Antivir

[sketchymcsketcherson]

I understand the trepidation against Microsoft

Thanks for the link. It made for an interesting read.

Honestly, I'm not as biased against Microsoft as the average computer geek. I will admit I haven't tried it myself. All I can say is that their last attempt, Windows Live OneCare, was about the biggest POS when it came to anti-malware.

but it really is the best free software out there. Non-intrusive, light on resources, fast, and quite comprehensive.

I'll take your word for it, maybe even give it a try one of these days. Sounds...impressive!

most virus problems are the result of clever uhh, social engineering [basically, people are idiots and will click on anything]

Exactly.

 

[JocktheMotie]

Thanks for the link. It made for an interesting read.

Honestly, I'm not as biased against Microsoft as the average computer geek. I will admit I haven't tried it myself. All I can say is that their last attempt, Windows Live OneCare, was about the biggest POS when it came to anti-malware.



I'll take your word for it, maybe even give it a try one of these days. Sounds...impressive!



Exactly.

Haha, actually because I was curious, I looked up how Avast! did on the same test, and it was only 2 points below MSE [190 to 188]! So Avast is definitely no slouch.

 

[JocktheMotie]

As an update, I've encountered this "Antivir" virus on 3 of my co-workers home computers [I tell them to bring them in and I fix them for a lunch or so] and system restore tends to work, followed by system scan with MSE.

Only click on porn you recognize, people!

 

[Feops]

Minor related note:

Certain sites that rely on ad revenue occasionally get ads slipped into the mix with malicious code. So even "safe" sites are not always a sure thing.

One I've encountered myself recently exploits a vulnurability between adobe pdf reader and internet explorer to redirect the user to a different page. Once there the malicious website throws up a dramatic mockup of a critical system infection and demands the user download an application to correct it. Naturally this download is the actual virus - once run, the user gets an antivir infection to deal with.

Luckily I was not suckered in. But it motivated me to switch over to firefox + no-script addon just for a generally safer browsing experience.

 

[JocktheMotie]

Minor related note:

Certain sites that rely on ad revenue occasionally get ads slipped into the mix with malicious code. So even "safe" sites are not always a sure thing.

One I've encountered myself recently exploits a vulnurability between adobe pdf reader and internet explorer to redirect the user to a different page. Once there the malicious website throws up a dramatic mockup of a critical system infection and demands the user download an application to correct it. Naturally this download is the actual virus - once run, the user gets an antivir infection to deal with.

Luckily I was not suckered in. But it motivated me to switch over to firefox + no-script addon just for a generally safer browsing experience.

No-script is a great addon, but there's a bit of a frustrating "learning" period while you teach it all the sites.

The worst thing you can do for your computer is download Adobe Flash and use PDF reader, but they're sadly vital. Hoping HTML 5 can kick off and it becomes standard, but now they've got problems with the h.264 codec licensing so it may not work out.

 

[Gish]

Foxit reader is a superior alternative to Adobe Reader, but we're stuck with Flash for now.

 

[BlueScreen]

I'd agree, in terms of memory and speed Foxit is far nicer. Has none of the bulk which Acrobat has.