Do you need anti virus software?

Do you need it if you don't torrent, don't click on stupid spam emails or links and download offical software only?

I haven't been using one and firefox deletes cookies everytime I close it so I'm just wondering if it's neccessary to invest money and sacrifice computer speed for one. Thanks

OH MAH GOD HE SAID THE "T" WORD

anyway, yes I use 100% LEGIT AVG Anti Virus Pro. This software aint messin around. I download anything, its like "hang on lemme scan this mess" and it tells me its a virus and terminates it. Convienient.

Yes, I do. It was provided by our ISP.

Unless you wish to practice abstinence, I recommend using protection.

If you think you don't need it then you need it more than most folks ;)duxup

While those are all risk factors, you can also get viruses by plugging a vulnerable machine onto a network with an infected computer or by visting a drive-by download site. The latter can be almost eliminated by using FF + ABP + NoScript + CoS, but the former is going to nail you hard if you're on a network and don't have a firewall installed, correct network settings, and everything on your machine patched (not just the OS, every program on your machine).

[QUOTE="duxup"]If you think you don't need it then you need it more than most folks ;)brandontwb

While those are all risk factors, you can also get viruses by plugging a vulnerable machine onto a network with an infected computer or by visting a drive-by download site. The latter can be almost eliminated by using FF + ABP + NoScript + CoS, but the former is going to nail you hard if you're on a network and don't have a firewall installed, correct network settings, and everything on your machine patched (not just the OS, every program on your machine).

gameguy6700

[QUOTE="duxup"]If you think you don't need it then you need it more than most folks ;)brandontwb

Oh yeah. There are a ton of sites out there that exist solely to infect machines with viruses. The most notorious are free porn sites, but I've run across my fair share of non-porn virus sites. Hell, even trustworthy sites sometimes get hacked and modified so that everyone who visits the site gets a nice little virus downloaded to their PC without anyone being the wiser. For example, gamespot had an incident or two awhile back where a bunch of people got a virus from an infected .jpg ad that was being shown on the site.

As for your other post asking about where to get a firewall, I believe ZoneAlarm is still free and it's one, if not the, best firewalls you can get.

I don't use it. I'm not the smart aleck who thinks he can avoid viruses either.

[QUOTE="brandontwb"][QUOTE="duxup"]If you think you don't need it then you need it more than most folks ;)gameguy6700

Oh yeah. There are a ton of sites out there that exist solely to infect machines with viruses. The most notorious are free porn sites, but I've run across my fair share of non-porn virus sites. Hell, even trustworthy sites sometimes get hacked and modified so that everyone who visits the site gets a nice little virus downloaded to their PC without anyone being the wiser. For example, gamespot had an incident or two awhile back where a bunch of people got a virus from an infected .jpg ad that was being shown on the site.

As for your other post asking about where to get a firewall, I believe ZoneAlarm is still free and it's one, if not the, best firewalls you can get.

[QUOTE="gameguy6700"]

[QUOTE="brandontwb"]Why do I need it though? Can you get viruses simply by playing online games and looking at websites?brandontwb

Oh yeah. There are a ton of sites out there that exist solely to infect machines with viruses. The most notorious are free porn sites, but I've run across my fair share of non-porn virus sites. Hell, even trustworthy sites sometimes get hacked and modified so that everyone who visits the site gets a nice little virus downloaded to their PC without anyone being the wiser. For example, gamespot had an incident or two awhile back where a bunch of people got a virus from an infected .jpg ad that was being shown on the site.

As for your other post asking about where to get a firewall, I believe ZoneAlarm is still free and it's one, if not the, best firewalls you can get.

Is a 64bit machine more protected?brandontwb

Yes, anti-malware is always needed.

My dad went to Symantec to register some software he purchased, and a hacker was lurking there to hit everyone who went to the website that day. His protection software kicked into high gear, and basically he had a "wall of text" for a while, what with all the different viral hits.:P:lol:

[QUOTE="brandontwb"][QUOTE="gameguy6700"]

Oh yeah. There are a ton of sites out there that exist solely to infect machines with viruses. The most notorious are free porn sites, but I've run across my fair share of non-porn virus sites. Hell, even trustworthy sites sometimes get hacked and modified so that everyone who visits the site gets a nice little virus downloaded to their PC without anyone being the wiser. For example, gamespot had an incident or two awhile back where a bunch of people got a virus from an infected .jpg ad that was being shown on the site.

As for your other post asking about where to get a firewall, I believe ZoneAlarm is still free and it's one, if not the, best firewalls you can get.

unholymight

[QUOTE="unholymight"][QUOTE="brandontwb"]Is a 64bit machine more protected?brandontwb

[QUOTE="duxup"]If you think you don't need it then you need it more than most folks ;)brandontwb

It's possible, if an ad contains malware or the site was hacked.

Besides, you never know if you're looking through Google and just happen to click on the wrong link...

[QUOTE="unholymight"][QUOTE="brandontwb"]Is a 64bit machine more protected?brandontwb

1. Some viruses are backdoor programs. They allow a hacker to piggyback through your PC to do whatever they want. Most commonly this means using your PC/connection as a proxy for whatever illegal deeds they want to do (hacking a bigger target, wiring stolen funds, downloading/uploading kiddie porn, etc). BTW, the only two people who know that it's not you doing that stuff are you and the hacker. The feds are going to come to you first and you better hope that you can convince them that you're the target of a hacker and that it wasn't really you who just uploaded 3200 child porn videos.

2. Yes, to steal a password does require that a keylogger be installed on your machine. 9 times out of 10 that keylogger takes the form of a virus.

3. A lot of viruses are used in DDOS attacks. This means a slower connection for you, a ton of devoured bandwidth (could be a big deal depending on which ISP you use), and a headache for the person on the receiving end.

4. Adware is a common type of virus. It doesn't run in the background and instead pummels your screen with hundreds of pop-up ads even when you're not on the internet. Some of these can be very difficult to remove.

5. Most viruses these days are intended to be profitable for the hacker in some way. This means they're either going to be adware or spyware. In the case of spyware it's in the hacker's best interests that you not realize what's going on, so usually those viruses are programmed in such a way that they're light on your system resources. You're only going to find out when all of your bank funds are suddenly missing and you've got 30 maxed out credit cards that you never applied for.

I don't use it, I'm on a Mac. :DZookGuy

A bunch of people on my college network had the same idea... Needless to say there were a few trojans going around.

[QUOTE="brandontwb"]

[QUOTE="unholymight"] No, 32 bit worms run exceedingly well in 64 bit operating systems.gameguy6700

1. Some viruses are backdoor programs. They allow a hacker to piggyback through your PC to do whatever they want. Most commonly this means using your PC/connection as a proxy for whatever illegal deeds they want to do (hacking a bigger target, wiring stolen funds, downloading/uploading kiddie porn, etc). BTW, the only two people who know that it's not you doing that stuff are you and the hacker. The feds are going to come to you first and you better hope that you can convince them that you're the target of a hacker and that it wasn't really you who just uploaded 3200 child porn videos.

2. Yes, to still a password does require that a keylogger be installed on your machine. 9 times out of 10 that keylogger takes the form of a virus.

3. A lot of viruses are used in DDOS attacks. This means a slower connection for you, a ton of devoured bandwidth (could be a big deal depending on which ISP you use), and a headache for the person on the receiving end.

4. Adware is a common type of virus. It doesn't run in the background and instead pummels your screen with hundreds of pop-up ads even when you're not on the internet. Some of these can be very difficult to remove.

5. Most viruses these days are intended to be profitable for the hacker in some way. This means they're either going to be adware or spyware. In the case of spyware it's in the hacker's best interests that you not realize what's going on, so usually those viruses are programmed in such a way that they're light on your system resources. You're only going to find out when all of your bank funds are suddenly missing and you've got 30 maxed out credit cards that you never applied for.

[QUOTE="ZookGuy"]I don't use it, I'm on a Mac. :Dmetroidfood

A bunch of people on my college network had the same idea... Needless to say there were a few trojans going around.

[QUOTE="gameguy6700"]

[QUOTE="brandontwb"]So what's the big deal of getting a virus? They are not slowing my system down as far as I can tell, and I can always reformat my hard drive if it gets bad. I don't see my modem transmitting data whenever I'm not, and to steal a password or something you would probably need to instal a program.

brandontwb

1. Some viruses are backdoor programs. They allow a hacker to piggyback through your PC to do whatever they want. Most commonly this means using your PC/connection as a proxy for whatever illegal deeds they want to do (hacking a bigger target, wiring stolen funds, downloading/uploading kiddie porn, etc). BTW, the only two people who know that it's not you doing that stuff are you and the hacker. The feds are going to come to you first and you better hope that you can convince them that you're the target of a hacker and that it wasn't really you who just uploaded 3200 child porn videos.

2. Yes, to still a password does require that a keylogger be installed on your machine. 9 times out of 10 that keylogger takes the form of a virus.

3. A lot of viruses are used in DDOS attacks. This means a slower connection for you, a ton of devoured bandwidth (could be a big deal depending on which ISP you use), and a headache for the person on the receiving end.

4. Adware is a common type of virus. It doesn't run in the background and instead pummels your screen with hundreds of pop-up ads even when you're not on the internet. Some of these can be very difficult to remove.

5. Most viruses these days are intended to be profitable for the hacker in some way. This means they're either going to be adware or spyware. In the case of spyware it's in the hacker's best interests that you not realize what's going on, so usually those viruses are programmed in such a way that they're light on your system resources. You're only going to find out when all of your bank funds are suddenly missing and you've got 30 maxed out credit cards that you never applied for.

Like I said, they're called keyloggers. And you just need an antivirus and antispyware program like AVG and MalwareBytes resepectively to protect yourself.

[QUOTE="brandontwb"][QUOTE="gameguy6700"]

1. Some viruses are backdoor programs. They allow a hacker to piggyback through your PC to do whatever they want. Most commonly this means using your PC/connection as a proxy for whatever illegal deeds they want to do (hacking a bigger target, wiring stolen funds, downloading/uploading kiddie porn, etc). BTW, the only two people who know that it's not you doing that stuff are you and the hacker. The feds are going to come to you first and you better hope that you can convince them that you're the target of a hacker and that it wasn't really you who just uploaded 3200 child porn videos.

2. Yes, to still a password does require that a keylogger be installed on your machine. 9 times out of 10 that keylogger takes the form of a virus.

3. A lot of viruses are used in DDOS attacks. This means a slower connection for you, a ton of devoured bandwidth (could be a big deal depending on which ISP you use), and a headache for the person on the receiving end.

4. Adware is a common type of virus. It doesn't run in the background and instead pummels your screen with hundreds of pop-up ads even when you're not on the internet. Some of these can be very difficult to remove.

5. Most viruses these days are intended to be profitable for the hacker in some way. This means they're either going to be adware or spyware. In the case of spyware it's in the hacker's best interests that you not realize what's going on, so usually those viruses are programmed in such a way that they're light on your system resources. You're only going to find out when all of your bank funds are suddenly missing and you've got 30 maxed out credit cards that you never applied for.

gameguy6700

Like I said, they're called keyloggers. And you just need an antivirus and antispyware program like AVG and MalwareBytes resepectively to protect yourself.

I don't think so. My Mac is running fine.

I don't use it, I'm on a Mac. :DZookGuy

Yes, but you can just use a free one like avira or avast.

Avira
Avast

Yeah I realized I needed it when I wasn't even looking up porn (or anything that had to do with seeing stuff like porn), I click on one of the top links on google and all the sudden I have a whole bunch of viruses