus from one's comp that duplicates the files/folders names only on media and move the real ones to a hidden system folder. Took care of that my self, but average users could have serious trouble with it. It's kinda on the same threat level as the Autorun virus.

 

[cb600fshornet]

I don't use third party anti-virus software and I've been perfectly fine - let's call it being IT savvy and careful about links you press/sites you visit.

I'd recommend it for an average user though...

 

[Technician1]

Everyone thinks they are above average. Guess what, that makes you the average. It's called the Dunning Kruger effect.

 

[cb600fshornet]

Alright. I'll rephrase. I would recommend it for the computer illiterate or those performing critical activities such as online banking, accounts etc.