hallsofvallhalla wrote:Haven't used anti-virus in years. never had a issue. Not sure how anyone gets virus's/spyware these days. i mean I know how you can get them but who really clicks or installs that stuff?
I say this but my parents get a virus weekly. Think it is from porn though.
It is a common misconception that you can avoid malware by watching what you are doing. The biggest problem today are ads. Some of the largest websites in the world will make deals with whoever give the best rates, regardless of how shady they may be. And those ad companies can pay the largest rates because they have very little control of what is going on their network. Malware can be added to ad banner downloads, and it is every day. And the most worrying is that the worst malware is invisible. You can always fix your computer if you get a virus that starts slowing everything down. It will be painfully obvious it is there. But the real
business of malware is in spyware and other malware for the purposes of adding you to a zombie network when your computer is idle. It is a multi-billion-dollar industry, and banner ads are at the forefront (sadly, mostly through Flash due to some of the "enhanced", unsafe operations Flash can perform). And you basically have no control over what banner ads you see, because once you see them, it is too late. And ad blockers, as most people know, don't block them all. There are some fairly simple methods of getting around them.
I would suggest at least having a free anti-virus program, or something very small footprint and invisible, like NOD32.
