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palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1801
Posted: 06:04am 16 Sep 2019
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My grand daughters husband works in Cyber Security and told me Anti virus software is not really needed on Win 10, that Windows Defender is enough. What do other shedders think, I have antivirus software available I just didn't install it so it would not slow the system down."It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all"
IanT Regular Member Joined: 29/11/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 84
Posted: 07:31am 16 Sep 2019
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That would also be my opinion - with the caveat that the MS software must be kept updated....
Some years ago I was told by a senior Microsoft S/W engineer that the majority of hacking exploits were being undertaken after official MS s/w updates had been released (thereby revealing potential vulnerabilities which could be exploited). The problem for MS being the large number of private & commercial users would did not update regularly for reasons of simple apathy or because of legacy applications.
Of course, this doesn't protect the user from themselves - some common sense is required (being able to recognise phishing attempts for instance)
IanT
matherp Guru Joined: 11/12/2012 Location: United KingdomPosts: 8579
Posted: 08:20am 16 Sep 2019
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Agree - the only other thing I do is run the free version of Malwarebytes every so often
palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1801
Posted: 08:37am 16 Sep 2019
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Thanks for the input, I downloaded Malwarebytes as Peter suggested, it has put my mind at rest."It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all"
BrianP Senior Member Joined: 30/03/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 292
Posted: 09:14am 16 Sep 2019
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This is probably the biggest issue when it comes to AV. Most AV companies have the signature-based protection pretty well down pat. However with protection based only on known signatures it's always a catch-up scenario, & you just might be unlucky enough to be one of the first casualties of something new before the AV world catches up.
The better AV products use an extra heuristics analysis & make a judgment based on what the software under test is trying to do. This of course needs a lot more processor resources & is the reason a lot of AV (in particular the free ones) does slow the computer down.
When it comes to protecting the user from themselves no product can be 100% effective but the better AV products do a pretty good job at this. We've all clicked on links, especially when we're in a hurry. My own AV has more than once popped up & said "you don't want to go there", or even "I won't let you go there, no matter what".
Unfortunately the "younger" generation is the most vulnerable here - they tend to click on anything that they think will achieve what they want NOW (& they think they are invincible as we once did).
So, the upshot of all this is I think the granddaughter would be best protected by an AV product with good credentials. As I stated elsewhere my personal choice is the ESET Internet Security product. I've used it for over 30 years & recommended it to all my clients. It's not in your face all the time like some, reasonably priced, doesn't noticeably slow the computer down, & I don't know of anyone being bitten by ransomware, spyware or any other of the multiplicity of stuff that's constantly floating around out there while they've been using it. I don't find it easy to trust Microsoft with this, especially after their very long history of product vulnerabilities & boasting of "perfect" software. We all know it wasn't...
Sorry for the longish post, but in this modern world we need to be running with our shields up...
B
KeepIS Guru Joined: 13/10/2014 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1357
Posted: 10:07pm 16 Sep 2019
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Same here, there was some in-depth testing that found this combination was all you really need and to keep both fully updated.It's all too hard. Mike.
BrianP Senior Member Joined: 30/03/2017 Location: AustraliaPosts: 292
Posted: 10:40pm 16 Sep 2019
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This is true as far as it goes, but the free version of MB doesn't give you full-time protection - it is only a scanner. If it finds something & removes it you still don't know what damage might have been done in the meantime. If it's ransomware you will already know about it!
B
KeepIS Guru Joined: 13/10/2014 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1357
Posted: 01:07am 17 Sep 2019
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That's true, however IMHO this still comes back to the computer knowledge and user understanding of the numerous avenues available for computer virus/ ransomware/ crap infection, not an easy task for the average user, and hard to keep up with in some situations even for those of us that try to keep across it.
It's for that very reason, after using the free version manually for a few years, I recently trialled the full version of Malwarebytes, and because of the footprint and minimal impact on my resources, after trialing the payed version I upgraded a week ago, helps me keep on top of the latest exploits in case I get a bit slack and time poor.
The other important application that I've used since it was first released, is Mailwasher pro, but once again, uninformed users (majority of typical home users) can still get infected despite every security feature that is put in place.It's all too hard. Mike.
Notice. New forum software under development. It's going to miss a few functions and look a bit ugly for a while, but I'm working on it full time now as the old forum was too unstable. Couple days, all good. If you notice any issues, please contact me.
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as we once did).
