How many times have you have been infected in the last 5 years?

[simmerskool]

0 running Eset nod32 + CFW

 

[Pat MacKnife]

0 times.

 

[Viking]

Never in the last 5 years. Using Emsisoft for the last 2 years, & KIS, 3 years before that.

 

[ForgottenSeer 94738]

Only two AV programs caused damage for me.

 

[Digmor Crusher]

None that I am aware of, possibly a PUP a few years back. Protected by Defender with Configure Defender 95% of the time, other 5% is F Secure Safe.

 

[Zorro]

For 5 years - never. For 10 years - 1 time Avast missed a rootkit (this was detected by scanners) and 2 times blocked threats when going to hacked sites. This is all in 10 years, except for 2-3 programs that were classified as potentially unwanted.

 

[roger_m]

I got infected with ransomware last year when IObit's forums were hacked and malware was emailed to registered users. But that's the only time.

 

[Sorrento]

Never: I've run a few different AV's mainly for interest.

 

[JasonUK]

Zero in the last 5yrs... to the best of my knowledge!

It's why I stick to the much maligned Avast free which has never let me down although I now supplement it with VS & a couple of the opening poster's hardening tools.

 

[TairikuOkami]

I voted Do not know, because it is hard to tell without AV or even with random AV scans, but I have not noticed anything unusual, so probably Never.

 

[mlnevese]

I would love to see something like this post as a massive research just to check how common infections actually are nowadays for the common user. The sample size of this forum alone is too low for any conclusions...

 

[ForgottenSeer 93786]

I would love to see something like this post as a massive research just to check how common infections actually are nowadays for the common user. The sample size of this forum alone is too low for any conclusions...

The number one way home users get infected is trough pirated/torrented/cracked software, game hacks/cheats (including fake and paid ones), activators/keygens, etc. I often go trough some malware removal forums, and illegal software is the result of 50-60% of the posts where the OP is actually infected.

 

[wat0114]

Zero.

Using Windows probably 70% and Linux 30% in that span of time.

 

[Stopspying]

0

I've used Emsisoft and F-Secure SAFE mostly in this time on my devices, with short periods of testing out other AVs. The SAFE licence ran out in June and I nearly renewed it but at the last minute I decided to check how Defender alone worked out, so far so good. I'd seen that other people were rating Defender highly, used it for a week on its own before making the decision to use it for longer. I'd also seen various blogs and articles questioning whether we need independent AVs as much as we may have done - due to Defender improving and attack aims and methods evolving.

 

[Mystic]

Wow! %75 voted never

 

[Kiss]

The result shows what I've always known, it's almost impossible to be infected, only if you really want to, using pirated things or going after fake pages, if you browse you know you will never be infected, regardless of whether you use a security program or not , people are paranoid using 3 or more security programs on a system, waste of time and money, you will never need it all, just safe browsing, using multiple security programs only hinders your computer's performance..Big companies do need antivirus protection, common users will never be targets for digital criminals

 

[mlnevese]

The closest I came to being infected these last few years was an infected PDF file sent by a client... Kaspersky cleansed the file; gave me a warning and I still could access the original content afterwards...

 

[Minimalist]

In last 5 years never AFAIK. During this time I mostly used Eset, Emsisoft and Kaspersky.

 

[wat0114]

The result shows what I've always known, it's almost impossible to be infected, only if you really want to, using pirated things or going after fake pages, if you browse you know you will never be infected, regardless of whether you use a security program or not , people are paranoid using 3 or more security programs on a system, waste of time and money, you will never need it all, just safe browsing, using multiple security programs only hinders your computer's performance..Big companies do need antivirus protection, common users will never be targets for digital criminals

For the most part I agree with you, but nearly 20 years ago I got hit by the MS Blaster worm, and I wasn't even browsing the Internet or downloading cracks, pirated software, keygens or the like. In fact, I had just re-installed Windows XP SP1 and the worm hit within minutes of the completed install. XP's firewall was not enabled by default, and I didn't yet have a router. My PC was only sitting behind my ISP's cable modem. At the time my knowledge of pc security was limited to not much more than antivirus and Windows firewall, the latter of which I hadn't got to enabling yet before the worm hit.

I think utilizing additional security measures is mostly about addressing potential avenues of attack - of which there are many in Windows - rather than about being paranoid, and we know that basic antivirus can't be counted on to handle this.

 

[show-Zi]

Multiple times daily.

Your case is in the category of work-related injuries.

The closest I came to being infected these last few years was an infected PDF file sent by a client... Kaspersky cleansed the file; gave me a warning and I still could access the original content afterwards...

Agreed. However, it is still difficult to ascertain exactly what is going on, considering the possibility that users who have not developed the disease may be unaware of the infection and declare that they are not infected.
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I don't think I have ever been infected (I used the term vaguely, considering the possibility that I just haven't developed the disease).
I think the biggest reason is that I am aware that the web is not connected only with good intentions. The use of software is a risk avoidance measure in case you fall for bad intentions or make a wrong decision.