6 Things I don't get....

[PepperElf]

So with the free anti-virus scanners, I can't really see why you'd tempt fate like that.

cos of ... several things.

1) most viruses come from either bad emails or weird places you go online. so... being careful with where i go or what emails i open covers those.

2) hackers who actively search for computers... need to break into the firewall / router first. intel chip or no, you can't hack if you can't get to it.

3) and i've worked computers... but in my opinion, the people who are use to PCs are more apt to be virus-shy... meaning they're more use to having to protect themselves all the time. It's gonna sound strange but... I kinda feel that some of the anti-virus companies are banking on that fear to get some extra money.

and... microsoft office / pop email programs. try to avoid those if you can, at least for home use. a lot of those email-viruses are scripted for them. yeah there's some that are scripted for gmail... but i've only heard ONE person tell me that he knew one guy who got a gmail virus. (as opposed to how many people we've all heard get hit by an outlook viruses?)

and lastly... the biggest issue. as i said before, you can't hack what you can't get into.
if you suspect a hack attempt just ... disconnect the internet. not very hollywood-like but much more effective than trying to out-code them back

[Broomjockey]

Not likely.

Yeah. I'm pretty sure the actual hardware used has little to do with what viruses can affect it.

Eh, well, it was a while ago, I wasn't terribly interested, and it's a vague recollection at best. I was wrong. Everyone mark your calendars, you won't be hearing me say that again for a while

Though now I'm kinda wondering what exactly they were talking about that day...

[Decker]

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but now that Macs use intel chips, that opens up the possibility of cross-platform virii? So with the free anti-virus scanners, I can't really see why you'd tempt fate like that.

Yeah. I'm pretty sure the actual hardware used has little to do with what viruses can affect it. Hardware drivers maybe, but not the hardware itself.

[lordlundar]

Not likely, as CPUs don't have any real programming in them. The BIOS is a target, but it always has been.

[Broomjockey]

Also, correct me if I'm wrong, but now that Macs use intel chips, that opens up the possibility of cross-platform virii? So with the free anti-virus scanners, I can't really see why you'd tempt fate like that.

[PepperElf]

o yes. There are some out there...but still not as many.
and that's also why i did the online virus scan....

plus... i was surfing and looking for lyrics and came on a page that tried to force an EXE download to my computer. it took a while to get otu of that loop, cos it didn't like me clicking "cancel" and refusing the download. Then it popped up a script that claimed I had thousands of viruses - simple ad crap but it did get me thinking.

so... once I got that page closed out, that's when I went to do the free scan, which came up empty

but... keep in mind, i also only surf via my home network with the wireless router. said router has its own password (using upper & lower case letters, numbers, & symbols). And a different password for the wireless network...granted I didn't bother with the numbers & symbols (less secure I know) but...considering the pw is over 15 characters, I'm not too worried about it either

now granted that only protects me from asshats trying to hack in, and not from where I go online...which is why I try to be careful about where I go.

[technical.angel]

4 - most viruses are still for PCs not macs. I went to Trend Micro for a free scan and found...nothing on the macbook

That's not quite as true as it used to be. Now that more people are switching to Mac, more viruses are starting to be written for Mac.

The trainer for the class I took at the state and education ISP provider gave us a figure of how many known viruses there are for Mac.

Just remember that nothing is safe. An ounce of prevention sort of thing.

[PepperElf]

Last year in March I found the answer to items 1-4 ... in the form of a cute MacBook

1. Microsoft runtime: 'nuff said
2. Enough to run the OS: I personally saw a man installing Leopard to a G4 laptop. For those of you who don't know Mac products, the G4 is about 7 years old. Yeah, Leopard works on OLD computers.
3. Internet Explorer: the default Mac program is Safari, but I usually use Firefox myself.
4. Antivirus? What's Antivirus? I'll be the first to admit...No I don't use it. It's not that I don't think there are viruses out there...it's just that most of them are still scripted for Microsoft. I did get curious the other day and went to Trend Micro to run a free virus scan...but it came up without any viruses.


And a couple of notes...
a: the dept of homeland security also recommends NOT using IE because of the way it's tied to your operating system

b: if you use ad-aware to get rid of spyware you'll notice something interesting if you stop using IE for browsing... most spyware will go away. Yeah. back when I had a PC my scans came up pretty empty...and I was making it scan just about *everything*

c: get a router. it solves a lot of issue #5 with the isp based security. BUT you have to change the password. Many hackers know what the default passwords are so...if you don't bother changing them, they can f**k with your stuff.
and yes, one of my friends use to do that to his neighbor jsut for fun.... since the guy never changed the router password my friend would hack in and change the desktop picture. He could have done much worse but... he chose not to.

d: don't share out your C drive if you're on a freakin wireless network. At least put in a freakin password on it. I mean it's one thing to do it on your own network when there's just a couple of computers there, but...when you're on a public wireless....ANYONE else on that network can see your drive.

Yeah. I was surfing one day and looked at the avaialble computers on the shared networks (a nice apple feature!).. one guy had his entire freakin C DRIVE shared out and public. Helllllloooooooo? No. I didn't fuck with his computer though I could have. Hell... I SHOULD have edited his MSCONFIG to run a notepad file every time he turns the comptuer on... a file that reads, "NOTICE: YOUR C-DRIVE IS PUBLICALLY SHARED WITHOUT A PASSWORD PROTECT. ... BY NOW YOU'RE REALIZING WHAT KIND OF SECURITY RISK YOU CREATED. HAVE A NICE DAY. " ... heh that would have freaked him out!

e: simple rules still apply... don't open attachments and read what you're agreeing to before you click OK.
One of my old coworkers use to click OK to EVERYTHING that popped up, which is freakin awesome when he's surfing for free MP3 downloads at questionable sites. What's worse is that he had no f**king clue that HE was the one giving our computers viruses... he decided in his ultimate wisdome that it was all MY fault for installing Google Toolbar. then again M___ deserves his own thread anyway....(yeah that bad)

[PCGameGuy]

After all this discussion of security programs, what I don't get is this:

I don't get why people insist that they don't need security software. I can understand them telling me they don't want my store's techs to install security. That's fine. But why do they claim they don't need it at all? Especially when they're buying a new computer because it's too expensive to clean out all the virus/spyware infections in their current computer.

It's also confusing when they realize that viruses can be a problem but tell me they don't need security because they'll be taking the computer to another country (I've posted about that before) like Mexico. Are there people who really believe that American internet is different from the internet in other countries and that virus/spyware infections can only be contracted in the USA?

The analogy I read a while back made the most sense to me, and it may help others, so here it is:

Imagine there is a problem with home invasion robberies in your neighborhood. There is a thief trying to get into the houses and steal what he can, and mess up or break random stuff as well. He goes down a random street, trying doors until he finds an unlocked one, then goes in and does his deed. If all the doors are locked, he tries the next street over, or tries a simple 'bump the door' break in method. He is hitting houses every day, regularly, and all you have to do to stop him is lock the door with a decent lock.

Now, multiply 'he' by about 1000, make 'every day' into 'every second' and 'your neighborhood' into 'your state/region/country' and replace 'decent lock' with 'antivirus/firewall'. It really is that bad, and it really can be that easy to protect yourself.

Anyone who chooses not to install the software is just leaving their door unlocked.

This actually seemed to help me get the idea across to less technically inclined people.

[sld72382]

Ok, thing I don't get #7 is people who don't believe in viruses. Yes, I had one guy tell me that he didn't have anit-virus protection because he didn't believe they existed. After I got over the initial shock of that statement, I quickly told him about things like keyloggers, trojans, worms... I explained that personal information could be stolen because of an infected computer... I certainly hope that he listened and changed his mind, cuz that's just scary. Especially since he was a professor with access to confidential student records!

On a slight variation of your #7, I got some people who actually think that it's the antivirus companies themselves that are creating the viruses so you can coaxed into buying the software.

I always have one response to that: "If that was the case, there would have been someone blowing the whistle by now."

[technical.angel]

Oh, no no no, I'm not talking about putting a printer on the domain. That's not my job.

I'm talking about just locally connecting via USB a printer to a computer connected to the domain.

[Geek King]

Unless you're on a domain. The magic and spells needed to get an HP printer connected to a printer on the domain is crazy.

We use HP printers quite a bit where I'm working, and all we usually have to do is set the IP address (both reserving it on the network and setting the printer itself) and plug it into the network. After that its all adding the printer on the user's PCs. Not sure why you would have to go through so many hoops on yours. Sometimes we have to bounce the printing services on the controller, and once we had to replace the network card on the printer.

[technical.angel]

Lexmark printers are the worst.

Unless you're on a domain. The magic and spells needed to get an HP printer connected to a printer on the domain is crazy.

Remove from domain
Unplug network cable
restart
delete registry keys
change permission on registry keys
Stand in bucket of water
Turn counter-clockwise while patting your head and rubbing your belly.

[Shabo]

Lexmark printers are the worst. Canons aren't bad printers, but if you ever lose the CD that came with the drivers on it... well, have fun trying to find the drivers on their website. I usually just google it and see what comes up... and spend another 15 minutes looking for the correct driver off the website. So I have a real aversion to Canon for that reason.

I also have a simple Samsung laser b&w printer, and I love it. I got one for my bf as well so he could have one.


Anti-virus is never perfect. The more popular that software is, the more likely it is to be attacked by viruses et al. Example: Microsoft users get the most viruses. Microsoft clearly dominates the PC field, therefore it will give the most return to people programming viruses as it will infect the most computers. It's not that the Mac operating system is inherently better, just that it's less used and not worth *most* programmers time to find the exploits-- but exploits are certainly still found with all systems. The most important thing is that the company acknowledges the exploits and fixes them right away. (Anyone remember that lovely little trick that Microsoft pulled a few months ago with Adobe? Yes, Microsoft sat there and claimed that there was a vulnerability with Adobe software, but of course Adobe claimed differently. And whaddya know, Microsoft rescinded their statement a few weeks later and fixed their vulnerability with a patch. Tsk tsk.)

So yes, lesser known anti-virus will be better because it won't be attacked like the big boys will be.

And let's not knock the big companies for causing issues with software. There are probably billions (if not more) of combinations of software and whatnot that could be on any one computer at any one point in time. The fact that standard software works so well considering is pretty amazing. No, they aren't perfect, but no software is.



Ok, thing I don't get #7 is people who don't believe in viruses. Yes, I had one guy tell me that he didn't have anit-virus protection because he didn't believe they existed. After I got over the initial shock of that statement, I quickly told him about things like keyloggers, trojans, worms... I explained that personal information could be stolen because of an infected computer... I certainly hope that he listened and changed his mind, cuz that's just scary. Especially since he was a professor with access to confidential student records!

[RichS]

I used AVG up until it decided that WoW was a virus.

I used AVG as well, until it and Steam didn't want to get along. See link here and read #3. I also had to uninstall both and install Steam again. At least I backed up the games first (dial-up).

Now I use the free version of Avast! - I've had some experience with it on my notebook, and it's been running well.