3 ms·

AV = Trashfire. If there were actual repercussions for writing code irresponsibly, even their billions in revenue wouldn't keep them from bankruptcy. Time and

AV = Trashfire. If there were actual repercussions for writing code irresponsibly, even their billions in revenue wouldn't keep them from bankruptcy. Time and time again we see these ridiculous vulnerabilities but nothing changes. AV insists on massively increasing system attack surface under the guise of security.

PaulHoule 10y ago
To be fair, Kaspersky has always been less bad than the others.
- to3m 10y ago
  I've found this too. I've been using Kaspersky for a few years (most of the contracts I've had for contract work have specified they want an AV program running), and I have to say it's been much less painful than the McAfee and Norton shit I used as a FTE. If anything, it seems to go nuts a bit less often than the Windows 10 AV, which will quite often sit there occupying 100% of 1 core for a while... though Kaspersky is so invasive that (even ignoring issues like the one the link...) I'm still happier without it.
astrodust 10y ago
It's security theatre for your computer. It's truly astonishing how little these programs do and how much they do wrong.
- pgrote 10y ago
  So what should a non-technical Windows user use on a daily basis to protect their PCs?
  - tptacek 10y ago
    Microsoft's own antivirus.
  - staticassertion 10y ago
    If you want an AV, MSE has the lowest attack surface impact. It has always been good at implementing security mitigation techniques (whereas other vendors are atrocious here) and it's not very invasive. For security as a whole, I would suggest a good adblocker, keeping your system up to date, keeping your browser and plugins up to date, and I'd suggest Chrome although maybe that's controversial.
  - dEnigma 10y ago
    Whenever I set up a Windows PC for a family member or non-technical friend, I just make sure Windows Defender is running, set everything that is installed to auto-update and install an adblocker. Also, I check every once in a while if the auto-updates are working correctly because in my experience they will inevitably and inexplicably stop working at some point :)
    - therein 10y ago
      > I check every once in a while if the auto-updates are working correctly because in my experience they will inevitably and inexplicably stop working at some point I think Windows 10 tries REALLY hard to make sure that doesn't happen.

PaulHoule 10y ago

To be fair, Kaspersky has always been less bad than the others.

to3m 10y ago
I've found this too. I've been using Kaspersky for a few years (most of the contracts I've had for contract work have specified they want an AV program running), and I have to say it's been much less painful than the McAfee and Norton shit I used as a FTE. If anything, it seems to go nuts a bit less often than the Windows 10 AV, which will quite often sit there occupying 100% of 1 core for a while... though Kaspersky is so invasive that (even ignoring issues like the one the link...) I'm still happier without it.

astrodust 10y ago

It's security theatre for your computer. It's truly astonishing how little these programs do and how much they do wrong.

pgrote 10y ago
So what should a non-technical Windows user use on a daily basis to protect their PCs?
- tptacek 10y ago
  Microsoft's own antivirus.
- staticassertion 10y ago
  If you want an AV, MSE has the lowest attack surface impact. It has always been good at implementing security mitigation techniques (whereas other vendors are atrocious here) and it's not very invasive. For security as a whole, I would suggest a good adblocker, keeping your system up to date, keeping your browser and plugins up to date, and I'd suggest Chrome although maybe that's controversial.
- dEnigma 10y ago
  Whenever I set up a Windows PC for a family member or non-technical friend, I just make sure Windows Defender is running, set everything that is installed to auto-update and install an adblocker. Also, I check every once in a while if the auto-updates are working correctly because in my experience they will inevitably and inexplicably stop working at some point :)
  - therein 10y ago
    > I check every once in a while if the auto-updates are working correctly because in my experience they will inevitably and inexplicably stop working at some point I think Windows 10 tries REALLY hard to make sure that doesn't happen.