The hype surrounding Conficker and the Twitter worm has only served for security experts to issue warnings about installing antivirus software. But is it really necessary? Can you survive without a security suite? Two experts give us their views.
The recent hype over the Conficker virus has gone hand-in-hand with advice about how best to protect your PC safe from malware, viruses and other malicious software.
Most of us rely on some form of security software to take the heat off when surfing the web. However, shocking as it may sound, there are plenty of experienced, knowledgeable technophiles out there who laugh in the face of danger as they traipse unprotected through the wilds of the online world. Among them is blogger Rick Broida, who prefers what he deems the relatively minor threat of malware to the annoyance of intrusive, nagging security apps.
Is he insane? Naïve? To find out, we gave Rick the chance to tell you readers why he shrugs off the safety of antimalware suites, and to defend his point of view in a debate with security correspondent Robert Vamosi. Who's right? Who's nuts? You can be the judge.
First up, Rick Broida presents his assertion that security suites are an unnecessary nuisance compared with the threat of malware.
See also: Has your PC been infected by Conficker?
We don't need no stinking security software
Security software is a scam. A rip-off. A waste of money, a pain in the neck, and a surefire way to bring even the speediest PC to a crawl. Half the time it seems to cause more problems than it solves. Oh, and one more thing: it's unnecessary.
Heresy? Crazy talk? Recipe for disaster? No, no, and no. For the past several years, I've run Windows (first XP, and now Vista) without a single byte of third-party security software. No Norton Internet Security. No Spyware Doctor. Not even freebie favourite AVG. I use nothing but the tools built into Windows and a few tricks I've learned.
Want to know how much time I've spent cleaning up after viruses, spyware, rootkits, Trojan horses, keyloggers, and other security breaches? None. I'll say that again: none.
Maybe I'm asking for trouble, but after years of infection-free computing, I have no qualms about my methods. Your mileage may vary, and I make no guarantees. But if you want to rid your system of pricey, performance-choking security software, read on.
My first line of defence is my router. Like most, it has a built-in firewall that blocks all unauthorised traffic and makes my network more or less invisible to the outside world. The second line of defence is Windows. XP, Vista, and Windows 7 have built-in firewalls that help protect against 'inside' attacks, such as if a friend were to come over with his spyware-infected laptop and connect to my network.
NEXT PAGE: More reasons why you don't need security software
Comments
Jeremy Newman said: Would you drive a car without a seatbelt on Or make sure you have all your jabs before going to a country where there is yellow fever NO So stop being stupid I have working in IT for over thirty years and have never read such rubbish PROTECT YOUR PC
Jeremy Newman said: Rubbish Nobody listen Never operate a windows system without an updated anti-virus spyware tool and a good firewall I followed this same advice from someone else and was infected by a virus which resulted in me formating
Rosemary Hattersley said: re Yoggie theres a review on the sitewwwpcadvisorcoukreviewsin
Eamon said: Has anyone tried the Yoggie Solution Security software contained on a USB stick with a mini Linux computer doing all the necessary processing
Gary Gemmell said: Antivirus whilst useful is more of a drain on resources especially if you use an older pc as I do as the modern up to date versions are really a lot slowerUsing No antivirus is a viable option but really only for the experts and very experienced users - not for the common horde im afraid who click on anything that pops up on screenVirus attacks are much less likely than in the old days of Pakistani Brain virus Iloveyou and their ilk - Much more common are social engineering email vector attacks Infected websites may be a problem but many of the payloads require the user to install the software or at least have a machine that has a weakness through a browser not being updated or a hotfix from microsoft no being present - not many of them are automated infectors and an experienced engineer will have locked down his pc and stopped all services like server upnp workstation com - I could go on but you get the drift
Matt said: On some part i agree with you Russel but one problem is the some idiots who dont know how to download the right Torrents or Download 200KB files through P2P networking my advice is if your not familiar with computers and viruss have Anti-Virus installed but if you think you have more knowledge on computers then yes by all means there is no need to use Anti-Virus due to you know what your doing
Russell said: Ok Lets get this straight Dont use security software But do use Defender AdAware and Windows Firewall Ok just no antivirus Last time I checked all E-mail servers have Antivirus and Antispam features And of course turn on the IE and Firefox Phishing settings The only security program you dont use is a Antivirus program on your PC Dont use security software HA You use all of them Give me a break