Serious Discussion Antivirus vs. Common Sense — What Really Keeps You Safe in 2025?

[Sorrento]

My first PC was obtained from a large UK industry selling off old units - It was as I remember a 236 & I think an 80meg hard drive with a 20 meg processor speed which I upgraded later to a AMD 40, those were the days where you had to pry the CPU off the mainboard. The monitor was a 12" almost like a goldfish bowl type, it did the job though & I fitted a network card to enable internet access - It had no AV for a while as I remember there was none bar the built in scanner on Windows 3 at least to start with?

Sorry off topic

 

[Parkinsond]

My first PC was obtained from a large UK industry selling off old units - It was as I remember a 236 & I think an 80meg hard drive with a 20 meg processor speed which I upgraded later to a AMD 40, those were the days where you had to pry the CPU off the mainboard. The monitor was a 12" almost like a goldfish bowl type, it did the job though & I fitted a network card to enable internet access - It had no AV for a while as I remember there was none bar the built in scanner on Windows 3 at least to start with?

Sorry off topic

My first PC (I got it 2001, as far as I can recall) has cracked Norton preinstalled (those days I did not know how to install Windows). Later, started using free AVs to avoid cracked ones (Avast, Avira, AVG).
The last documented infection was Win/Sality virus detected by Symantec antivirus.
What I thought my last infection later, came out to be a false detection by K system watcher.

 

[Sorrento]

The only infection I KNOW OF at large .. In 30 odd years was a worm which made a folder full of rude words some of which I wasn't aware of, at the time I think I had NOD32 on which didn't detect it, though it was easy to remove & more of a joke program than anything - Interesting as many years ago I often used cracks but haven't for many years just for fun more than anything.

 

[Fan-of-spyshelter]

The only infection I KNOW OF at large .. In 30 odd years was a worm which made a folder full of rude words some of which I wasn't aware of, at the time I think I had NOD32 on which didn't detect it, though it was easy to remove & more of a joke program than anything - Interesting as many years ago I often used cracks but haven't for many years just for fun more than anything.

what's the name of this WORM ? ^^ i think i had the same on wordpad XD

 

[Parkinsond]

I often used cracks

Win/Sality was not from crack, through some colleague's usb pendrive plugged in my PC.
I was very careful when dealing with cracks, while I was using, choosing only "reputable" ones

 

[monkeylove]

What is the average frequency of such incidence?

I don't know, but anything above zero is bad.

 

[monkeylove]

These cases are extremely rare and it's very unlikely that updated and well maintained websites get hacked. If you think any antivirus will protect you from that, it won't. Antivirus software can barely protect you from phishing websites, let alone hacked websites.

The only thing that can protect you in events like this are maintained and updated web browser, DNS with security in mind (such as DNS0 or Quad9), and ad blocker with comprehensive list like HaGeZi. I hope I don't have to mention common sense.

Antivirus software isn't as quickly updated as DNS or ad blocking filters and for that reasons you can't expect them to catch malicious website which typically last an hour or so before they are taken down. Again, this is why phishing is so efficient; antivirus companies just can't keep up with it. By the time antivirus company adds phishing domain into their data base, website is already long gone.

Extremely rare cases. You're more likely to win the lottery than to have malware in the background without your knowledge.
Beside, sooner or later you'd notice someone got into one of your accounts or other signs that something just isn't right.

No one said common sense is enough. It is 80% of your protection though, if not more.

Common sense is the one that will tell you not to enter your credit card details after taking a survey for free iPhone, not an antivirus software. It will also say that you aren't related to any Nigerian prince so you shouldn't give him your data when you get a mail. And that you don't have a banking account in Las Vegas filled with millions that you forgot about.

Without common sense, there's no life.

Extremely, extremely rare. Almost non-existent.

Anything above zero is bad. Anyone who feels confident that he won't be affected by something "extremely, extremely rare" is not using common sense.

The topic of this thread is antivirus vs. common sense. That implies that you need one or the other. Obviously, I don't support that.

You need to use your credit card to buy things, and not just after taking a survey. And you get be affected even then.

 

[IceMan7]

AV is essential. And especially good ones. In today's age of flying devices, even an advanced user can catch something. It's important to be safe than sorry. And a wise man always sees after the event, meaning he doesn't need to make the first mistake.

By the way - I don't know if without good AV we are protected against such threats in the case of password managers as in this test.

Test odporności menadżerów haseł na kradzież informacji przez tzw. infostealery » AVLab.pl

Menedżery haseł NordPass, Proton Pass, Bitwarden, Dashlane, 1Password, LastPass są podatne na ataki typu memory scraping.

avlab.pl

 

[Behold Eck]

I think a good AV is needed to run in the background just in case the user makes a potentially fatal mistake and lets a compromised legit application run. Which is exactly what I did once upon a time.

Regards Eck

 

[TairikuOkami]

By the way - I don't know if without good AV we are protected against such threats in the case of password managers as in this test.

The worst thing in PM is automatic auto-fill, it is just one more click, but it makes a huge difference, clearing clipboard and locking PM afterwards is also essential.

 

[IceMan7]

True. But convenience is driving people to the cloud. Many services and programs today, undeservedly in terms of security, privacy, and so on, are incredibly popular because people are blinded by convenience.

And I've already written this several times. The best manager is one that's not in the cloud. This causes some difficulties with synchronization. But on the other hand, you don't create hundreds of accounts every day or change or update all your passwords in a password manager. Someone once said that cloud is better, and most Pelicans today echo that.

 

[Trident]

True. But convenience is driving people to the cloud. Many services and programs today, undeservedly in terms of security, privacy, and so on, are incredibly popular because people are blinded by convenience.

And I've already written this several times. The best manager is one that's not in the cloud. This causes some difficulties with synchronization. But on the other hand, you don't create hundreds of accounts every day or change or update all your passwords in a password manager. Someone once said that cloud is better, and most Pelicans today echo that.

I thought you didn’t have time to “delve into this” and it was my hobby, yet you are everywhere, on every topic.

 

[Sorrento]

what's the name of this WORM ? ^^ i think i had the same on wordpad XD

I can't remember the name, I've had a search & can't find details such as that one

 

[IceMan7]

I thought you didn’t have time to “delve into this” and it was my hobby, yet you are everywhere, on every topic.

Who else is on this forum besides you, reading technical documentation, figuring out AV mechanisms? Nobody. Only You

And I'm not in every thread. Let's be honest I'm not the alpha and omega of everything, and I never will be

 

[Trident]

Who else is on this forum besides you, reading technical documentation, figuring out AV mechanisms? Nobody. Only You

And I'm not in every thread. Let's be honest I'm not the alpha and omega of everything, and I never will be

Not sure if I am supposed to be offended because “I read technical documentation”.

 

[IceMan7]

Why? I don't understand.

This isn't meant as an insult to you. It's simply your hobby, which is to analyze solutions in depth. That's good. And I wrote it more in a tone of admiration than ridicule. Congratulations on liking it. I don't have the time or patience for that

 

[annaegorov]

IF we look at this logically, we have to see that common sense can only take you so far. Especially now with the bad guys using Ai, and other tools at their disposal.

Their is a limit, where common sense doesn't keep up with the abilities of the threat to do you harm.

What I am trying to say is look at common sense as you look at other human efforts.

Say for an example you start to lift weights, chemical free.

Pretty soon you can bench 300lbs for 10 reps, then you get to 350, for 10. Then you get to 400 for 10, but their is a limit, this wont keep going to 2000lbs for 10 reps.

Like wise this occurs to human intelligence and to common sense. But it will never happen to computers or machine learning/ intelligence or Ai.

So eventually you will need help, and that is where a good Security System comes in for your purchase and use.

 

[Victor M]

There is nothing 'common sense' to how we need to protect ourselves against malware and hackers. Except that we all need to have an AV. Things that we know by being in this forum is not common sense. That's why people come to join this forum.

 

[annaegorov]

There is nothing 'common sense' to how we need to protect ourselves against malware and hackers. Except that we all need to have an AV. Things that we know by being in this forum is not common sense. That's why people come to join this forum.

I agree but just do a google search for "best Antivirus"... You will find tons of people saying :"My Brain" Or "Common Sense" ... I just believe this is oversimplified thinking.

 

[TairikuOkami]

I agree but just do a google search for "best Antivirus"... You will find tons of people saying :"My Brain" Or "Common Sense" ... I just believe this is oversimplified thinking.

Indeed, I would never recommended a common sense or no AV as a security, only mention, that it is possible, if discussed. If someone asks, do I need AV, well, if you have to ask, you do.