Is it just me or are Anti-Virus programs a bit of a scam?

[burningdragoon]

Yes, to some extent at least. When I got my new laptop, I got a free several-month trial. It ran up little over a week ago.

Here's what it says right now:
Threats removed to date: 227
Your subscription expired: 11/30/2010
New threats that have emerged since expiration: 3177

Three thousand threats showed up in 10 days? Are you kidding me? No.

Should probably get a free one now though.

 

[Chibz]

Only anti-viruses like Norton are rip offs. Get avast, foo.

 

[knhirt]

My brother once got his computer infected with something that pretended to be an anti-virus system that frequently warned him of multiple infections. The solution: Buy the "full version" of the thing to remove the "infected files". Turned out, that system wasn't anything he'd downloaded voluntarily - in fact, it was a virus-like (sorry, I'm not too brushed up on the exact terminology here) program that masqueraded as legitimate product in order to syphon money from unsuspecting tech-illitetates without resorting to faffing about with stealing passwords or credit card systems.

Pretty clever, but I got that crap cleaned out. That was definitely a scam.

Personally, I use Mac OS X. I've seen a couple of anti-virus "solutions" on my platform of choice, but they were all bloated crap that ultimately turned out to be useless. I've been on my fair share of shady websites and never have I contracted anything as serious as the figurative sniffles.

In my opinion, those things are scams too. I rarely go online when I boot into Windows, so I'm fine on that side with no protection.

In case I get social-engineered into letting some application contact a shady server or two, well, I've got something better than some bloated anti-virus junk with costly monthly updates or whatever. It's a handy little app that intercepts all outgoing traffic from my computer and asks me explicitly if I want to allow it or not.
I love it. Not sure if there's a solution like that on the Windows side, though there probably is, knowing the slew of stuff available there.

--

Bottom line: From my experience, and what I've heard from the people I've talked to on the issue, I think most anti-virus programs are either scams, or so shoddy that they won't save your ass in most cases. The anti-virus business model is such an easy one to employ in order to prey upon those that don't know what's what in computer-land.


Edit to avoid double posting:

While a virus for Mac is rare, doesn't mean it is non-existent: http://about-threats.trendmicro.com/ArchiveMalware.aspx?language=us&name=OSX_JAHLAV.K

Seems like that thing hides in bogus installation disk images for Flash. Sneaky.

Moral here is: All platforms are vulnerable to malicious software, when you hand the software your password on a silver platter. I hope that not too many people fell for this. Downloading official plugins from random websites is just asking for trouble.

 

[Eerors]

It's not just viruses that anti-virus software protect against. Good ones also stop trojans, spyware and other malware. The best one always seems to be Kaspersky.

I see buying an anti-virus license as a necessity to owning a computer. I pay taxes (although I don't. Student. Wooo!) to keep the police financed. I see this as the same.

People are paid to write viruses. Why not pay the people who write the software that prevents my computer getting infected?

 

[s0m3th1ng]

Haven't had an AV program in over 2 years...been virus free for those 2 years. I don't exactly keep vigilant about my downloading habits either.

 

[Sleekgiant]

Not when Microsoft Security Essentials is free.

 

[Kraiiit]

Hope this isn't too offtopic..

Bit of a dilemma here- choosing between AVG and Microsoft Security Essentials. Both I've tried, and both don't seem to give me any problems, but I have no idea what's going on "under the hood", so to speak. Any tips, Escapists?

 

[eljawa]

avg and malware antibites are free

end of story

 

[RaphaelsRedemption]

Well, I used a few before I stopped using a shitbox Windows one (not being anti-Windows, the thing refused to connect to the Internet at ALL) and went to a Mac, and I haven't used virus protection on this, because no-one can be bothered to code viruses for this thing.

That's a bit of a fallacy. My fiance studied compuer ptogramming, and apparently there's more problems and viruses out there than the avarge Mac user thinks there are. Good luck to you if you never run into any of them!

 

[sneakypenguin]

Just be like me and don't use them at all. Just avoid sites that are iffy, and avoid downloads that aren't legit. I've run nothing and in my 8 years on PC never got a virus, I'll run Malaware, or Spybot every few weeks and they never find anything and if I did get one i'd just google the tool to remove it, if I can't remove it then just reinstall windows. My Laptop came with Mcaffee and that thing was a pain in the butt, always popping up, and running because it freaking turns itself back on everytime you rebooted. I'd forget and WoW would run at like 6fps till I noticed it was doing a scan. After a few days I gave it das boot.

 

[William Dickbringer]

Getting a anti virus program.
Hoping for the best.
Getting a virus the some how got passed.
Fucking pissed now 300$ down the drain.
Fuuck you norton you are to blame.

yeah I heard norton wasn't that good plus it really slowed down my old computer

I use Avast myself, but I'm not happy that they're always bugging you to upgrade to the paid version. The free version works just fine for me.

I never get asked that all I get bothered with is the virus database has been updated cause it always seems to pick when I'm listening to something to tell me that

 

[Mad World]

I wouldn't really call it a scam. Your subscription ran out, so that's why you need a code.

Anyway, I just use AVG. It's free, and it seems to get the job done.

 

[Cid Silverwing]

Antivirus programs are largely unreliable, yes. All the mainstream ones you see in the commercials (i.e. Norton) won't protect you for shit. I've used aVast for the longest time and it pwns the fuck out of Norton, Panda and whatever else. Of course you should also get MalwareBytes, Ad-Aware and other specialized anti-malware that actual antivirus software won't bust.

 

[DirgeNovak]

I use Avast myself, but I'm not happy that they're always bugging you to upgrade to the paid version. The free version works just fine for me.

I never get asked that all I get bothered with is the virus database has been updated cause it always seems to pick when I'm listening to something to tell me that

You can turn the voice alerts off. And it never harrassed me to get the paid version.

OT: Just get a free anti-virus. For a personal computer you don't need anything else (unless you watch a lot of porn, of course.)

 

[crudus]

It is as much as a scam as free samples at Costco or Sam's Club. They gave you a trial run to see if you wanted it. If you want it then pay for it. If not then don't open questionable emails.

I use Avast myself, but I'm not happy that they're always bugging you to upgrade to the paid version. The free version works just fine for me.

Really? I never get bothered with it.

It is a scam because other software doesn't force you to have a subscription that expires and makes you pay for it all over again. I really don't get it, either, because there are so many free AV products out there. There isn't even any exclusivity to buying one of those products.... or really I should say subscriptions.

It is like bottled water. Yes, you get water virtually free from anywhere but people are still willing to buy it.

 

[Kakashi on crack]

[quote="TeeBs" post="18.250141.9253016"Fucking pissed now 300$ down the drain.[/quote]

You spent 300 bucks on an anti virus system?

I spent like... 50$ for a two year anti-virus program called KAspersky that I used to use a trial version for. Let me just mention that Kaspersky is expensive, and it gets right into the OS/registry, but it takes out about 95% of the viruses likely to infect your computer.

That's the thing... There is no such thing as a perfect anti-virus program, and I would say most protect you from about 80-90% of the viruses if you get the pay-to-use version.

Nah, I don't feel scammed, used to use trial versions all the time. If you want a free one, just get AVG free, judgement. Not the best but it gets rid of most trojans/malware/spyware (actual viruses are rare, and hard to detect you're more likely to get one of the above mentioned things. That being said if you get a newer virus while using AVG you're boned. Simple as that.)

EDIT: woah, quote fail... Also, the paid versions are usually slightly better than the free AV software out there, I know this from experience. (I've had malicious programs that my fully-up-to-date free AV programs fail to remove, but a trial version of a pay-to-use one clears right up in one scan.)

 

[Nouw]

I have AlYak that is free and Korean which should mean it's good.