4 ms·

>> I'm not sure the AVs have helped much, but they give some sort of psychological benefit, at least. I find this a very dangerous way of thinking. You use th

>> I'm not sure the AVs have helped much, but they give some sort of psychological benefit, at least. I find this a very dangerous way of thinking. You use the placebo (well, not even a placebo, just useless) and then you stop worrying that much about opening downloaded files, checking their hash if you trust the source, visiting dodgy websites... An analogy taken to the extreme, would be to smoke and binge drinking without worries because you're taking homeopathic "solutions" (sic).

jasonmp85 11y ago
I don't know if the OP actually exhibits this, but what you're describing is known as risk compensation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation
bonoboTP 11y ago
Not necessarily! It depends! It could be that the constant popups about updating the AV, about allowing access to trusted programs etc. constantly reminds him of the aspect of security and has this aspect in the back of his mind while browsing, so it may actually enhance security awareness. As in "I'm the sort of person who cares a lot about viruses, so much that I have an AV and adblocker etc., so I'm also the kind of person who doesn't just install any crap." Installing an AV doesn't automatically reduce your defenses. Only if you over-trust it.
- NetStrikeForce 11y ago
  >> Installing an AV doesn't automatically reduce your defenses. Only if you over-trust it. Recent news might point otherwise and there's a debate about it. Does an antivirus really protect you from a real threat? On the other hand, as you're running extra software you're increasing your attack surface, which makes you more vulnerable. I've seen very clever people pointing to the latter and marketing efforts to make me believe the former. Still, haven't made up my own opinion. In any case, I stick to just Windows Defender and EMET (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2458544 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2458544) to mitigate.

jasonmp85 11y ago

I don't know if the OP actually exhibits this, but what you're describing is known as risk compensation: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Risk_compensation

bonoboTP 11y ago

Not necessarily! It depends! It could be that the constant popups about updating the AV, about allowing access to trusted programs etc. constantly reminds him of the aspect of security and has this aspect in the back of his mind while browsing, so it may actually enhance security awareness. As in "I'm the sort of person who cares a lot about viruses, so much that I have an AV and adblocker etc., so I'm also the kind of person who doesn't just install any crap." Installing an AV doesn't automatically reduce your defenses. Only if you over-trust it.

NetStrikeForce 11y ago
>> Installing an AV doesn't automatically reduce your defenses. Only if you over-trust it. Recent news might point otherwise and there's a debate about it. Does an antivirus really protect you from a real threat? On the other hand, as you're running extra software you're increasing your attack surface, which makes you more vulnerable. I've seen very clever people pointing to the latter and marketing efforts to make me believe the former. Still, haven't made up my own opinion. In any case, I stick to just Windows Defender and EMET (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2458544 https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2458544) to mitigate.