AV to Be or Not to be?

[Woogie]

I don't use AV or Firewalls.. never have and never will. I haven't had a virus in years.
The bottom line is they give you a false sense of security. Sure they will block the
harmless BS, but you get a ransom ware or a hijacker the AV software is absolutely useless.
First off the attack will turn off the av and firewall, then attach itself.
The best protection is to use Firefox as a browser and stay the hell away from file sharing and porn sites. 99.0 % of all high level virus come from both.
Buy whatever it is your after and stop with the pirated stuff.

I work on computers on the side and one of the things I do is to remove virus. Once a ransom ware has attacked the best way for removal is ComboFix.
They have a forum with tons of useful information.
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix/how-to-use-combofix

[zeroy]

I don't use AV or Firewalls.. never have and never will. I haven't had a virus in years.
The bottom line is they give you a false sense of security. Sure they will block the
harmless BS, but you get a ransom ware or a hijacker the AV software is absolutely useless.
First off the attack will turn off the av and firewall, then attach itself.
The best protection is to use Firefox as a browser and stay the hell away from file sharing and porn sites. 99.0 % of all high level virus come from both.
Buy whatever it is your after and stop with the pirated stuff.

Not a good advice AT ALL. In fact, I hope you do get a nasty one for being so naive :p

stay the hell away from file sharing and porn sitesIf only that was the only way to get infected!

Recent studies have shown that upon connection to the internet and without adequate protection a PC is likely to be infected within 7 minutes of being online. Do not forget that not everyone is using a router and so many users (especially Cable users) are left with a PC using a public IP and therefore not behind a NAT which filters out some crap.

I saw it happening and not by visiting Porn or P2P sites!

Woogie, you aren't lucky, you are infected already and simply don't know it. Many spy-wares are silent these days and I wouldn't be surprised if a key logger is silently running or if your PC is one the thousands Zombies-PC infecting our mailbox with Spam everyday!

A big no no and thumbs down for this post :d

[Woogie]

I didn't say not to use AV sofware. I simply said I didn't.

Woogie, you arent lucky, you are infected already and simply dont know it
That's speculation on your part Zeroy. I'm not infected with anything. And your right I'm not lucky..just careful. I can tell in a few seconds if something is running that should not be. I use a registry analyzer to do that.
We can voice opinions all day about AV and firewalls. Some people use them and some don't. The point I'm trying to make is they are useless when attacked with a vicious virus.
Example: last week I repaired 2 PC's. Both were XP w/SP3 with all the updates. Both were using AV and firewalls. One was using the all mighty Norton the other was one of the so called free AV's (which by the way are keyloggers). Both were infected with ransom ware to the point nothing would work.
Don't feel like your rig is cast iron just because you have a good AV running.

You can get virus..no matter what you are using if your not careful.

[zeroy]

I'm not infected with anything.

That is speculation :d -- how would you know, you don't run AV you say?

And yes you can voice your opinion, that's fine. Mine is pretty clear, I spend my time making sure AV are up-to-date as well as WU where I work and I know that no amount of registry examiner will help you with most nasties this days, in fact most of them are nasties them self, silent-runners (http://www.silentrunners.org/) is good for the advanced users, it only reports.

anyways, back on the topic at hand. sorry for the slightly off-topic here.

[wakka]

My best for an xp box was under a minute after putting it on the internet with no av

Just a back door trojan lol

[Woogie]

That is speculation :d -- how would you know, you don't run AV you say?

And yes you can voice your opinion, that's fine. Mine is pretty clear, I spend my time making sure AV are up-to-date as well as WU where I work and I know that no amount of registry examiner will help you with most nasties this days, in fact most of them are nasties them self, silent-runners (http://www.silentrunners.org/) is good for the advanced users, it only reports.

anyways, back on the topic at hand. sorry for the slightly off-topic here.

Your missing my point Zeroy. I'm not trying to be confrontational. I have no problems with AV's and I strongly recommend them. Especially to people who share computers or have kids that use them.
What I'm trying to point out is people will install AV / firewalls with all the bells and whistles...then go to Limewire or any other P2P and download mp3's that are riddled with Trojans.
They think just because they have a up to date AV all is well when in reality it's not.

I don't like them for my personal use. The continuous scanning slows things down, along with all the fake warnings.
And yes, I can tell right away if something doesn't feel right on my rig.

[Woogie]

My best for an xp box was under a minute after putting it on the internet with no av

Just a back door trojan lol

You need to run through a router/gateway. The built in firewall or NAT will stop the backdoor stuff.