(no subject)

[mouser.livejournal.com]

Sober-1 blocked about 177 times in the last two days (I like my firewall!)

What the hell is it with folks not running basic virus protection?

Comments

[canray.livejournal.com]

Got me. I remember one idiot that demanded I fix the Internet Problem, which I solved by disabling the Security Suite (Nortons, again. Go figure.). I informed him that he'd have to contact that company to get it working right, but that's "Too much of a hassle."

But then demanded the ultimate in security for the Wireless-B Connection. :-S

Sorry, Buddy, but Viruses are more dangerous than Wardrivers.

[tjernobyl.livejournal.com]

And too expensive too. Danged if I'm gonna pay 15$ to ask them how to get rid of it when an upgrade fails so miserably that I can't even uninstall...

[valiskeogh.livejournal.com]

well, i dont run with any virus protection on any of my 7 pc's, but then again i know what the hell i'm doing. for the noobs, anti-virus (and KEEPING IT UP TO FREAKIN DATE) and a nice firewall should be mandatory before they leave walmart with their e-machine.

[fuzzyr.livejournal.com]

This too is a bad answer. No-one (besides those working in AV) really "knows what the hell [they're] doing". I hear this sort of thing far too often from people who do everything else right.

[valiskeogh.livejournal.com]

the ONLY time i've ever contracted a virus was two times, the first when i was lazy, the second when i was stupid, both on the same laptop, both within 48 hours, and both times cause i left the thing in the DMZ for too long. the first time was lazy, the second stupid, lol, didn't DO anything, within hours it had some trojans and worms on it just from being unprotected by a firewall.

i guess that's just a fluke then, or else i'm god. i think it's the latter.

if i have to do something risky (there was a time when looking for lyrics was the same as bending over, grabbing your ankles, and begging for spyware) i do it in a virtual machine that is re-verted after the activity.

i know what the hell i'm doing ;)

[mouser.livejournal.com]

If you don't run AV software, how do you know you've only caught stuff twice?

[valiskeogh.livejournal.com]

because there are other ways of checking for viruses beyond having a bloated piece of software hogging memory and performance 24/7

both major antivirus companies have free online virus checkers:

http://housecall.trendmicro.com/housecall/start_corp.asp

http://security.symantec.com/default.asp?productid=symhome&langid=ie&venid=sym

i will run them once ever few months or whenever i suspect strange activity (i can tell by the blinking lights on a computer nic card whether it's infected or not, several times i've walked past a computer, noticed those lights blinking as they shouldn't, run a virus checker, and yup...).

i leave task manager running constantly with the process's window open, unless it's a nasty rootkit (which the antivirus stuff has a hard time or CANT catch anyway) i can spot it with my naked eye.

so i guess the antivirus software i run is ME. and so far it's been better than anything out there.

[brokengoose.livejournal.com]

What the hell is it with folks not running basic virus protection?

Easy: They're arrogant enough to think they know "what the hell they're doing". They're wrong.

"Nonono. I'm different! I'm special! It won't happen to me."

It's the luser rallying cry.

[valiskeogh.livejournal.com]

there is an exception to every rule ;)

[valiskeogh.livejournal.com]

BESIDES, antivirus software is largely pointless. it can only react, it cannot protect you from what it doesn't know about, and nowwadays most everything is zero day. you can have all the antivirus in the world but again, if you dont know what you're doing, you can still quite easily become infected in the 12-48 hours it takes for the antivirus to find a new threat and immunize against it.

[mouser.livejournal.com]

"...nowwadays most everything is zero day. "

Um, no.

If you read the original post, you discover it's about Sober - not a new virus, just one that someone has managed to contract and is trying to send.

Others that bounce off our system include Netsky (various versions) and last month it was Back Orifice.

Not running a Virus checker because it can't catch EVERYTHING new is not eating because in addition to getting hungry, you'll also get thirsty.

[irishmasms.livejournal.com]

look at where they are coming from - mostly 3rd world countries...

[mouser.livejournal.com]

Actually, Comcast, RoadRunner and I forget the third that was sending BackOriffice, but it was an Americian corporate.

[mouser.livejournal.com]

Wait - I think you crossed wires somewhere!

SPAM viruses mostly (or seems to be) from overseas! This is stuff trying to come straight in over TCP/IP.

[canray.livejournal.com]

Nope, it's coming from idiots, which know no country or race other than Human.