Whilst I'm no longer the geek I may have been in the past, when it comes to virii, worms and trojans on my computer I seem to instinctively know when something is wrong. In fact, this is definitely one area where I know I can trust my intuition.
My computer(s) gets reformatted/reinstalled approximately once a year or sooner if a major hardware upgrade occurs. Antivirus software only gets installed when my partner freaks out at the lack thereof.
Viruses and trojans exploit operating system vulnerabilities. Usually these vulnerabilities are reported and patched before they are exploited. A properly patched computer running any modern operating system is highly resistant to exploits. Scanners and firewalls only offer additional insurance but I agree that they are not strictly necessary to have a reasonably safe computing environment.
Automatic updates and service packs are a different story. In 10 out of 10 cases where I have to disinfect a machine it is not up to date and the user has unwisely disregarded the tools that came with the OS.
And you OS X and Linux users shouldnt be so smug. As long as your OS of choice represents single-digit market share you are not worth targeting with malware. If you should ever gain popularity you will be at risk just like the rest of us.
I was able to turn my "luck" around over the course of a few years of working in the tech support industry and building up stores of knowledge on the subject of general PC health. There was usually a good reason when something went awry, and I was pretty good at diagnosing it. I still am, but I've also been buying cheaper hardware; in the case of my newest hard drives, they appear to require special treatment because they're known to run hotter than normal, so I've had to troubleshoot them with that fact in mind.
I only remember contracting one brief virus in my history of Windows, and it was immediately detected, and I got it because I was being foolish and I knew it, so it was fairly easy to contain at that point.
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My computer(s) gets reformatted/reinstalled approximately once a year or sooner if a major hardware upgrade occurs. Antivirus software only gets installed when my partner freaks out at the lack thereof.
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Automatic updates and service packs are a different story. In 10 out of 10 cases where I have to disinfect a machine it is not up to date and the user has unwisely disregarded the tools that came with the OS.
And you OS X and Linux users shouldnt be so smug. As long as your OS of choice represents single-digit market share you are not worth targeting with malware. If you should ever gain popularity you will be at risk just like the rest of us.
Reply
I only remember contracting one brief virus in my history of Windows, and it was immediately detected, and I got it because I was being foolish and I knew it, so it was fairly easy to contain at that point.
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