Virus's Getting worse?
- Thread starter craftomega
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Don't try to shift the blame! We've all seen gay porn. Yes, even that one with the 3 guys, the sheep, the horse, the jar of peanut butter, and the popcorn. None of us look like mutated zombies, though!SmashLovesTitanQuest said:
Hmm, probable. I did use Avira until a couple of years back. And it did give me some a fair amount of false positives. More than actual warnings, in fact (may sound bad, but it was like a 2:3 or 3:4 ratio, I think). But basically,Owyn_Merrilin said:
this is my opinion of it.Owyn_Merrilin said:
Use NoScript, one active scanner and one passive scanner (Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes in my case), never click on links in emails you weren't expecting to get, even if they're from people you know, and if you're not sure if a website is safe, don't go to it.
Porn sites and many free service sites are automatically suspect, so are popular ones like Cracked and SomethingAwful. It's not that the latter sites have malicious intent, it's the ads. If you're using vanilla Internet Explorer to browse Cracked, you WILL encounter an ad that redirects you to an attack site. Even Firefox or Chrome can get redirected this way, which is why I take whatever measures are necessary to prevent ads from running on my machine.
Site owners may not like that solution very much, but after three different infections through malicious ads on sites I used to trust, I've decided that we simply have different perspectives on the importance of site revenue vs. user security. Personally, I think that if your business model, or your contracts, demand that your users make themselves vulnerable to attacks, you've done something wrong somewhere.
Finally, limit your downloads as much as possible. If you can possibly get by without downloading a file from a site you are not sure is trustworthy, then don't download it. If you must download from a non .gov or .edu source, look for forum discussions about the file to see if it's associated with malware. Just make sure the forums are trustworthy too.
One more thing: they say proper computer security is indistinguishable from paranoia. My experience has shown that to be absolutely true if you really want to keep your machine clean. However, paranoia is no fun either. Worrying too much about this stuff can be far worse for you than getting a rootkit, so don't go overboard. Do what you need to to keep your machine clean; more if you need it for work, less if there's nothing important on it. No computer is worth your mental health though.
Porn sites and many free service sites are automatically suspect, so are popular ones like Cracked and SomethingAwful. It's not that the latter sites have malicious intent, it's the ads. If you're using vanilla Internet Explorer to browse Cracked, you WILL encounter an ad that redirects you to an attack site. Even Firefox or Chrome can get redirected this way, which is why I take whatever measures are necessary to prevent ads from running on my machine.
Site owners may not like that solution very much, but after three different infections through malicious ads on sites I used to trust, I've decided that we simply have different perspectives on the importance of site revenue vs. user security. Personally, I think that if your business model, or your contracts, demand that your users make themselves vulnerable to attacks, you've done something wrong somewhere.
Finally, limit your downloads as much as possible. If you can possibly get by without downloading a file from a site you are not sure is trustworthy, then don't download it. If you must download from a non .gov or .edu source, look for forum discussions about the file to see if it's associated with malware. Just make sure the forums are trustworthy too.
One more thing: they say proper computer security is indistinguishable from paranoia. My experience has shown that to be absolutely true if you really want to keep your machine clean. However, paranoia is no fun either. Worrying too much about this stuff can be far worse for you than getting a rootkit, so don't go overboard. Do what you need to to keep your machine clean; more if you need it for work, less if there's nothing important on it. No computer is worth your mental health though.
I have Avast & Threatfire running at the same time, plus 3 different adblockers & McAfee plugin for my browser (I keep the ad blockers disabled on trusted sites that need the ad revenue). I haven't had a computer virus in almost 10 years. I do biweekly maintenance checks on my computer & never find any viruses, worms, trojans, adware, malware, or spyware that got though. I also check for self-installing software.
Occasional worm attack from Russia or China that gets blocked right away. Haven't had an infected file in like 8 months at least. And I engage in some 'risky' behavior. Though I'm usually very smart about how I do it and what protection mechanisms I use.
I would personally get worried if I don't get tipped off by any trojans or worms once a month. Well, there are bouts when I'm not on, but general browsing SHOULD have you targeted on occasion. So if I'm not seeing any malware, I start fretting that it's just really good at sliding through the cracks and hiding.
topsites aren't full of viruses I can assure you. Not that I've had the privilege to access one, they're very carefully monitored (you know, the feds and all that) so you're not gonna get a virus on one of those. As it's the place where groups first upload their releases, if a group uploaded a virus they would lose all credibility lol and would never be allowed on another topsite againZack Alklazaris said:
