Deleted my Anti-Virus

[Skuzzy]

Vulcan, you really need to stress the corporate version of McAfee is what you are talking about when you say it is a good AV program.  

The consumer version sucks.


ink, for me, youtube is fluff and not worth my time or risk to my computer.  I really hate what it has done to the Internet, in terms of bandwidth being wasted.

[Vulcan]

How is that incorrect?


Please prove your point and give percentages of infections to support it.

There are plenty of examples of malware being delivered via legitimate (non-porn) websites. Typically most malware is delivered via compromised advertising sites. Read here: http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10353402-245.html or here http://www.kaspersky.com/news?id=207576042

The very nature of the Internet makes it the perfect medium for spreading malicious programs. In the past, cybercriminals would entice users to malicious sites they had created, but they have recently changed tack by making use of legitimate resources that have been compromised. A script is added to the compromised pages which redirects users to a malicious website. If the attack is successful, malware is downloaded to the victim machine without the user’s knowledge.

It's been that way for years. You prove your stats, you made the initial statement, now back it up.

[Vulcan]

You seem to forget that there are no more than a handful of attacks to worry about today, a fixed database of exploits is pretty effective in that situation. Your bus wide hole in Skype would require someone from my skype contacts to get infected before the flaw gets patched in Skype. I'm not losing sleep over it. Especially considering the flaw is already patched before any known exploits were spread on it - I'd like that to happen on windows some day.

Tell me, what is your magical av solution that is bullet proof as you claim? Eset is not good enough, Norton not good enough, Kaspersky not good enough - and yet they all bog down your computer more or less even before you got infected.

I've seen so many malware riddled computers with running avs that sorry I find your trust in them pretty baseless.

McAfee has a 96,8% detection rate in the 2011 tests of _known exploits_ http://www.av-comparatives.org/images/stories/test/ondret/avc_od_feb2011.pdf

If there are 2 million of known Windows viruses around today your box will be left open to about 64000 known attacks and unknown number of 0-day attacks.

and AV Comparitives does not test the behavioral features of those AV scanners. You seem to be stuck in a forever loop of not understanding the technology - do I have to draw you a picture?

[MrRiplEy[H]]

There are plenty of examples of malware being delivered via legitimate (non-porn) websites. Typically most malware is delivered via compromised advertising sites. Read here: http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-10353402-245.html or here http://www.kaspersky.com/news?id=207576042

And this can easily be stoped simply by running noscript which will stop any ads ever from loading.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

and AV Comparitives does not test the behavioral features of those AV scanners. You seem to be stuck in a forever loop of not understanding the technology - do I have to draw you a picture?

You're in the loop of trusting a technology that has proven to fail over and over again. I have witnessed infections on computers equipped with almost every major antivirus program. I do not have to understand the technology when I have witnessed it fail repeatedly. While I haven't tested McAfee corp version, I doub't it's 100% proof either and even if it is, it's a moot point since most consumers don't have it obviously.

My recent experience with migrating my parents to linux has actually convinced me that it has now matured enough to be a serious alternative for windows for anyone who doesn't need to play windows based games or run non-office work related software. I'm doing my web browsing and work 100% on mac/linux as it is. The windows box is solely for steam/htc and stays that way. The day games will start to run on linux, I will be a happy man because then I can migrate my kid there too. Wife already plays her second life on Ubuntu client

[Vulcan]

While I haven't tested McAfee corp version

and I rest my case.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

See Rule #4

[Vulcan]

Ahem...

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/an-applecare-support-rep-talks-mac-malware-is-getting-worse/3342

I can tell you for a fact, many, many people are falling for this attack. Our call volume here at AppleCare is 4-5x higher than normal and [the overwhelming majority] of our calls are about this Mac Defender and its aliases. Many frustrated Mac users think their Mac is impervious to viruses and think this is a real warning from Apple. I really wish I could say not many people will fall for this, but in this last week, we have had nothing but Mac Defender and similar calls.

told...
...you...
........so...

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Ahem...

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/an-applecare-support-rep-talks-mac-malware-is-getting-worse/3342

told...
...you...
........so...

Tell me, how does macdefender get installed on a mac? Furthermore what does it do after being installed? Surely something nasty like windows viruses?

[Vulcan]

Tell me, how does macdefender get installed on a mac? Furthermore what does it do after being installed? Surely something nasty like windows viruses?

same way windows malware tries to.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

same way windows malware tries to.

Heheh eeeek wrong. It has to be installed manually by the user and it doesnt include keyloggers or anything like that even if it does.

[Vulcan]

Heheh eeeek wrong. It has to be installed manually by the user and it doesnt include keyloggers or anything like that even if it does.

Seriously dude   - that's how malware works, Windows or otherwise. And yes OS X malware includes stuff like keyloggers, DNS redirectors etc.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

Seriously dude  - that's how malware works, Windows or otherwise. And yes OS X malware includes stuff like keyloggers, DNS redirectors etc.

No, macdefender (which was the topic here) does not contain any malicious payload out of offering users to buy its license. Malware on windows installs silently without user consent. Macdefender needs to be installed by the user using a standard GUI setup. Furthermore macdefender doesn't even affect users that do not use Safari with default security settings.

So, 2 million for windows vs 20 some for Mac. You have to be extremely unlucky to even FIND a mac exploit even if you try online, and reverse is true for windows.

[Vulcan]

malware on windows does not silently install, it requires user interaction. If someone emails me a virus, I do not get infected by opening the email. I must first open the attachment, then depending on the level  of UAC settings it may install with or without prompts. You're confusing a worm with malware.

And for all the rarity you claim of macdefender applecare appears to be flooded with calls from infected users.

Finally some mac users are reporting it is phoning home. That my friend is a perfect example of a malware payload.

[Masherbrum]

malware on windows does not silently install, it requires user interaction. If someone emails me a virus, I do not get infected by opening the email. I must first open the attachment, then depending on the level  of UAC settings it may install with or without prompts. You're confusing a worm with malware.

And for all the rarity you claim of macdefender applecare appears to be flooded with calls from infected users.

Finally some mac users are reporting it is phoning home. That my friend is a perfect example of a malware payload.

Yep.