Caution re Avast antivirus

[XS11E]

The two attitudes expressed above

Make that three attitudes.

hundreds of millions of personal computers are sitting there,
waiting for instructions from a kid in an IRC channel somewhere to
participate in a DDOS attack or spam relay or whatever. Some
people don't seem to realize that it's the computer itself, along
with it's Internet access, that some of the bad guys are after.

Almost any AV will protect against that as will regular scans with some
malware detector however the main defense against such is an educated
user and that's just not going to happen.

 

[Alex Clayton]

Make that three attitudes.


Almost any AV will protect against that as will regular scans with some
malware detector however the main defense against such is an educated
user and that's just not going to happen.

That is how I look at it. I use a firewall and AV which is regularly updated
and run. There is always a few "experts" who will tell me that none of it is
good enough and I "need" to stand on my head, on the roof, waving my hands
around while holding an a special wire hanger to really be "secure". Hell if
it makes them happy they are welcome to it, I have better things to do with
my free time. When the world comes to an end it will of course all be my
fault because I refused to listen to their dire warnings.
<shrug>

 

[Alex Clayton]

I care a whole bunch, what if someone hacks into my financial
information and logs on to my utility account and <gasp!> PAYS MY BILL?

I have to agree with you, there's a hint of paranoia about computer
security from people who will dine in a restaurant and give the waiter
their credit card and cheerfully watch him disappear with it......

LOL. I still get a big kick out of that one. I am a BIG, and I do mean big
fan of online shopping. I never have enjoyed shopping and as I have gotten
older I get less and less tolerant of it. UPS and FedEx drivers know me
well. <G>
I always get a laugh out of people telling me they will not do that
because they are scared of using their CC on line. When you tell them the
banks use the same interned to send info to each other they just give you a
blank stare.
These same people would call the bank and give their personal info out over
the old analog cell phones though even after being shown that any one could
buy a scanner that could listen to them.
Then there was the sending a check out in the mail. Did they never stop to
think of who could see those account #s??
One of the better ones I have seen is the people who have their drivers
license # printed on the check . I saw a girl who worked as a cashier
checking out at the store she worked at one day and the clerk saying "well I
was always curious about how old you were". She had a worried look on her
face so he showed her how in this state part of the number shows your date
of birth. Now she really looked horrified. Probably went home and tossed all
her checks and ordered new ones.

 

[Char Jackson]

Make that three attitudes.


Almost any AV will protect against that as will regular scans with some
malware detector however the main defense against such is an educated
user and that's just not going to happen.

I agree that it's fairly easy to avoid the major dangers, but most
people are too ignorant or lazy to do even the simplest of steps, so
your last line above is prophetic: it's just not going to happen, with
'it' being computer security, of course. Too many people just don't
care.