Opinion on not running Antivirus Software

Tom172

Level 1
Thread author
Feb 11, 2011
1,009
We hear many things about the dangers of not running Antivirus software on our system, but we also hear about how Antivirus software is just a waste of space on our PC and that all you need is your brain to keep you safe. So, who's right?

Let's start off by saying that I have never used a PC with no AV installed on it. This has been the case for many years and it's the approach that I've chosen to take. My thinking for me personally was always that there is no reason not to.

This couldn't be more true in 2011. We have basic computers today with specs that seemed unimaginable a few years ago. You may be thinking ok, so the hardware is quite capable, but surely that AV software is going to grind your PC to a crawl. This isn't the case, as alot of the standalone AV's at the moment use very little of your PC's resources.

Price is another thing that's often thrown around as another reason not to run any Antivirus, however with the vast majority of free choices around and the features which they include, the argument doesn't stand up to much anymore.

Many say they have backups of their PC made on a regular basis and that if anything happens, they can restore their PC back before an infection in a matter of minutes. My counter argument to that is that you could run the software in the first place and potentially avoid having to carry out this procedure.

False positives are also another concern for people, they're software may be detected by the AV as a malicious file and cause many problems. Don't get me wrong, I've had this happen to me many times over the years, but i'd rather suffer from this than risk having my PC infected.


Brainware

Can your brain keep you safe? to a certain extent it can. You may check files you download against an online scanner and/or on-demand scanner on your system. You might only visit a handful of websites everyday that are trusted and you know them to be safe, but what's to say that one day this isn't the case. Websites get compromised everyday and unless you have psychic abilities, you're not going to know if the website link you're about to click will lead you to a nasty piece of malware.

My opinions is that you need a two tiered approach. Keep your wits about you and be wise while online and you will avoid many, if not most online threats, however there are threats out there that you're not going to see coming and for those, you need software in order to keep yourself covered.

Software on it's own + Non cautious, irresponsible user = A compromised PC
Responsible, cautious, knowledgeable user + No AV software = Compromised PC

Both put together equals a perfect match.






It goes without saying that you should always keep your PC fully up to date and use a firewall. My above opinion relates only to Antivirus software.
 
D

Deleted member 178

RE: Opinion: Not running Antivirus Software

i totally agree with you

long time ago i saw an advertisement from Goodyear (pneumatics), it saids : ''power is nothing without control''; transposed to our field i can say ''security is nothing without knowledge''

and because you cant know everything you need the help from security softwares.
 
I

illumination

RE: Opinion: Not running Antivirus Software

umbrapolaris said:
and because you cant know everything you need the help from security softwares.

This pretty much sums it up, as well as the fact, that even knowing, will not stop the surprise infections that come from places unexpected.. The "security" landscape has changed over the years, there is too much money involved with malware now days, and it is something that will not likely go away, so better safe, then sorry!
 

MrXidus

Super Moderator (Leave of absence)
Apr 17, 2011
2,503
Interesting... I myself have a whole
Tomo172 said:
counter argument
towards this post but I am not going to state it.

I can't stand the tennis match like posts with your opinion against mine going back & forwards. It's more of a rant fest.

So rep for the post and a good day to you Tomo. ;)
 

HeffeD

Level 1
Feb 28, 2011
1,690
I personally question whether the people that say all you need is common sense actually have any common sense.

Surely common sense would tell you that humans aren't perfect, and to not use safety measures when such a thing exists is folly.

Yes, by thinking about things, you can definitely avoid a lot of nasties. But if one does happen to slip passed despite your best efforts, you're sure going to feel silly that you didn't have some form of protection for your system.
 

MrXidus

Super Moderator (Leave of absence)
Apr 17, 2011
2,503
I might not agree with you but thanks for your opinion.
 

Mark

New Member
Apr 22, 2011
149
Cautious, knowledgeable user + No AV software = Compromised PC.
Responsible, cautious, knowledgeable user + No AV software = Non-compromised PC.

A responsible user in this scenario uses (a hardened) Sandboxie and/or DefenseWall and/or other(s).
 

Hungry Man

New Member
Jul 21, 2011
669
I think I pretty much made it clear in the other topic haha

http://malwaretips.com/Thread-Why-would-I-ever-need-an-Antivirus?pid=26781#pid26781

Users should never have any input when it comes to core security. You can have supplemental security with user input (in fact this is part of the learning heuristics) but that's it.

Mark brings up too products, sandboxie and defensewall. With very little setup these products have shown to protect users from just about anythings.

Blacklists are inefficient and should only be complementary. Heuristcs need to get a revamp, companies are using them in the stupidest ways. The OS (Microsoft) needs to start implementing things like DefenseWall/ Sandboxie. The certificate system needs to change. Integrity levels need to expand.

With a proper heuristics and application restrictions built into the OS I can only think of very few ways to bypass the security.
 

Ramblin

Level 3
May 14, 2011
1,014
When I stopped using a real time antivirus, I did it not to gain better speed when browsing or to save resources. The main reason for dropping using one was because I got tired of the many painful updates or upgrades that real timers go through. Too often, this updates are messy and I just got fed up of them. For me, it was easy to drop the AV as my confidence in Sandboxie at the time as it is now, is 100%. It felt the right thing to do at the time and it is the way that I should be doing things.

To some, it might sound strange but I feel safer because I am not using any antivirus since many of them do conflict with Sandboxie. I want SBIE to be at its best and to me Sandboxie alone is how SBIE can be at top shape.

I can understand that people want to keep using real timers but believe me, it is easy to go without one with a little brain work together with Sandboxie or DefenseWall. Its not difficult at all and feels great even though sometimes it might feel boring because when you do it this way, you don't change software often. My setup now is exactly the same as it was last December with the only exception that now I only use one on demand scanner instead of three that I had when I last used a real time antivirus.

Sometimes to take care of boreness I do try security software while using my virtualization software, TimeFreeze, and most of time, I end up feeling that I just don't like how the "trialed" software interacted with the sandbox. So, for me, there's no doubt that going without a real time AV is the way to go.

Bo
 

jamescv7

Level 85
Verified
Honorary Member
Mar 15, 2011
13,070
For me running without Antivirus Software, a lack of security would feel but since an OS have a built in security so you might have a confidence and regularly updated patches.

I would agree for bo.elam since you need to update and upgrade to the AV for more effective and sometimes concerning for the running processes that consumes much.

Running without an AV definitely gains runs faster than an AV installed.

Recommended as one or two On demand scanners were installed so you can scan that might be curious on what files were download.
 

imsoadude

Level 3
Verified
Feb 21, 2011
838
I think it is a bad idea because the user may never know where it is hiding like recently trusted websites got breached (KickassTorrents and Speedtest) users would never be able to tell by knowledge that the website got hacked, which is why you should always have some form of antivirus or security to block what the user may miss.
 

McLovin

Level 76
Verified
Honorary Member
Malware Hunter
Apr 17, 2011
9,222
I would say you have to be dafted not to have antivirus because what happens if you work in a big enterprise business and what happend if your computer got infected by a virus because you did not have antivirus software, and also the main server pooped itself because the virus that you had spread it across the network, you would be and the company would be screwed. Plus not to mention that it will cost alot of money to get all the computers checked in the business for virus and to rebuild the server. It might even takes months for that server to get fixed.

So I think that yes antivirus might take up resources I also think it is worth have antivirus on your computer. Plus it does take a while to rebuild a server because that is what we are currently doing at TAFE.
 

imsoadude

Level 3
Verified
Feb 21, 2011
838
Exactly, the cost of security for a network would be a lot less than paying the technician tons of money per hour to fix every single computer and have it back up quickly just to have it happen again eventually. Plus a lot of the antivirus now are hardly noticeable on your computer so its not like they are taking a lot of resources from you.
 

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